Melting Snow and Sugary Goodness

Here's a little update about the fun I've experienced in Chicago so far:

1) Shopping for a wedding dress is by far the most stressful and insane experience I've ever had. I've never been more concerned about money in my entire life. It's crazy what people will spend on dresses. I've also never felt more vain in my life. But, after trying on all the white silk/taffeta/lace in the world, I think I've found my dress!!! Tres exciting.

2) Only in Chicago can it be -2 degrees one week and 60 degrees the next. The beautiful white blankets of snow have melted and turned into massive puddles and ice. Which brings me to #3

3) Whenever I drive in the rain in San Francisco, I'm always irritated that people freak out and completely forget how to drive because of the change in weather and I wish I was driving in Chicago where people know what they're doing. But driving down the Kennedy in the rain made me rethink this. If there is ice, please do not cut in front of me going 80 mph or drive 1 centimeter behind me. Ice = skidding and if you hit my car, we're going to have some problems (aka me pulling out my inner Hillary Swank a la "Next Karate Kid"/"Million Dollar Baby" and kicking your ass)

4) Chicago hot dogs make me really happy and are even better in the company of Tiffany and her fabulous roomie.

5) As much as I love being back home, it's even better when I get to share it with the boy.

6) Ann Sather's cinnamon rolls are the cure for any sadness. They will also make me ridiculously giggly all day.

I'm having a fabulous time at home and I'm super stoked that I still have 10 or so days here. Now that the boy's around I plan on doing some touristy stuff and taking cheesy photos while stuffing my face with the best food Chicago has to offer. Love it.

Santa Baby

Merry Christmas Bloggy Friends!!! I'm currently sitting in front of the balcony window of my mom's condo looking outside at the clear sky and snow glistening in the sun. It's a wonderful, cozy feeling and since I don't actually have to go outside today, I'm thrilled that it's a white Christmas.

I'm excited to spend the day stuffing my face with yummy food while hanging out with family and watching the "House" marathon on USA.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and that Santa was good to you!!!

Soo Nice to Be Home

I've been home for a few days now and it's soo nice to be back in Chicago. I almost forget how much I love this city.

I should start with my adventurous trip home. Plane tickets are ridiculously expensive and the "best" flight I could get was a 5:55 a.m. flight out of SF that had to stop in Denver for an hour then off to Chicago. Normally I don't really mind the super early flight because I can usually sleep. Unfortunately, my sleep schedule during finals was totally messed up - I was waking up around noon and going to sleep around 5 a.m. So I only managed to get an hour of sleep before I had to wake up and go to the airport. The lack of sleep and my fear of flying made me feel totally sick and I was convinced that I would be in for a pretty bad trip home. On the first flight from SF to Denver I was supposed to have a middle seat. Boo. But it turns out that the aisle and window seat were taken by this couple that were hoping that no one would book the middle seat, so they asked if I would take the aisle. Um, absolutely. Yay! I couldn't sleep, but was thrilled that they were showing episodes of the Office which is a quality way to spend a flight. We took off a little late but I had 70 minutes to make my 2nd flight so I wasn't too worried. So we take off, watch the Office, land and I have 45 minutes to spare...and then the door wouldn't open. Yes, the plane door was stuck. I was on a plane full of people freaking out because everyone had to make connecting flights. People screaming at friends on their cell phones, people screaming at the flight attendants, people screaming at eachother...bad news. They finally got the door open and I had 2 minutes to run to the gate. I don't run. It was a pleasant reminder that I really need to get my butt to the gym.

So I get on flight #2 and see that we're supposed to watch Ugly Betty and How I Met Your Mother. Fabulous! We get an announcement that the tvs in 1st class weren't working. No biggie, I'm a poor gal and I'm sure I'll never have the privilege to fly 1st class. But wait...the screens won't work for them, so they're not going to show anything. Um...no. No, no, no. I always understood when teachers said that I shouldn't give a piece of candy to some students if I didn't have enough for everyone, but I swear this is different. I fell asleep for the last 30 minutes of the flight and woke up when we landed and was freaked out because I wasn't expecting it.

Fortunately I didn't have to deal with another broken door and I was off the plane. I hate using the bathrooms on the plane (turbulance + small space = scary times. I don't even know how people manage to join the mile high club) so I ran to pee before I grabbed my bags. So I get in the stall and realize that the woman in the stall next to me was on her cell phone. Hm...alright? It was really awkward how she carried on about her day with her friend while chilling in the bathroom stall. The call really couldn't be that important. I secretly found myself wishing that she would drop the phone in the toilet. Mean, maybe, but she made those 3 minutes of my day uncomfortable, so I think it's ok. I ran out of the bathroom, grab my bags, and ran outside to RIDICULOUSLY cold weather and met the Bestie who was soo sweet to come pick me up even though she would have to rush to work. I heart her.

So far my time home has been relaxing. It's cold and snowy, but being lazy on the couch watching bad tv is soo great. And last night I got the meet the Bestie's roomie whom I absolutely adore. We all ate too many wild wings and Tiffany managed to get me to a Target in Boo-Foo with literally 10 seconds to spare so I could pick up my bros Christmas gift. Good times.

I will try to be a good little blogger while I'm vacation with no excuses since I have absolutely no homework to do for the next 20 or so days. It's going to be heavenly!

P.S. For the girlie girls: I recently became a Sephora Beauty Insider and they gave me a $15 gift card to be used on a purchase of $35 or more. While freaking out during finals I decided to treat myself. I bought this and it's amazing!

greeting cards

Am I the only one that has trouble buying greeting cards?

Sometimes I love buying cards. It's always great when you pick up a funny card that totally reminds you of a friend and you can't wait to send it to them. Or you see a "My Little Pony" birthday card that reminds you of one you received on your 5th birthday.

But the thing I hate about greeting cards is that a lot of times I buy/send them because I have to, not because I want to. Greeting card politics to keep people from hating me. Example: my dad whom I no longer talk to. If I don't send a card, I get hate emails/phone calls about being an ungrateful child and how dare I not send a card because he sent one. So to keep him quiet, I send a card. And finding one is the worst. All the cards for parents say "Merry Christmas...I love you!" Well, that's not the message I want to send. And it's not like I can cross that part out. So I have to spend 30 minutes finding the card that's as neutral as possible. Sigh.

I should start a greeting card company that sells cards like "Merry Christmas...hope you're looking forward to my impersonal card next year." I wonder if those would sell...

Am I the only one that has this problem???

Also...packing my bags. Chicago, here I come!!!

Checklist

Ethics Paper - Check

Wills & Trusts Exam - Check

Thesis - Check

Coporations Exam - Check

Chicago - 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited???

Who wants to celebrate?!

I'll Make This a True Daily Double

Does anyone else feel brilliant when they get the answer to "Final Jeopardy" correct?

Jeopardy was really big in my house. My dad often worked from his home office and he would always take a break at 3:30 when Jeopardy came on so we could watch it together. We were hardcore about it. We each had a calculator in hand to add or subtract money when we answered questions and carefully determined our wagers for final jeopardy. And nothing was better than the "teen tournament". It was the one time I could depend on seriously out scoring my dad. I loved it. Plus I heart Alex Trebek.

From time to time I still watch Jeopardy and play along and get really excited when, like today, I get final Jeopardy correct.

Answer: It's the only state capital whose city limits lie on an international border.
Question: What is _____________?

You Know You're Losing Your Mind When...

For the past week I've been attempting to write papers/outline/study. It's awful and I think I've reached my breaking point. How? Today:

1) I've been breaking out into giggle fits. For no reason. I looked down at my book and started laughing because it's funny how little I know. Is my lack of understanding funny? Not at all. But my mind, which I suppose is separate from the rest of my body, thinks it is.

2) I have a Heidi Montag song ("Overdosing") stuck in my head...yes, that Heidi from "The Hills". Why? No idea. It's not like I own the song or have heard it more that 3 times in my life. I don't know the words, but I know the tune. And it's stuck.

3) I found a pirate hat in my house (from the day I got engaged which is a long story that I will share if anyone is interested). I put it on my head as a joke...and I've been wearing it for the past 5 or so hours. And I have no desire to take it off. Thank goodness I'm not in public.

4) I started dancing in my chair. It's like I'm coming up with choreographed routines without thinking about it. Anthing to keep my hands distracted from typing.

So here I am: a 25 year old girl breaking out into fits of laughter while doing choreographed dance routines in my chair to Heidi Montag songs while wearing a pirate hat. I'm officially losing it.

Think my corporations teacher will take that as an excuse to let me out of the exam? Yea, I don't think so either.

How do you know when you're going nutty???

going home for the holidays

I finally bought my plane ticket home to Chicago for the holidays.

20 days of hanging out with the bestie, snow (hopefully), shopping, Christmas, New Years, and no homework. It's going to be heavenly. And the boy's coming out for part of the trip too which is fabulous.

So my Chicago Blogger friends, what fun stuff is going down in Chicago that I should check out???

As Seen On TV Never Ceases to Amaze Me...

Um...

Really??? A blanket with sleeves? I have a bunch of those in my closet. I call them sweatshirts. Ooo, and I have a special one that I wear when I get out of the shower. It's called a robe.

There's all kinds of randomness on tv, but this one really confused me. Am I the only one who thinks this is bizarre? I guess that's what I get for being awake at 3 am.

Dear Beyonce: Get Out of My Head

For some reason, Beyonce's songs always get stuck in my head. First was that Irreplaceable song. All someone had to say was "to the left to the left" and that was it. For days I couldn't get it out of my head. And now she's back with this "Single Ladies" song. I walk around the house singing "if you like it then you should've put a ring on it" to which the boy replies "um...I did?" And the video...well, Ms. B can dance. But everytime I watch it, I can't help but think that there's an episode of The Tyra Banks show coming my way where Beyonce is the guest and crazy Tyra is going to do her re-enactment of the video. And she won't be nearly as good as this guy:
But the best thing that came out of this was that Perez Hilton connected the Beyonce video to this:
I haven't watched this video in a while and I forgot how happy it makes me. Actually, I don't know if it's happiness or if it's lack of sleep. Either way, enjoy!

Co-Ed or Single-Sex Schools?

I wish I had something fun and exciting to write about. My mind is so focused on this paper that I can't really think of anything else. So I'll briefly babble about that.

This semester I'm taking "Gender & the Law". It was supposed to be my "fun" class, but has turned out to be more work than any of my other classes. The up side is that you get to pick any topic relating to gender and law for the final paper. I decided to write my paper on "Public Single-Sex Education" because it's something that I can actually related to.

I went to a single-sex school from 1st grade through 12th grade...yes, I'm serious. The school from 1st-8th grade had single-sex classrooms but it was co-institutional, meaning that we saw boys during lunch and recess. High school was strictly all-girls so if you didn't have guy friends from junior high or from your friends at co-ed schools, you only saw the military boys that came to our school dances. Nice.

Scientists say that are all kinds of benefits for both girls and boys through single-sex classrooms. Apparantly girls perform better in math and science (typically boy's subjects) and boys perform better in English and foreign languages(typically girl's subjects). There are also studies that students are discriminated against in the classroom. For fear of intimidating female students, some teachers may unintentionaly call on the boy students much more often that girl students. Additionally, some female students are afraid to participate in class for fear of answering the question incorrectly and what people will think of her as a result.

Looking back at my education, I think these schools did wonders for me. But since it's all I knew, I can't really say I would have performed differently if I went to another, co-ed, school. But I know college was a shocker when I suddenly was surrounded by boys and couldn't rock my plaid skirt everyday. But I wasn't afraid to answer questions and performed well. I can totally see the argument against single-sex education. It's easy to argue that it perpetuates stereotypes that girls can only excel if they are separated from men. You could also argue that it fails to prepare students for the "real world" which is not separated by gender (though can you imagine if it was...how bizarre would that be).

Did any of you attend or wish you had attended a single-sex school? And do you think it was good/bad? Since I have so many personal opinions on this topic, I'm curious to see what other people think.

And wish me luck.

can you spell my name???

Yesterday after the MPRE, I went to lunch/retail therapy with 2 of my favorite law school ladies. Before hopping in our cars, we decided to stop at Peets to grab coffee. I walked up to the counter:

Counter Gal: Hi, can I help you?
Me: Hi, may I have one of those Vanilla frozen yummy things (I used the actual name...can't tell you what it's called)
Counter Gal: Sure, anything else?
Me: No that's it.
Counter Gal: Ok, that's $3.83. May I have your name?
Me: Sure, it's Bianca, b i a n c a (that's me spelling)
Counter Gal: Thanks.

My name gets called when my drink is ready and the guy said "I don't even want to tell you how that's spelled."

Today I went to Starbucks to get a drink and my name was butchered again.

You'd be surprised how often my name is mispelled. Examples:

"Beanca" - how this guy who had a crush on me spelled my name on a Valentine he sent me in 2nd grade. He shouldn't be surprised that it didn't work out.

"Beyanca" - I think people think "bianca" is similar to "Beyonce" and therefore spelled the same. No, it's not.

"Beonca" - Be.On.Ca. I guess I could see that...

"Bianka" - Ok, I quit.

When I was little, I really hated my name. Kids in school constantly told me that I had a weird name and I would explain that I was named after Bianca Jagger and they thought I was weird. Years later I think it's really rad that I'm named after her and I embrace it. I got used to people misspelling it, so I got into the habit of spelling it for people which is met with 3 responses: 1) They spell it correctly (yay!); 2) They butcher it anyway, meaning they didn't listen or were annoyed/don't care; 3) They say "I know how to spell, thanks."

Maybe I should make a bedazzled nametag and wear it around town. Not the best look for me, but maybe people will start spelling my name corrctly. Or I could just take my coffee and be quiet.

Bar Exam...Step 1

The bar exam is a nightmare. I can't even begin to explain the fear I have over taking that test. Fortunately it's not until July so I can ignore it for a little while longer.

But the MPRE (Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam) I can't avoid. It's a 2 hour test full of questions on ethical rules that lawyers and judges must follow.

And it's tomorrow at 9 a.m. And I'm freaking out.

I'm a moral person, right???

Wish me luck!!!

Driving Lessons

Today I learned a few things while driving:

1) I used to believe that no one would notice if I'm singing along to the radio. And if they did, they would think I was talking on the phone or something. Today I observed someone singing at the top of their lungs while they were driving. And they definitely looked like they were singing. And then I wondered what I looked like. And I wondered what Tiffany and I used to look like when we were driving in high school and we had choreography. Not that this is going to stop me.

2) I was driving behind a mini-van with a "Yes on Prop 8" sticker. And I felt this sudden urge to slam on the gas and ram my Saturn into their car. I'm not a violent person. In fact, in my 9 years of driving I've never honked my horn. I suppose I'm just really passionate?

3) The person who lives across the street from me has a car that beeps as they back up. As if they were a truck. It's extremely annoying when it wakes me up in the morning and just as annoying when I'm waiting to pull out of my driveway.

4) The people on my street are incapable of parking on the right side of the street. It's irritating.

5) Rain is not an excuse for not being able to merge. In fact, rain should make you want to merge properly.

6) I'm killer at driving in stilettos.

What driving lessons do you have?

P.S. Today was my first California voting experience. It was super exciting and I'm really stressed out about the results. Keeping my fingers crossed...and eagerly awaiting my free donut :)

Ready...Set....GO!

Yesterday the boy and I booked our wedding venue, which means we officially have a wedding date. Sept. 26, 2009...let the insanity begin.

october playlist

October has been a crazy month. I wish I could say it was full of parties, dancing, debauchery, etc. Sadly, it's really just been full of reading and writing papers. Here's hoping to a better November.

As Promised: My October Playlist

1) "August 28th, 3:30 a.m." - Automatic Loveletter. I think the first time I heard this song was on The Hills (yes, I'm addicted to this show as well. yes I know it's fake). This song is a Paramore-ish ballad with a chorus that makes me sing at the top of my lungs. I've been playing it a lot on the way to school since the singing helps wake me up.

2) "Hammars & Strings - A Lullaby" - Jack's Mannequin. Not sure if any of you have heard of them, but it's the side project from the lead singer of Something Corporate. Their music is piano driven mellowish rock. Their new album is freaking amazing and has been on repeat a lot.

3) "Just Dance" - Lady GaGa. If you read Perez Hilton, she's all over that site. I was a little hesistent to check her out, but I finally took the plunge and I'm glad I did. This is just a good pop song that makes you want to get up and dance. Plus it seems like this girl can actually sing. She sounds less processed than Britney (though I still love her) but the poppiness is just as good.

4) "Hey Jealousy" - Gin Blossoms. This is one of those songs that I could listen to a thousand times and stil love. It's 90s. It's wonderful.

5) "Take Me Home Tonight" - Eddie Money. For some reason this song reminds me of a drunken night of karaoke, which I don't get to do nearly as much as I would like. I also remember this video from when I was super little. Not sure why, but for your 80s enjoyment: I particularly like it because it features "Ronnie Spector" of the Ronettes whom I adore. If you're ever bored, read her autobiography: "Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or My Life as a Fabulous Ronette". She talks all about the craziness of being married to Phil Spector. It's nutty.

6) "Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead. Interestingly, the first time I heard this song was an acoustic version on the "Clueless" soundtrack. But I think the original version is so much better. I love that it starts of mellow and then picks up as the song progresses. Fabulous.

7) "Somebody Hates Me" - Reel Big Fish. When I was in high school, I was obsessed with Reel Big Fish and ska music in general. I think I've seen them live more than any other band - they were super fun and the crowd was so into it. As the years went by, the band made some changes and I don't love them as much anymore. But I decided to pul this gem out the other day and was taken back.

8) "I Saw the Light" - Todd Rundgren. One of those songs from the 70s that I adore. Whenever I hear it, it makes me happy. Not sure why.

9) "Chasing Pavements" - Adele. She was one of those artists that I heard about here and there and didn't take time to look into. Then I watched her perform on SNL a few weeks ago and was like "wow, check this girl out."

10) "Love Story" - Taylor Swift. I'm not really a gal that's into country music, but I really like Taylor Swift. I liked "Our Song" which was on the radio 24/7 for a while, so I was excited to find another song of hers that I like.

There you go. I'm in the need of new music, so what are you guys and gals currently listening to???

a nap sounds lovely

This weekend was bananas...again. It seems like the weekends aren't time off anymore, just work days where I don't have to go to class. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings and eating my bowl of cereal while I watched "Saved By the Bell" and "California Dreams" and the only thing I had to worry about was making sure that I didn't leave the remote control in the living room when I went to refill my glass of orange juice or else my brother would steal it and I could kiss my tv shows goodbye. Distant memory. But I did finally cave in to twitter...who can I follow???

Yesterday was Matt's Dad's golf tournament. The event is less about getting the best score and more about getting wasted and for the past few years I've been the designated driver for the team. On Friday night I stayed up until 2 a.m. doing work which was silly since I had to be awake at 6:30 am to pack up all of my stuff for the day, grab Brodie and all his stuff pack it all in the car, and get out of the house so we could be at Matt's parents house by 7:30. After I picked up the team and dropped them off at the golf course, I went back to Matt's house armed with law books and a venti caramel mochiatto and when to work. This week I have my legal ethics paper and my rough draft for my thesis due on the same day...not sure if that's going to happen. But I was determined to get the ethics paper finished by Sunday and it took all my energy to focus on it yesterday. I was able to make a little dent in it which was good. Around 4 p.m. I got the phone call to pick up the boys. I got there and Matt was wasted (good boy) and proudly showed me the mark on his leg:

Matt: Look at my leg!
Me: Omg baby, what happened?!
Matt: I fell out of the golf cart.
Me: You fell out of the golf cart...?
Matt: Yea, someone threw my ball to me and I reached out to grab it and fell out. And I wasn't even drunk yet!
Me: Right...
Matt: No really! I fell out again later, but I was drunk that time.
Me: Nice.

After I dropped people back at home, we had to get ready for the post-tournament dinner. We went, we ate, they drank. It was lovely. I finally got Matt and Brodie home around 9:30 and while I convinced myself that I would keep working, my body disagreed and I fell asleep on my laptop sometime around 11.

Today I managed to focus a bit and finished the legal ethics paper. I'm not even sure if it makes sense, but it's only worth 10% and the professor said it's supposed to be a "rough draft" of the bigger paper that's due in a month. "Rough" can mean "completely unorganized", right? I hope so.

I gave myself a mini-break for dinner and now I'm off to work on the thesis. Wish me luck. Also, I need to post my October playlist. I'll get to that later this week...

Hope you all had a great weekend!

change is good

So I finally changed the blog. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet. But I'm not so great at making decisions. Don't be surprised if you see this change in the coming days.

This week was absolutely crazy. I'd love to sit here and write about it, but I think just writing about all that I've done would make me tired. But I think I may have to treat myself. Hmm, shoes or cupcakes...tough decision.

But I did go to see "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" today. Loved it. Michael Cera can do no wrong.

In the meantime, the bestie tagged me for a meme. What better way to procrastinate (and yes, I know it's 1:30 a.m. and I shouldn't be procrastinating - I should be going to sleep. but there's just that much work to do...)

Here are the rules:

1.Link to the person that tagged you
2.Post the rules on your blog
3.Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4.Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5.Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6.Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

Here we go:

1) I once had scarlett fever. Who knew it still existed? I was 10 and I had a fever of 106 degrees. I remember sitting in the doctor's office and heard a nurse on the intercom say "we need a scarlett fever test in room 4". I looked at my mom and said "wow, I feel sorry for that kid." Turned out that kid was me. I totally freaked out because I remembered that Helen Keller had it and that's what caused her to be blind and deaf. I spent the entire car ride looking at all the trees, grass, houses because I was convinced I would never see them again.

2) Like the bestie, I have a ridiculous amount of pop culture knowledge. This is probably a result of watching "VH-1 I Love the 70s/80s/90s" and their sequels at least 10 times, reading gossip mags, wikipedia, etc. Tiff and I are convinced that we will kill at the Pop Culture World Series. We just need a 3rd member of our team who can cover the sports questions...any takers?

3) I started playing the piano when I was 3 1/2 and took lessons until I was 18. Whenever I was sad or angry, I would sit down in front of my piano and just play for hours. Even though I took lessons for so long, I'm convinced that I suck and I refuse to let anyone watch me play. That includes my fiance.

4) I'm really weird when it comes to eating meat. I'm not a vegetarian. I call it a "seasoning issue". For example, I don't like hamburgers, but I love tacos. I don't like chicken breast, but I like buffalo wings. The way I try to explain it is if it "tastes like meat", I'm not a fan. But if it tastes like meat that is covered in sauce/seasoning, I like it. Don't get it? Most people don't. But it makes sense to me.

5) When I was little, I was obsessed with the movie Shag. It's about these 4 girlfriends who go for a last hurrah in Myrtle Beach in the 1960s. I couldn't wait to turn 18 and take a trip like that with my girlfriends. I even considered going to Myrtle Beach. I really wanted to be like the character "Pudge" who loved to dance and fell in love on the trip. I never made it to Myrtle Beach.

6) When I was in 4th grade I got a hamster. I named him Ringo. He was actually a she. And I didn't know who the Beatles were or that their drummer was named Ringo. I have no idea how I pulled out the name Ringo. But this girl in my class got a hamster the next day and named him Jingo. I was like "hmmm, copy much???" She swore she was being creative. There are a lot of stories I could tell about that girl, but that's for another entry.

Here are the tags:
Kahea
Lailah
Andy
Angie
Jessica
Miss Em

i'm a rock band goddess

The boy and I finally got Rock Band 2. As a result, I'm not getting any work done. But rocking out is totally better. They've totally stepped it up from the first Rock Band. There are so many more songs and ones that I'd want to play. We just finished with "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins. That song takes me back...

Band Name: Rhymenocerous (however, we had to spell it like Rhyme|\|ocerous because it's not "classy" when spelled correctly. The reason? Rhymenocerous has "hymen" in it. Crazy. I want to write the rock band guys and inform them that "classy" has "ass" in it, so under their rules it's not an ok word)

Quote: Our Lyrics are Bottomless

Anyone who knows where that's from gets a gold star

Also, to anyone who reads this blog - it's going to be kinda messy for the next week or so. Tiffany's been bugging me to get a new template and I'm finally going to start working on it. But things may get messy for while...

designer imposters - part 2

Back in June I talked about Designer Imposters

First, a little background. The other day, Brodie was hopping (because he think he's a bunny) around the bed and decided to hop over me. But he jumped a little short and his back leg landed on my left eye. Ouchy. So my eye was a little red and I needed eye drops so I went to Walgreens. I got home, opened the package, took the little plastic safety seal off, twisted the cap off and there was no dropper! So when they say "check to make sure the bottle hasn't been tampered with", really check.

Today I went back to Walgreens to return the drops and took a little stroll through the store, when my eyes landed on this:


A few points:

1) It's scary that the packaging on some of those bottles is exactly the same as it was back when I bought them 15 years ago. I definitely had "Primo", "Confess", and "A Little Sexy" and if I looked hard enough through my boxes of junk in my room at my mom's house, I bet I could find a bottle.

2) I can't believe that was 15 years ago...

3) They cost $4.49 now. They were only $1.99 back in the day. And really, you shouldn't even pay that much. I feel bad for all the young girls whose allowance won't cover a bottle. But I think kids may be getting more than the $2/week I got.

4) If you wear those, do you actually say what you're wearing, or do you pretend like you're wearing the actual fragrance. I would really love to ask someone if they were wearing "Clinique Happy" and have them say "No, I'm wearing 'Wanna Play'". Although honestly, if they're still using the same formulas as they were back when I was learning long division, they don't smell like the real thing.

5) Apparently Ali Larter, pre-Varsity Blues/Legally Blonde/Heroes, starred in a Designer Imposters commercial. It's kinda risque, but totally 90s:


6) Who knew I would have so much to say about faux perfume?

cubbies lose and i celebrate with the boy

This picture accurately shows the sadness of the cubs losing their chance at the world series:

How sad is he??? Almost as sad as me. Oh well cubbies, perhaps you'll win after 101 years.

In happier news, Matt and I had our "anniversary weekend" since things were too crazy to celebrate on the actual day. Being the dorks that we are, we tend to go to museums and touristy places to celebrate. I also like these places because they allow me to take dorky pictures such as this:

Don't I look chic on top of a turtle? I swear I would look that amazing if I was riding a turtle in nature. Right...

This year we went to the California Academy of Sciences, this really rad science museum that's in Golden Gate Park that just reopened after years of remodeling. The place is really amazing. There's a digital planetarium which is basically a huge dome that they show a video on. But since you're surrounded by the video, you feel like you're in it, moving in space. Pretty nifty. It totally reminded me of the 7th grade class trip to Space Camp - that's right, I went to space camp. Be jealous :)

They also have a "rainforest" which is completely sealed off and full of butterflies and lizards and all these tropical plants. While my hair wasn't a fan of the humidity, it was cool. And the craziest part of the place is that they have a "living roof". The roof is covered with all these native California plants that attract bees and birds.

I'm not sure how I feel about so much life on a roof, but they're scientists so I'll go for it. But the best part is the "African Hall" exhibit where they had a bunch of dioramas and penguins, which is always Matt's favorite part of the zoo/aquarium/Flamingo hotel in Vegas. They were super cute, especially when they were being fed. I wish fish would make me that happy.

I took today off from work and just vegged in hopes of relieving some stress. Last week was really crazy and it was amazing to say "screw law school" and not do any work. Hopefully I won't regret it in Corporations tomorrow.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend. Hope everyone had a great one too!

happy anniversary

Today is the 7 year anniversary since me and the boy started dating.

7 Years...

That's a really, really long time.

And it's super exciting.

i saw the sign...

Let me set the stage: It's 5th grade and I'm sitting in the gym watching rehersals for the 5th/6th grade production of Beowulf and waiting for my part to come up. I'm doing my math homework and listening to a tape on my walkman. It's the same tape that all my friends were listening to on their walkmans at the same time. Side 1 on was our favorite and you could hear the clicks of people's walkmans as they stopped the tape and pressed rewind and quickly pressed play again.

Today I've been sitting at my desk all day working on an outline my law school thesis with shuffle in the background when these songs came back to me.

Who remembers a little album by Ace of Base called "The Sign"?


I'm sure most of us know "The Sign" and, if you're cool like me, still know all the words. I remember being 10 years old and thinking "good for that girl, she saw the sign and left that guy." The video is so 90's and fantastic.


But who remembers the other gems on the cd: "All that She Wants" and my personal favorite, "Don't Turn Around".

The best part is the "rap" around 2:45

Oh Sweden...you brought me Abba and you brought me Ace of Base. What would my life be like without you.

birthdays and growing up

First of all, I must wish a Happy Birthday to my little Brodie - he turns 1 today. In the midst of the ridiculous amount of stress and anxiety that I'm feeling, I decided that Brodie shouldn't suffer so Matt and I took him to Petsmart to pick out a birthday present. He got this cube thing that has random little "pockets" inside of it. You place food inside it and shake it up and then he has to roll the cube around until food falls out. We gave it to him after singing "Happy Birthday" (yes, I know he's a dog and doesn't understand, but the birthday dog deserves a song) and he was totally scared and confused by it at first, but it provided a good hour of entertainment. I'm excited that there is something that he loves besides the tennis ball.

Now to the "Bianca needs to vent" part...

This weekend has totally been bananas, and not in a good way. I've been pretty stressed out the past few weeks, which is expected and really in my 3rd year of law school, shouldn't surprise me. On Friday I decided to create a checklist of things that I need to work on and it was so much longer than I imagined in my head. Needless to say, I'm freaking out. There's the reading for school which is normal but killing me because I can't wrap my head around Corporations. Usually I'm pretty confident in my ability, but that class just makes me feel so stupid. Law school is basically my entire life and lately I've been thinking "what the hell am I doing???" Law school was never fun, but now I feel like I don't even want to do this anymore.

I remember when I first told some friends that I was going to law school and they thought I was nuts. One friend pointed out that I loved fashion and entertainment and asked why I wanted to sit behind a desk reading boring documents. I told her that I wasn't going to be "that kind" of lawyer - I wanted to change the system and help those who couldn't help themselves. I had all these things I wanted to accomplish. I was passionate, I was motivated, I was 100% confident in myself. My confidence has gone down the tubes along with my wittiness and overall cheerful attitude. Tiffany called me today and said "it sounds like you need a bitch session, are you ok?" That's always a sign that things are off.

My first year of law school I seriously considered dropping out. My parents were getting divorced, I was depressed and crying all the time, and wanted nothing more than to sit in my room and stare blankly at the tv. I was convinced that I wouldn't pass my classes mostly because I didn't want to put in the effort. I had the "drop out" convo with Matt and my mom at least once a week. It freaked them out. One day Matt said "if you're going to leave law school, I want it to be because you worked your butt off and somehow didn't make the cut, not because you gave up." Because I didn't want to disappoint them, I finally sucked it up and did pretty well, which kinda makes me sad because I think of how much better I could have done had I actually really really tried. I still constantly joke with Matt about dropping out and then we laugh and say "too late now" but I can't help but wonder...

2 years later, I really love the clinic work I'm doing. I feel like I'm doing something important and making positive changes in my client's lives. I worry that the happiness I feel when I read the current issue of "Elle" or when I watch the "Chelsea Handler Show" are signs that I'm doing the wrong thing. Or maybe they make me so happy because they are totally opposite of the law thing. But occasionally I do see glimmers of hope when Matt asks me a lawyerly question and I ramble for 20 mins. And I'm sure that once I get out of the law school work and focus solely on a particular area of law, it's all good. But I worry that I may never get my spark back and I can't help but wonder where would I be, how would I feel if I had gone down another path. Would I be happier? Or would I just thinking "what if I had gone to law school?" And maybe I should remember that graduating from law school and taking the bar doesn't mean that I'm stuck in this career. Or maybe I'll end up loving lawyer life. I could combine my loves and take off for Paris and work as a lawyer for Chanel. Then I'd actually learn how to speak French. Maybe I can convince Matt that my talents would be better utilized staying at home drinking cosmopolitans and being a 1950's housewife...ok that's a lie, I know I definitely couldn't handle that.

I'm sure these are thoughts and feelings that all us 20-somethings go through as we accept that we are no longer kids and have to grow up. I just don't know how to come to terms with it.

billie jean is not my lover

After spending the morning crying while watching "A Walk to Remember" (seriously, that movie always kills me. What guy does all that stuff for a girl???), I finally settled down to do work. I was flipping through channels to find something to listen to in the background and I stopped on Food Network where someone was baking. While explaining how to make whatever they were making, they said "beat the eggs" which prompted me to start humming "Beat It" and suddenly I had this craving to listen to Michael Jackson.

I have a pretty stellar collection of Michael's old stuff and it makes me sad to remember just how good he used to be. Case in point: Billie Jean. We all remember that video. The black cat; weird creepy detective guy; light up sidewalk. I'd post it on here for all of you to enjoy, but the first 20 or so videos of it I saw on youtube had embedding disabled. But I present Michael's performance from "Motown 25"

The short pants, glittery socks, and the glove. Amazing. Plus that was the first time he performed the moonwalk. Soo good.

In other gems we also have "Thriller" (which gave me nightmares for weeks), "Bad", "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough". And of course I can't forget "Beat It" which holds a very special place in my heart for this reason:
How creepy is that?! I especially love that it says it comes with glittering "magic" glove. What kind of magic is that glove capable of? My brother actually owned this. It was a random gift from a relative of ours and it sat in the corner of our room. The 80's really were an amazing time.

The thing about Michael Jackson is that he was this amazing performer with fantastic songs that everyone knows the words to. What happened to him??? Totally tragic.

my exciting night...

How does a gal like me spend a thursday night?

Watching















While drinking















And reading

Someone remind me why I'm in law school again???

Do Do Do Do You Have It GUTS!!!

A few things:

1. Do people remember this?:

Well my friends, apparently it's back...sort of. Meet

Weird, right? I'm not sure how I feel about it. But I think it's kinda the same, Astro-Crag and all. I'm sure in a moment of despair, aka drowing in law school reading, I'll procrastinate and watch it. I'll be sure to report back.

2) Josh Groban's Emmy Medley = Genius. I wanted to take deep breaths for him. I can't decide which part I like better: "South Park" or "Baywatch"


3) The Cubs are officially in the playoffs. FUCK YES!!!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend :)

because i want to be penny lane

If you read any of my insane ramblings on this blog, you'll know that I love music. I sing along and dance to it as I get ready in the mornings (think Cameron Diaz in "Charlie's Angels", but not as intense. Ok that's a lie, just as intense). It's a staple when driving in the car, particularly if I'm hanging out with Tiffany. We turn car rides into a performance. Back in high school we even had choreography to some songs. Yes, we're that cool. And of course, it's the only way I can study. I don't work well in silence, which is why I can't spend more than 2 minutes inside the law library.


My favorite movie of all time is "Almost Famous". In my experience it's one of those movies that you absolutely love or totally hate. Jessica and I have watched that movie countless times and randomly quote it. It's lovely. But why I love that flick is that it's so centered in a passion for music. Cameron Crowe used to make these playlists that would reflect the music he was listening to at the time. He went back to these lists as he wrote the film. I do the same thing. I have a pile of mix tapes from junior high and high school full of songs that I taped off the radio (bootleg, yes, but this was pre-itunes so it worked). Some songs were current hit on the local alternative radio station that I was into at the time while others were oldies but goodies. The result were these wonderfully random mixes that reflected what I was listening to at that time in my life. My mix tape/playlist skills have evolved a bit since then, but I still make these playlists every month or so and while not all the songs on them are current and don't necessarily point to a particular "time", they do reflect moi.

Tiffany has generously named me the master of the mix tape, so I told her I would start posting my current mixes on here. The current mix is a little song, so I'll simply post the first 10 songs. So without further ado...

1) "Time to Pretend" - MGMT. I actually downloaded this song a little while back because it was itunes "free single of the week". I didn't really listen to more than the 30 second preview. Months later a friend recommended MGMT to me. I pulled up their album on Rhapsody and loved the synthy rock sounds. Then one day in my shuffle I found that I had one of their songs.

2) "I Never" - Rilo Kiley. I heart Rilo Kiley. How can you not love a band whose singer was in "Troop Beverly Hills" and whose guitarist was on "Salute Your Shorts". I tend to put at least one song on a mix that lets me really belt out.

3) "Dance Dance" - Fall Out Boy. Yes, Fall Out Boy. I tried really hard to resist them...but they're just so catchy.

4) "I Got a Man" - Positive K. Such an oldie but goodie. And the lyrics are hilarious. "I'm Big Daddy Longstroke, and your man's Pee Wee Herman." Genius. I actually love this song so much that it probably pops up on 1/5 of my playlists.

5) "Bad Girl" - Danity Kane. I admit, I watch MTV's "Making the Band". It's such a guilty pleasure. But these girls are actually talented and this song makes me want to shake my bootie. Plus any song with a cameo from Missy Elliot is a plus.

6) "Calling All Skeletons" - Alkaline Trio. Duh, it's the Trio. It's quality. I'm totally digging their new cd.

7) "Night Time is the Right Time" - Ray Charles. Ever since I was little and saw the Huxtable clan perform this on "The Cosby Show", I've loved it.

8) "Shake It" - Metro Station. Another itunes free single that's blowing up on the radio now. It's catchy and makes me want to shake it.

9) "Because It's Not Love" - The Pipettes. This British girl group is insanely adorable. They have the sound of the girl groups from the 1960's but with a modern twist.

10) "Little Red Corvette" - Prince. Old school Prince is so great. A few coworkers and I got really into him this summer. The highlight was going to the "Prince vs. Michael Jackson" dance night. That room was filled with so many quality songs I really didn't know what to do with myself. Plus listening to Prince reminds me of the Chapelle Show clip where Prince made pancakes for Charlie Murphy.

There you have it folks. Do you have any songs that are a "must have" on your mixes? Let me know - perhaps they're gems that I've forgotten.

attack of the 6 legged spider

The other day as Matt and I were getting ready to go to sleep we saw a spider on the wall. Normally I try to go the humane route and take them outside, but I said a quick "i'm sorry" and went to kill it. Turns out that my spider killing kills aren't that good and I only got 2 of its legs (how I did that I don't know. and trust me, i felt awful). Matt's like "find it!" but I couldn't and I was like eh, well it's missing 2 legs, it's not going anywhere.

Fast forward 4 days. I just walked out of the bathroom and saw a spider on the wall...it only had 6 legs. Like, obviously missing 2. Holy crap, that spider came back to seek revenge...

Thankfully the battle is over.

My Bestie

I clearly love Tiffany. These are things that came up in our convo tonight:

1) Tiffany: "OMG she's hideous...and she lives in the next state. That's too close for comfort."

2) Tiffany: "...I mean she's ok. But she's no burger from Checker's. She's no BLTA."
Bianca: "Well, maybe she's the LT, but definitely not the B or the A."
Tiffany: "Clearly she's the B. And we all know what that stands for..."

3) Bianca: "Why is he saying that? He's the one being proactive."
Tiffany: "Dude, what about Diddy and Proactiv?"

Only with her could I be content spending a Saturday night on the couch on the phone. I love this girl more than anything because she will always say the things I'm thinking. And she's fabulous.

remember that zebra???

While watching "Hole on the Wall", Matt said "yikes." My response? "Yipes, stripes, fruit stripe gum!" That's right...I busted out the jingle from a fruit stripe gum commercial from back in the day. Here's a little clip in case you don't remember:

It's scary how vividly I remember that. It reminds me of sitting in my living room while watching "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and thinking that it's pretty rad that my parents let me stay up until 10 p.m. on a Saturday. Fruit stripes gum wasn't even that tasty. The flavor only lasted for 2 minutes. Plus they had those temporary tattoos on the wrappers which would have been cool if they worked. Sadly they didn't and made the 8 year old Bianca very sad.

This week has been absolutely bananas. It started out with a lovely alumni wine tasting event on Sunday. My college friends and I haven't really been into the alumni stuff but wine tasting is alway quality, so there we went. At least 20 wineries were there plus the most random and delicious assortment of food (sushi, fondue, gelato, paninis, oh my). Being the driver I only got to enjoy the beverages for a few hours. But my wonderful friends drank enough for themselves + me so all was good. After the event we headed to the dive bar that's right off campus to relive old times. Seeing that place in the daylight/without drinking a rum and coke on the walk over was really weird. But overall, good times.

School was insane this week. It's week 3 which is the time that work really starts picking up. Balancing an internship an 4 classes plus my writing requirement was probably not the best decision I've ever made. Tuesday night I had one the "omg what was I thinking, I can't handle being in law school, how am I gong to handle being a lawyer" freakout. Normally I have a lot of confidence in my ability to be a rock star lawyer, but lately I've been questioning myself. I think a lot has to do with the fact that in less than a year I will have taken the bar and I'll officially be in the real world. It makes me nervous. I need people to remind me that the real world is not that bad and that I can handle it. And I need to remember to breathe. Oxygen is important.

Since I've been so overwhelmed with work this week I haven't had time to watch my beloved shows which is probably why I've been a little pissy. So tonight I'm having a date with Tivo. So far I've gone through "The Hills", "Weeds", and "Project Runway". Next up is "America's Next Top Model". Perhaps I'll give some commentary tomorrow.

Also, I need a crazy fun way to unwind this weekend...any suggestions?

taking a survey, AOL version 3.0 style

I'm normally not a survey kind of gal. I used to do them back in the day when you would get 18 or so surveys from your friends in your AOL Mailbox (which was silly because you had received 10 or so surveys from those people before and the answers were the same). But my best friend/sista from another mista (like that?) said she wanted me to do it and I don't feel like reading for Wills & Trusts. So here we go:

A. Attached or single? Engaged to the dreamy Matt

B. Best friend? Tiffany

C. Cake or pie? So this is a tough one. I'm a really big fan of Baker's Square pie, namely the seasonal Strawberry Cream Cheese. But I probably could eat a funfetti cupcake everyday for the rest of my life. So I'll go with cake.

D. Day of choice? Saturday. No class on Fridays so I get a chance to catch up on sleep and work that day and Saturday is usually the day I take off from law school craziness.

E. Essential item? Hair Elastics. I usually have 2 around my wrist at any given time and go totally nuts when I don't. While I dig my hair when it's down, the possibility of not being able to pull it back when I want to makes me uncomfortable.

F. Favorite color? I really like pink and would probably say it's my favorite color...but I never wear pink clothes. I would say 50% of my shirts are black because it's the color that goes with everything (but this is a bad habit that I really need to stop).

G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears, always.

H. Hometown? Chicago Baby! I moved to the burbs when I was 10 but I will always call Chicago home.

I. Favorite indulgence? High heeled, peep toe shoes. Whenever I'm in a bad mood I go shoe shopping and it makes me feel better. Therefore, my closet needs more space.

J. January or July? July: While it's super humid in Chicago, watching the sunlight sparkle off the lake or watching the Cubs at Wrigley makes it totally worth it. And July in San Francisco is the perfect weather for driving with the windows down and singing at the top of my lungs.

K. Kids? Eventually. Probably 2 or 3. But right now Brodie is enough of a child for me.

L. Life isn’t complete without? Laughter. Nothing makes me feel better than laughing so hard that I'm crying.

M. Marriage date? October 2009

N. Number of brothers and sisters? An older brother. He's rad.

O. Oranges or apples? Oranges, mostly because I like the juice. And I really love clementines which are like mini oranges. Delish.

P. Phobias? Death. I have a huge fear of the unknown. And denim on denim.

Q. Quotes? "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller

R. Reasons to smile? Cuddling with Matt. Brodie's ridiculous obsessesion with tennis balls. Totally random topic phone calls wih Tiffany. Dancing (I sometimes perform my old ballet routines when I'm home alone - it really makes me happy)

S. Season of choice? Summer. Flowers, skirt weather, baseball, beach. Fabulous.

T. Tag 5 people. Whoever wants to entertain me :)

U. Unknown fact about me? I never had the chicken pox. Whenever people talk about it I like to say "it couldn't be THAT bad" and laugh. Even though I got the shot I'm sure karma is going to get back at me.

V. Vegetable? Corn on the cob fresh off the grill and slathered in butter.

W. Worst habit? Wearing my contact lenses much longer than the 2-week period. But I'm cheap.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Um...xray?

Y. Your favorite food? Lou Malnati's pizza. Ship one to me and I'll be your best friend.

Z. Zodiac sign? Taurus. According to AOL Horoscopes: "Taurus are noted for your determination. You get to where you are going, not because you are exceptionally fast or clever, but because Taurus will not be distracted from your goals. Your need for stability and simplicity can motivate Taurus to create a life for yourself that is quite functional, though it might seem boring to someone else. But Taurus aren't interested in taking unnecessary risks that can put your solid footing in jeopardy." Taurus Greatest Strength: Your sensible outlook on life; Taurus Possible Weakness: Accepting less than you can achieve." Wow...that's pretty accurate.

There you go folks, a little bit of Bianca from A-Z. Hope I helped you procrastinate just as much as writing it helped me.

An 80's Memory

So as a girl who lived in the 80's, there are several things I liked.

1) Jem: She was truly truly truly outrageous

2) Fanny Packs: It was a tragic look for me. Not only did I rock the fanny pack, but they also had mini ones for your wrists. So while my brush and dr. pepper lip smacker went in the fanny pack, my $2 allowance went in the wrist pack. Hot.

3) Skip-it. How a long piece of plastic with a ball on the end provided so many hours of entertainment still baffles me. But I loved it. My friends and I each had ones that were different colors and we would stand in a circle and play. My friend got me a new one for my 25th birthday. Interestingly, they don't have the counters on them anymore which was probably my favorite part of skip-it (because who doesn't want to brag about having more "skips")

This isn't a post about those fun 80's memories. It's about a little band known as New Kids on the Block.

Several years ago a show on VH-1 called "Bands Reunited" tried to get them to come together for one night, but they wouldn't. It was the only 30 min. episode of the show because every other group went for it. So I'm not going to lie - I was a huge fan. I had the pins, the bedspread (with the side of the pillow with Donnie and Joey face up always because they were the dreamiest), posters, etc. My music taste has evolved a lot since then. But I was eagerly anticipating their reunion. And...I'm undecided

I'm not really loving the new material and I'm a little weirded out they continue to choreograph routines like they did back in the day. But here is a clip of them performing "Step by Step" on the View:

Not nearly as bad I thought it would be. The worst part are the chicks in the audience attempting to sing along. They're not representing like I would.

There's something to be said about leaving the past in the past. It's like when they remake movies. There was some talk about someone making a new version of "The Breakfast Club". No one could be as good as the original cast. It's the same reason why I can't watch that J.C. Penny commercial that recreates scenes from the movie. But then you see bands like The Rolling Stones who continue to perform and sell out everywhere they play and they're good. So I don't know. Maybe I'm just yearning for 1988...

guilty pleasures

Yesterday was a super busy day for me and matt. We checked out a wedding venue and ran a crazy number of errands (which included a trip to target...if I can get out of target in under an hour, it's a miracle). On friday night we went to our friend's birthday bbq and didn't get a lot of sleep, so Matt totally passed out on the couch after the errands. It was super early so I decided to preoccupy myself with some guilty pleasures.

1) It was definitely time to get clean up around the house. Being someone who can't work in silence, guilty pleasure #1 is singing/dancing to hidden musical gems while cleaning. In order to make my house shine like the top of the Chrysler building (oh Annie, how I love you) I have a fabulous playlist. Some song selections:

"Poison" - Bel Biv Devoe. That song will always get me moving. Never trust a big butt and a smile? Good advice BBD.

"Knocking Da Boots" - Candyman. Tiffany and I may be the only people on the face of the planet who love this song, but it's great. I particularly love the part where he says he'll "melt in your mouth, not in your hand." M&Ms as a sexual reference. Nice.

"Buttons" - Pussycat Dolls. While I love the idea of the Pussycat Dolls in Vegas, I'm not really a fan of the group. But there's something about this song that just gets me. It's one of those "sing and dance in front of the mirror and pretend that you're in a music video" songs. If I could lift my leg as high as those chicks, I'd be quite a catch.

2) Facebook stalking. I do it and you do it too.

3) Remember when you're little and you think about what it would be like to be rich and you could buy anything you wanted? Yea, I still do that. Guilty pleasure #2 is eating popcorn and flipping through fashion magazines at the ridiculously expensive clothes/jewelry/purses that I could only afford if I was a regular cast member on Gossip Girl. I have a vision of what I want to look like as a smart successful lawyer. However, seeing that I'm going the public interest route this won't happen. But it's lovely to dream.

4) "Adventures in Babysitting". I don't know how many people have seen this movie, but it's one of my favorites and something that I usually watch alone so I can fully enjoy it. It's about this girl in Chicago named Chris who is suppose to go to a super fancy dinner with her boyfriend, but he cancels on her because "his sister is sick." So she gets a call to babysit for this family and she decides to go. Turns out her best friend is stranded at the train station and when Chris and the 3 kids she's babysitting go to get her, craziness ensues.

5) World's Longest Shower ever. Being a girlie girl, I'm really into bath products and there's nothing I enjoy more than pampering myself. Deep conditioner and a sugar scrub may be the best way to end a day.

There are many more which I'm sure I'll discuss one day.

What are your guilty pleasures???

sherbet and fluff...

So apparently watching Kingpin, even though you've seen it at least 50 times, makes you laugh so much that you suddenly feel very awake. After Woody Harrelson left the Amish village with that chick from USA's "Weird Science", a commercial for ice cream came on and I started thinking about my favorite treat when I was little - a scoop of rainbow sherbet on a sugar cone from Baskin Robbins. That along with bubble gum ice cream (which I never really liked, but there was something so great about bubble gum in ice cream. It was almost as good as bubble gum in a lollipop) reminds me of humid july days and trips to the park with my family. To this day it's still my go to when I hit up Baskin Robbins. So of course, I thought of it so I wanted it. I was too lazy to drive there so I decided I would just hit up Safeway and grab some there.

I walked into the ice cream aisle and some guy was trying to select his ice cream treat for the night. Now, what I love about the ice cream/frozen foods section of the grocery store is that everything is behind a clear door. This allows you to clearly see the food available and after making a selection, you can quickly open the door and grab what you want. Smart. This guy didn't seem to get the memo. He proceeded to open each door for a good minute, look around, decide he didn't like anything and close the door. There are two problems with this: 1) Freezers = cold. Obviously. So when you leave the doors open this long, the person standing next to you in the aisle also gets cold. Not ok. 2) When you leave the door open this long, it fogs up after you shut it. This completely defeats the entire purpose of the clear door. Because of this, I had to open each door and freeze while I stared at the options. One person leaving the door open leads to a cycle of people being forced to open the door. Not ok.

I finally got into the checkout line and the two guys in front of me kept laughing and talking about how messed up they were. I looked at their cart and what did I see? Firewood, marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers, and fluff. 'Smores baby. I'm not going to lie, I was a little concerned about their desire to start a fire in their current state. But the best part was listening to their debate about whether or not to go with the fluff. One guy kept saying that they needed to be "authentic" while the other guy kept insisting that the fluff was to eat after the 'smores. Genius.

law school makes me sleepy

first week of school...i'm so tired...law school sucks.

Will update soon.

Right now, I'm off to lay on the couch and watch this.

Jewel + Everclear + Fiona Apple = Me Freaking Out

So here I am posting at 2 a.m. again. Surprise surprise. Only this time it's not a result of me getting wrapped up in a "What Not to Wear" marathon (which I do quite often because I'm a massive fan of Stacey and Clinton) or because I spent most of the day in bed (which I did today, but I was awake and chilling with Matt and Brodie so it doesn't count), but because I was working on my reading for my first week of classes. Whenever I'm trying to get into the "work zone", I always pop in my headphones and turn on Rhapsody (which I adore) and pick an album or random playlist to set the mood and keep me focused. Tonight I picked a playlist titled "Straight Outta the 90's" and suddenly I was transported back. I had flashbacks to the summer between 7th and 8th grade where I sat in my parents basement listening to Q101 and signing on to AOL version 3.0 thinking about how I should really finish that last book on my summer reading list but promise myself that I would finish it after I watched MTV's "Singled Out". My biggest concern was putting on a trendy outfit from Contempo Casuals (which I really shouldn't have worn back then) and convincing my dad to drive me to the mall to meet my friends and give me $5 so I could buy super cute earrings at Claire's and a slice of pizza at Sbarro. And snap back to reality...I'm 25 years old and a day away from starting my last year of law school. Oh, and I'm getting married in a year. Holy Crap...

How did I get here?

because this is how you play guitar...

While attempting to start my homework (and yes, I have homework a entire week before classes start. It's ridiculous), this lovely commercial came on:

What??? Really??? I'm all about playing guitar. I have a lovely one sitting in my living room that I attempt to play but the 16 years of piano lessons with a strict teacher who told me I would ruin all of my training if I played guitar make it a bit difficult. I'm also a fan of fake guitars, aka, guitar hero/rock band. It's nice to feel like you're a rock star when you only have to focus on 5 buttons and the strumming thing (though that game gets super hard, particularly after a night of "battle of the rock bands", also known as drinking and playing the game at my house). I'll even give you air guitar, though I lack any talent in this area. But this "guitar idol" stuff...well I don't get it. And definitely not for $19.99. It's like a weird combination of guitar hero and air guitar. Although I have to say, if I saw someone whip it out at work/class/the train, it would be quite a sight to see and may cause me to rethink this opinion.

survey says...

Today has been a lovely, lazy day. Matt gets to work from home on mondays and so I've spent the entire day sitting on the couch with random tv playing in the background. We've watched "The View" (yes, it's like I'm a 30 year old mom of 4, but I watch for the occassional drama), "Revenge of the Nerds", and the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget (how many Mary Kate and Ashley jokes can you fit into a 90 minute show? Surprisingly, a lot). There is absolutely nothing on right now so I put on family feud. Watching this show reminds me of staying home sick from school and watching this, Cosby Show reruns, and The Price is Right. I like to think I'm pretty good at the game and feel pretty confident that I could put a killer team together. So Matt and I are sitting here yelling answers at the screen and I'm shocked by some answers that receive no points. Here's an example: "Name a food that has melted cheese on top". My answer - Pizza. LOTS of melted cheese on pizza. Pizza received 8 points. I always wondered how the Family Feud peeps survey people: Do they call random phone numbers? Do they stand in front of Starbucks with a clipboard? Perhaps I'll do a wikipedia search and figure it out...

In other news, I have 6 more days of summer vacation left. How should I spend these final days of summer? Suggestions are welcomed.

i'm totally glad i dipped in your ink

Last night I had the pleasure of going to the San Mateo County state fair. I know some of you are thinking "um, lame..." but I love stuff like this. When I was little I was obsessed with carnivals. I would go on every ride over and over again, especially the zipper, and stuff my face with every food imagineable. Now that I'm older I'm a little skeptical of the rides mostly because I watch those horrible specials on discovery channel where a little kid falls of the ferris wheel. However, yesterday was particularly nutty because Weird Al was performing. Yes, I had a friday night of "Amish Paradise" and funnel cake. Quality.

The remainder of last night consisted of me watching 6 episodes of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air because I couldn't fall asleep on Nick at Night (which, btw, I still can't get over. I remember when Nick at Night showed episodes of Mary Tyler Moore and the Patty Duke Show which seemed ancient when I was 6 years old), I finally fell asleep around 4 a.m. and woke up at noon. I absolutely love sleeping in on a Saturday morning. It reminds me of college when Matt and I used to spend the entire day in bed watching movies on our school's movie channel until we finally stumbled outside to eat grilled cheese sandwiches from the cafeteria. Memories...


After rolling out of bed we decided to see Pineapple Express. I was really worried that I wouldn't like it simply because it was hyped up by so many people as being absolutely hilarious. But I totally loved it. Total ridiculousness, but that's exactly what I wanted to see. All night Matt and I have been randomly saying quotes from the movie. That's how I know I love a movie. And it was so great to see Seth Rogan and James Franco acting together again.
It made me crave a marathon of Freaks and Geeks. That show was so quality and I often think about how tragic it was that it got pulled so early. Never seen it? You must check it out.

a moment to talk about my puppy

I adore my puppy. He's unbelievably adorable and sweet. He's also the biggest attention whore (I say that lovingly) that I've ever met. Here's how our day has gone so far:

8 a.m.: Woken up by Brodie jumping on my bed/face, immediately followed by tons of licking. Matt and I call this "eating my face" because it's like he thinks my face is a tootsie pop. How many licks does it take to eat my face off? 1, 2, 3...nope, still have a face.

8:30 a.m.: Matt leaves for work and Brodie crawls into my bed and curls under the covers. Ahh, adorable puppy, take a nap.

8:35 a.m.: Brodie's had enough of a nap and is now sitting at the front of my bedroom door barking until I finally get out of bed.

After leaving for a few hours to buy text books and such ($500 on books...ridiculous), I come back home and proceed to play fetch. Brodie cannot get enough of his tennis ball. If we let him play with it all day he would. And if we don't throw the ball to him, he sits in front of it with a really sad look on his face. I'm sure he's thinking "if I can look sad enough, they will play with me". Sadly, he's right.

3:00 p.m.: Cable guy shows up to fix some problem. Brodie stays in the kitchen and is whining because he hates being in there. Cable man asks if he can take him out. Brodie then proceeds to jump in cable man's lap. Spoiled brat.

3:30 p.m.: I decide to check my email. Brodie gets jealous and sits on my laptop.

I think I need to set up some doggie play dates.

i *almost* miss the humidity...

Last night I returned to San Francisco. The past week in Chicago was possibly the shortest vacation ever. But I do feel like I accomplished a lot on the trip: 1) I ate more than anyone should. But in a city with such great food, I think it's acceptable. 2) Spent lots of time with Tiffany. We always joke that when we decide to have kids, we'll have to buy houses next to eachother so we can raise them together. Every time I come home and see her I'm reminded of how wonderful that would be. 3) Saw my mom and brother which is always a great thing. 4) Covered some wedding stuff with my mom, including looking at some dresses. It's going to be an insane process, but I'm getting kinda excited about it. 5) Didn't even think about school - always a bonus.

The flights back weren't too bad. O'Hare is probably my favorite aiport in the world. Not only is it in my home city and my flights are almost always on time out of there, but they have the BEST bathrooms in the entire world. Yes, it's weird to love an airport for the bathrooms. But they have amazing automated toilet seat covers. Other people must love them because I actually found a youtube clip of them in case you're interested:



Genius.

So now that I'm back in SF I have a zillion things to do. Matt and I are going to visit a potential wedding venue tonight and then I think I'm going to a bridal show on Saturday. Tomorrow I also have to buy books, turn in my law student certification paperwork, and argue with the cable man that they actually need to fix the problem.

I guess summer vacation is really over.

Has Everyone Seen This Movie???

I was sitting around my house flipping through the channels tonight when I flipped to E! and "Showgirls" was starting. This got me thinking to how I've watched it on cable tv a few times, namely on VH-1 with Jessica. It's hilarious because there are so many words that they dubb in (because Jesse Spano has a filthy mouth in that movie) and there are classy drawn on bikinis that they put on the girls. Really, everyone should check it out.

I remember the movie bombed when it came out...yet I've talked to a bunch of people who have seen it on late night tv. Which got me thinking...has everyone seen it??? It's such a guilty pleasure that surely there must be a lot of us who have watched it.

Ooo Baby I Love Your Way

I have been listening to a ridiculous amount of Frampton Comes Alive. You may be thinking "wow Bianca, it's not 1976". Yes,but it's quality and it makes me happy.

Friday night I went out to celebrate Tiffany's birthday. It was totally fabulous. I picked up a mini dress from Forever 21 (that I'm sure I'll never wear again) for the occassion and we hit up the town. Started the night at Y bar where I had a pricy (though pretty tasty) cosmopolitan. Believe it or not that one little drink made me kinda tipsy. Thank you Grey Goose. After a few hours at Y bar we headed over to Sound bar for a little dancing. My feet were throbbing so I took off my shoes for a bit. Not even 2 seconds later, Mr. Security Man was like "tsk tsk, you can't do that". I don't think guys understand the pain that girls go through when hitting up the town. 4 inch heels look fabulous, and I don't care how comfortable they may be, after 5 hours of drinking and dancing they will kill your feet. I have 2 cute little blisters to prove it. A little after 2 a.m. I was wiped, so I cabbed it home. It was a lovely evening and a great way to celebrate Tiff's first quarter of a century.

Yesterday was super mellow. My lazy butt stayed in bed until 1 p.m. (which I justify because I'm on vacation) and watched really bad reality tv, aka, the Keeping Up with the Kardashian's marathon. Decided to chill with my mom and took her to see Mamma Mia which was super cheesy but kinda cute. Certain scenes were soo bad that they were good, but who doesn't love seeing sequins and platform boots accompanied by "Dancing Queen" on the big screen.

Also, I ended my evening with this:




I'm a happy girl.

Thank You "So You Think You Can Dance"

Tonight my faith in competition reality television was restored. Not only did I fully support the winner (who I won't disclose in case you haven't had time to plop down in front of your TIVO), but the finale totally delivered. At first I was pissy that they didn't show the finale in Chicago until 11 p.m. because of some programming confict. I was sure that I'd be too tired to stay awake and would get sick of the fluff that they usually put in finale show. But now - I was completely captivated for the whole 2 hours.

In other news, I'm still having a fabulous time in Chicago. I spent the day laying out by the pool with Tiffany. We laughed, we smiled, we tanned. Fantastic. Tomorrow I am car-less, so I think I may make my first attempt with the CTA since high school. Game plan - go to the beach, back home for lunch, then do minimal damage to my credit card downtown. And the finale - hitting up Y Bar to celebrate Tiff's bday. I'm sure a post about the insanity of the evening will be coming shortly...

Heidi Klum, You Need to Step It Up

A skort. A SKORT!!! Are you freaking kidding me?! And a white skort with U S A on it. There was a point in time when I rocked a skort. I believe I was in 5th grade. And I even had a white one. But I didn't say USA and it was from the Gap. The task was to make a modern Olympic outfit that the US team could wear during the opening ceremony. I get that it needs to be red, white, and blue. I get that it needs to be sporty. But I don't think there's anything modern about a skort, let alone anything to place it in the top 3.

Am I the only one who thinks that Project Runway hasn't been delivering this season? I live for the fashion...I live for the drama...I'm not getting it this season. As a crazy busy law student, there are few shows that I insist on watching live. Project Runway is one of them. Now I'm not so sure...

Ok, I'm a little bitter.

Plane Rides and Hot Dogs

So I've been back in Chicago for less than 24 hours. I had the pleasure of sitting in front of 3 loud and crazy kids. They spent the majority of the flight throwing goldfish crackers on the floor and stomping on them and then placing crushed crackers in my hair. When I turned to the mom she was simply like "oh, they're just trying to be cute." My response - no, you're kids are not cute, they are _____. Fill in the blank as you see fit. I shouldn't really blame the kids, seeing that they were all under 7 years old and super bored on our tv-less flight. But really mom, shape up.

Within minutes of getting off the plane, I had the pleasure of eating this:



From this wonderful place:



It was messy and made me feel like I was going to explode, but it was absolutely delish and exacly what I wanted.

It's funny how certain foods really make me feel like home. Today I ran errands with my mom and went to Jewel Osco (oh how I miss you when I'm in SF) and I was super stoked to pick up Home Run Inn frozen pizza. I mean really, who gets excited about frozen pizza??? It's totally silly, but it brought a smile to my face. I also like to make lists of what food I want to eat while I'm in town so as to take full advantage of my visit. Any suggestions for chow would be greatly appreciated.

Also, it looks like there's going to be a thunderstorm tonight...soo excited!

me vs. the iphone

I think I've lost my fiance to this:



Here's a little list: me vs. iphone:

1) If Matt's ever bored at work, he can pull out the iphone from his pocket and have endless procrastination possibilities (games, websites, etc.). I'm not tiny and portable so I can't go to work with him. 1 point, iphone.

2) You can play movies on the iphone. But I can get off the couch, put in a dvd/change the channel/drive to the movies and keep Matt entertained with a million comments. 1 point, bianca.

3) If something on his phone is not working, Matt can get pissed and the phone won't say anything. If we're fighting, we all know I'm gonna say something. 1 point, iphone.

4) The iphone has a pretty touch screen which makes it easy to do stuff. But asking me to do something doesn't require him lifting a finger. 1 point, bianca

5) The iphone has a swanky scientific calculator application. I can't do math. 1 point, iphone.

6) I'm a human being. 1 point, bianca.

7) In a few years I'm sure the phone will break...and I'll still be here. 1 point, bianca

So here's the score: iphone - 3 points; bianca - 4 points.

Now I feel better.

1 a.m. on a Monday and I'm Not Sleeping? Craziness...

3 bits of randomness:

1) Earlier today I said "blah, I really don't want to go to work tomorrow." And then I realized that I don't have work. The 10 weeks of my summer internship absolutely flew by. While it was a little slow at first, I became really great friends with the other interns, found that I really loved the work I was doing, and felt super comfy in the office. The experience reminded me why I went to law school in the first place. I actually felt like I was helping people and making a difference. I really hope it's enough to keep me going through this last year of law school.

2) In less than 48 hours, I will be here:

Usually I only make it home twice a year, and those trips are full of so many appointments and "I have to get ____ done while I'm in Chicago" that it's not as enjoyable as it could be. But since I was home 2 months ago, there's really not a lot of things I "have" to do, which means I can really relax and just enjoy being there. I'm super stoked.

3) I'm watching "House Hunters - International" on HGTV. Did you know you could buy an amazing condo in Buenos Aires for $150,000? Who wants to move with me?

Martha Stewart Weddings Makes Me Want to Blog

I just got off the phone with my mom who is absolutely thrilled that I will be in Chicago next week. I asked her to make a list of the things she wants/needs me to do while I'm at home and she goes "oooooo, I really want to go to that bridal shop and look at dresses!" She's like, super stoked about the whole thing. Which got me thinking how I haven't really done a "wedding" post. So voila.

The first thing one should do when planning a wedding is pick a budget. Matt and I discussed how much we felt comfortable spending before I approached my mom to see what she wants to contribute. Here's how that convo went:

Me: Mom, before we can really do anything, we need to know our budget.
Mom: What's a budget?
Me: You're cute mom. Seriously though, I need to know.
Mom: You don't have a budget.
Me: A budget is important
Mom: You're crazy. You know your mom has expensive taste. So tell me what you need to make it look amazing.

Helpful, right? While it could be fun to pretend like my wedding is an episode of "My Super Sweet Sixteen", I really couldn't pull it off. So I have a mental idea of what I want to spend and will have a lovely time discussing this with mom next week.

I spent the majority of the summer looking at the billion possible venues where I could see myself getting married. Major criteria: 1) Ceremony and reception in one location. The wedding can be outside and the reception inside, but I really want to keep it all together. 2) I really want my ceremony outside. While my mother is still trying to get over the fact that I won't get married inside a church, I've always pictured myself outside. So that's that. 3) Must have amazing photo ops. That makes sense for obvious reasons. 4) Has to be somewhere where we can stay late. And by late, I mean like...11ish. Which you would think is easy, but places have a ton of restrictions that might make it difficult. So after searching and searching I think I have 5 places that fit the criteria. I made Matt create a series of spreadsheets (because excel is a beautiful thing) with costs based on number of guests, what each venue includes, pros/cons, etc. Matt and I are going to start visiting them next month and then pick...*fingers crossed* that I absolutely fall in love with one of them.

I have a mental idea of what I want my dress to look like. I've found a bunch of pics that I love, but each one has 1 tiny thing I want to change. Part of me thinks that I'll have to tweak whatever dress I pick, but I am so thrilled to start trying them on. Look forward to the "omg, I hate wedding dress shopping - I feel like a cow and I look crappy in white" post that I'm sure will show up in the next few months.

I have a bunch of ideas and visions about what I want(flowers, colors, favors, etc.) There's only one thing that we're dead set on, but everything else is up in the air. All the wedding mags and tabbed like crazy. I'm starting to freak out with the enormity of the whole thing, but I think I can handle it...right?