~Isn't She Pretty in Pink~

surf dudes with attitude

2010-03-05T10:40:00.001-08:00

I've talked before about my love for a little show called "California Dreams". Any show that was basically "Saved by the Bell" + Music is fine by me. It was cheesy, it was mildly funny, it made my Saturday mornings fantastic.

Jimmy Fallon was on a mission to reunite the cast of "Saved by the Bell" which didn't work out, but he made my world when he reunited the cast of "California Dreams" last night. AND he got them to sing the theme song. Yes, Yes, YES!!!

My only question: what happened to Lorena and Mark who came in on Season 3?

just another day at borders

2010-02-01T21:48:00.001-08:00

Today I was at Borders shopping for a planner when this conversation occurred:

Random Guy: "Hey, I've seen you here a few times before, you come here a lot."
Me: "Um, a few times, not that often."
Random Guy: "Well, I've been looking at you and you're really pretty, but I looked at your hand and it looks like you're married..."
Me: "You're right, I am."
Random Guy: "That's too bad, you're pretty."
Me: "Well, that's sweet. Thank you."
Random Guy: "Well, if you're ever unmarried, here's my card."
Me (looking at card): "Oh..."
Random Guy: "You never know, right?"
Me (super uncomfortable): "Right...so, you're a dog walker?"
Random Guy: "Yep. If you ever need one, give me a call. I'll give you the 'friends' discount."

Where do these people come from? And what kind of "friends" discount would I get? Matt came home and I told him this story and showed him the card and he said, laughing intensely, "well, we do need a dog walker..." Ahh my life.

In other news, the lovely Carissa at The Lovely Dove gave me an award. Thank you Carissa!

For this award I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things about myself that you may or may not know. Hmm...let's see:

1) It's not often that I get "typically" sick (flu, etc.) but I do get weird illnesses. When I was 9 I had Scarlet Fever with a temperature of 106. I sat in the examination room and heard "scarlet fever test in room 4" and said to my mom "wow, I feel bad for that kid..." When I found out it was me, I burst into tears and said "Helen Keller had scarlet fever. I don't want to go blind and deaf." The doctor laughed at me. I was also sick the first week of my sophomore year of college with Strep "G" which my doctor had never seen.

2) Even though I've had weird illnesses, I've never had chicken pox.

3) I'm crabby if I don't eat Lou Malnatis at least once every 3 or so months. This means my mom has to ship it out to me several times a year. But really, how could you not want to eat this?

4) As I'm sure all of you know, I love my shoes, particularly my peep toe heels. What you may not know is that I got my first pair of high heels when I was 9. My Godmother is from New York and loved sending me the latest styles. However, she failed to recognize that I was a little girl who wanted to dress like her friends instead of a girl twice her age. However, when I got my first pair of heels I was in love. They were 4 inches, cream colored with delicate embroidery. I used to wear them around the house begging my mom to let me wear them out of the house. I somehow convinced her to let me wear them to my brother's Confirmation ceremony. My friends were jealous and I felt glamorous...and then I burst into tears the moment I stepped outside because I was in so much pain.

5) I really hate wearing socks. I have no idea where it comes from, though I suspect it has to do with wearing knee socks for 13 years. The only time I wear them is when I'm going to the gym or if it's pouring outside/there's snow and I have to wear them with my boots.

6) Watching the Disney movie "Wish Upon a Star" is one of my guilty pleasures. The plot is silly and absolutely predictable, but I love it. I don't even want to think of how many times I've seen it...and yes, this 26 year old girl still watches it from time to time. Katherine Heigl was fabulous back in the day (also check her out in "My Father the Hero")

7) Being a choir brat in high school, I love to sing. Being a fan of pop culture, I can name random lyrics instantly. Put them together = my having a tendency to burst into song with a random lyric when the moment presents itself. For example: the other day Matt said "turn around". My response: "bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart..." And you know that went on for a good minute.

Voila! I know I'm supposed to pass this along to people but I'm terrible at picking, so everyone should do it!

Jon Hamm & Michael Buble? Yes Please

2010-01-31T21:45:00.000-08:00

you've got me wrapped around your little finger

2010-01-16T23:27:00.000-08:00

A quick update on my family in Haiti: On Thursday night, my mother received a phone call from my uncle in NY. He received an email from my uncle in Haiti letting him know that he, my grandma, and my aunt were all ok. The phone lines are still spotty and my mom has spent the last few days trying to get through to them. I just got word that my uncle in NY managed to get on the phone with my grandma and she is calm and says she is ok. Info is slowly trickling in about some of my mother's friends and while not all the news has been pleasant, we are so relieved that our family is ok.

I want to say a huge thank you to all of you who either commented or sent me emails. I have spent much of the last few days feeling completely out of it, scared, and upset and you have no idea how wonderful and uplifting it was to hear your kind words and support. I started this blog as a place to ramble about ridiculous things I see on tv or about the stress that is law school, and in the process I've connected to some fantastic people. I am so grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Needing to get out of the house, today the boy took me out to a yummy dinner in the city and a movie. Since I didn't think I could handle "The Lovely Bones" right now (and I just finished Chapter 2...I need to hurry and finish it) and I'm still undecided if I want to see "Avatar", I finally got to see "An Education". I wasn't so sure how I was going to like the plot of a 16 year old girl who starts dating a man twice her age, but I absolutely loved it. Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard did an excellent job at making it "not creepy" because it could have easily gone there. 2 minutes into the movie Matt looks at me and says "well, this is the 1960s and this girl is obsessed with Paris...you're going to drool"..and I totally did. The clothes in this movie were beautiful and just reaffirmed my dream to someday own a closet full of dresses from the 1960's. Some of my favorites:

Swoon...someday my friends, someday.

a small detour

2010-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been a while since I've blogged but the last few months have been either 1) extremely boring or 2) extremely busy so I haven't had much to say. However, with the massive earthquake that just hit Haiti, I feel compelled to write. While I'm usually lighthearted, I'm going to take a small detour from the pop culture commentary and ridiculous ramblings to discuss something near and dear to my heart.

While some people reading this blog know me personally, those who do not may not know that I'm half-Haitian. While I have quite the mix (full breakdown: 1/2 Haitian, 1/4 Middle Eastern, 1/8 Irish, 1/8 German, my Haitian side is the part that I know the most about and feel the strongest connection to. My mother was born and raised in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was in her 20s. A lot of my family located in the United States and Canada were born in Haiti as well.

More importantly, my grandmother and several other relatives still live in Haiti.

Yesterday I sat on my couch shocked as the news unfolded about the earthquake that took place. I immediately called my mother to ask if she was able to get through to any of my family. As of right now, we're still unable to get through. Landlines, cell phones, texts...nothing. The phone lines to the country, especially my grandmother's town, have never been consistent and given the current situation, I have no idea when we'll hear anything. My entire family is sitting by their phones hoping to hear something, anything. I've turned CNN on and off all day, not being able to watch the news for more than 10 or so minutes without crying and feeling physically ill. As a country that has already suffered so much, I can't even begin to imagine what is going on over there. As a result of the political and social conflict that is happening over there, I've never been able to visit the country except for the 20 minutes I was able to cross the border from the Dominican Republic to Haiti while accompanied by UN officials. While people know Haiti only as an extremely poor country, the stories I've heard from family paint a picture of culture, excitement, and beauty. It has always been my dream to visit the country and take it all in. As I look at the pictures on TV, I'm devastated.

The situation has made me take a huge step back and think about everything. I've realized that I get so wrapped up in the most trivial things that I really don't take a step back once in a while to think about what's important. I think it's something we're all guilty of. So while I will continue read about celebrity gossip and watch "Jersey Shore", I think it's important that we all take little moments for ourselves to reflect about the important things in life and be thankful.

I'm sure most of you have seen the various ways you can help. Of course the American Red Cross and UNICEF and various other organizations are taking donations. But, many of you are like me and are poor students are unemployed law school graduates with insane debt who can barely afford to pay rent. For those of you like me, you can still help without having to dig crazy deep into your pockets:

Wyclef Jean's organization "Yele Haiti" has made is super easy to donate. If you text "Yele" to 501501, a $5 donation will be charged to your cell phone for earthquake relief. $5 is less than the fun drinks I enjoy at a bar. It seems small but the numbers add up. Read Here to See Other Ways You Can Help

And finally, I ask that you keep my family and the people in Haiti in your thoughts. I will update you guys as I hear info.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

friday was a good day

2009-11-22T20:23:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks I've been scared of November 20th so the boy decided to do everything in his power to make it enjoyable. On Friday I...

1) Saw "New Moon". I thought I was being clever by going in the morning and would only have to share the theater with 20 or so people. I was so wrong - it was packed full of college kids and moms. Fortunately there wasn't any screaming (except when Jacob took off his shirt because, let's be honest, how could you not). But I liked it more than "Twilight" and cannot wait to see "Eclipse".

2) Took my first SF cable car ride. I've lived in the Bay area for 8 years and never took one because the boy refused to be a tourist. But in the spirit of planning a day that that would keep me happy and distracted, we went. It was super cheesy and super fun.

3) Went to Musee Mecanique, an arcade with antique games, photo booths, and fortune tellers. Hoping to determine my fate, we definitely hit up all of the fortune tellers (including Zoltar). We followed that up with a trip to the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" museum which was more random artifacts than weird stuff, but still entertaining.

4) Pretended to be 10 years old by going to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and laughing for 5 minutes straight during the "thunderstorm".

and finally...

5) At 6:20 p.m. I found out that I PASSED THE BAR EXAM!!!

I've been on Cloud 9 all weekend and could not be more excited. Thanks to all of you who have sat through my law school rantings about studying/stress/ridiculousness - it's over!!!

getting rid of your oldies but goodies

2009-11-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so I've been doing a major sweep of my house. A little background:

The boy and I moved in together right after college graduation. Our first home was a little apartment which we loved, but it wasn't vary spacious and we knew that we wouldn't stay there for more than a year and didn't feel the need to unpack things we didn't need. Because our college makes seniors move out of the campus apartments the day after graduation (mean, I know), we didn't have a chance to do a thorough investigation of what we were taking and leaving and a lot of stuff followed us to the apartment. A year after living in the apartment I got into law school and had to move to be closer to my campus. After discussing our options, we decided to buy a house which was an exciting but daunting task and we found a home we loved and were ecstatic that it was ours. Unfortunately, we couldn't move in until the week before first year orientation which left enough time to unpack all of the essentials. The remainder of boxes/bags/suitcases full of random junk went into the basement or one of the spare rooms and we promised that we would go through it a weekend at a time until we either unpacked or gave away what we didn't want.

That was 3 years ago.

Now that I sit around the house all day and have spent the last week and a half watching the first 5 seasons of "The Office" (which, I'm sorry I ever said that show was bad. It's genius), I finally decided that the time has come to go through everything. I thought it would be easy because I would want to get rid of everything. Here I am sitting in our office, surrounded by stuff, and I don't want to let go of anything.

A few examples:

1) I really started to love clothes when I was 15. Ok, I've loved them for my entire life, but I got my first job when I was 15 and could actually buy my own stuff. In the boxes I found a bunch of slip dresses that I bought from Contempo Casuals (and had to hide from my mom) as well as some cute dresses that my grandma who I only see once a year gave me. I stopped wearing them in college because of my love of Mother's Frosted Animal Cookies and other late night snacks, but due to my recent weight loss, they fit me again. I know that chances are slim that I'll ever wear these again, but I have so many memories attached to them that it kills me to put them in a box to give away. I feel really selfish about this.

2) As a political science and sociology major, I was always really proud of the notes and outlines that I made for every test or paper. Apparently I had so much pride that I didn't feel the need to throw them away when the class was over. I think I convinced myself that some day I would need them. I have no idea when that day will come. I spent time going through those notebooks and laughing at things I wrote in the margins (example from undergrad ethics: wow, that girl really answered her phone in the middle of class and left the room. She thinks she's the shit. I really don't like her...) I managed to part with these notebooks as well as the insane number of handouts/cases from law school, but I couldn't get rid of the outlines. Yes, I have them on my computer but I scribbled in the margins in marker while I studied and somehow I think they're important. I did put them in binders though, so I guess that's an accomplishment.

3) I love girlie magazines (Glamour, Elle, Allure, etc) and one of the best ways for me to relax is to chill in bed reading them and marking the pages of outfits that I love but can't afford but will find a way to recreate. This is all well and good, but then I save them in case I want to reference them later on. Does this happen? Of course not. I know they need to go because they take up a ridiculous amount of space, but I wonder if I should rip out those pages I marked. Will I really look at them? I have no idea. I guess if I'm questioning it, the answer is no.

4) I've gone to a ridiculous number of concerts and back in high school and early college, a large portion of my wardrobe consisted of band tshirts. When seeing a band that I really loved, I always bought a shirt. I have 6 Blink 182 shirts...and that's just the beginning. I decided that I can't part with these. When I was younger I loved looking at my dad's band merch and I'm hoping the some day my kids will do the same. Or think I'm silly. Either way I'm ok with it.

5) Being in a sorority = more tshirts/pins/pictures/pens than I could ever need. They're all in a box on a shelf in my closet next to the band shirts. Don't think I can part with them either.

6) We've managed to acquire a lot of random trinkets in the past 8 years from various holidays or just because. I definitely have memories associated with 80% of them, but I'll never use/look at them, but I feel guilty giving them away.

Am I the only one with this problem? I've actually parted with a lot of stuff, but I know I can get rid of a lot more. What to do, what to do...

let's get physical

2009-11-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

After Halloween and the many mini-snickers/milky way/kit-kat bars that come with it, I've decided that I really need to get back on my "healthy" kick. It's not so much the eating well that's hard for me. Once I clean house and get unhealthy things out of my kitchen, I find that I enjoy the fruit and granola that replace the mint milanos (which are dangerous - I could definitely eat an entire bag by myself. Bad, bad, bad) What I really hate is going to the gym. Though I occasionally enjoy jamming to my ipod while on the elliptical, I'm usually over it in 20 minutes.

Though I get that I need to suck it up and go to the gym, I'd also like to come up with different means of exercise:

1) While figuring out what I want to do with my life, I've decided to do a major overhaul on the house. The boy and I have so many boxes that we moved over here after college that haven't been opened since we graduated in 2005. I've spent so many hours lifting boxes, going through them, moving some things into different rooms while throwing others away, etc. Since I'm a girl who doesn't like to sit in silence, I've been playing old dance music from the 90's that has me dancing around in between running up and down the stairs with boxes. Does that count as exercise? And do I get bonus points for singing and dancing while running around? I think so.

2) I used to be a dancer (jazz, modern, ballet, and tap) from when I was 3-16 years old. When some of these 90's gems come on, I remember certain routines that I did in past recitals and for some reason I can remember entire routines, which is pretty rad. I'm thinking of enrolling in a weekly dance class because 1) I miss it a ton and 2) I was never in better shape than when I was taking those classes.

3) Even though the doctor doesn't like it, this week the weather has been amazing in SF so I've taken Brodie on a few runs around the neighborhood. Though my back problems may get worse if I make this a habit, I've really enjoyed the time outside. I wonder if there are any other good outside activities that could be considered exercise.

4) There was a 1 month period during the bar exam that I was really into "Wii Active" and though it had a tendency to get boring, I actually think some of the exercises worked. Maybe I should use it again?

5) Anyone remember Eric Nies from the first season of "The Real World"? Anyone remember that he used to host "The Grind"? If you've made it this far, maybe you know they had "The Grind" workout videos...which I'm sad to say, I purchased when I was 12 and felt compelled to workout (silly Bianca...you barely had any fat on you back then). Upon telling my mom about how I need to put some excitement into my workout, she offered to send these back to me. While I have no desire to do these tapes again, I know that a lot of people are into the Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred". Does it work?

Alright my healthy friends, send suggestions this way!

honeymoon!!!

2009-10-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

I can't really blog about the wedding if I don't blog about the honeymoon, right? That's what I thought...

The boy and I waited a few days after the wedding to say goodbye to all of our family who flew in for the wedding before we took off for our trip. We knew we couldn't get a direct flight, so we decided to take the red eye to Charlotte thinking that we would sleep on the plane. Of course, the boy and everyone else on the plane fell asleep but me. There was quite a bit of turbulence and since I'm scared of flying, I only managed to get 20 minutes of sleep. Needless to say, I was crabby when we landed. However, I was pumped for breakfast (since I rarely wake up early enough to have it at home) and I decided that after months of dieting, I was going to treat myself to a sausage and cheese biscuit from McDonalds (my breakfast choice of youth - I always had them before my AYSO soccer games on Saturday mornings). Giddy and excited, we walked off the plane and walk around...and discover that there's no McDonalds. The carb gods were trying to tell me to stay strong. Boo. Since we make a point of trying the random chains when we go out of town, Matt decided to try Bojangles (chicken and biscuits - he was in heaven) while I settled for a bagel (take that carb gods!) We managed to fall asleep at our gate and before we knew it, it was time to board our flight to...JAMAICA!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was for a trip that involved nothing but reading magazines and books while drinking pina coladas by the pool/beach. After getting off the plane, we were greeting by resort employees who promptly handed us 2 Red Stripes - fabulous. The drive to the resort took about 2 hours in which the driver played Bob Marley the entire time. We thought this was specifically for us since we're tourists. However, we heard Bob Marley every day, everywhere we went. I'm not gonna lie, after 10 days I was over it.

After checking it, we walked up to this room, opened the balcony door and were greeted with this:
No joke, I started jumping up and down cheering "yay, yay, yay!!!" when I saw it. I loved being one of the rooms surrounding the pool - it made me feel very "Melrose Place" except without all the drama and scandal.

The resort had a crazy amount of activities and water sports, though we spent most of our time hanging out on the beach being couple-y. Regardless, here are some pics/stories of what we saw/did:

1) A lot of our trip was spent doing this:

or this:

Amazing.

2) Our resort was "Couples Tower Isle". While it looked pretty from afar, we actually didn't go to the island because it's an "all nude" part of the resort. I've done the topless thing, but I don't think I could go all out. We did get a closeup peek of the island during one of our boat rides...and the people on the island decided to moon us. Nice.

3) We took several boat rides during our trip - once for a catamaran cruise (where I was d.r.u.n.k.) and to go snorkeling/scuba diving. I could not get over how clear and blue the water was and it was my fist time swimming with fish - an interesting experience for a girl who often says "I don't do nature", but it was fun. I didn't scuba with Matt since I wasn't comfortable with breathing underwater, but I did snorkel above him so I got to watch everything he did. Not fun - When we got back on the boat, I started to feel sick and my muscles tensed up and I couldn't move them. Turns out I was showing symptoms of the bends - yes, leave it to the girl who didn't actually scuba to get sick. Needless to say, I spent the rest of that day in bed watching "The Tyra Show", "Wendy Williams", "Extra", and other bad talk shows.

Me and the boy on the Catamaran

Where they took us to snorkel/scuba

I love that this fish was camera ready

4) I also ate...a lot. This is the benefit/drawback of all-inclusive resorts. In addition to the buffet, they had 2 fancy restaurants as well as 2 more casual restaurants, juice/veggie bar, and a poolside grill. Being the dork that I am, I definitely took pictures of food, especially since some of the meals were the most beautifully plated meals I've ever seen, but I won't bore you guys with those.

5) Ever since I can remember, whenever I've been on the beach, I've written "Bianca <3 *insert current crush*". So of course, I did that in Jamaica.

Time flew by way too fast and before I knew it, we were at the Montego Bay airport which I have to say was awesome because they had the Official Jamaican Bobsled Team store complete with the actual bobsled they used. The best part is that they were playing "Cool Runnings" on loop. I used to LOVE that movie!

Looking through these pics makes me want to be back on the beach...think I can convince the boy to go somewhere tropical for Christmas?

My Wedding!

2009-10-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

The boy and I have been back from the honeymoon for 2 weeks now and I realized that today I have been married for 1 month...which means I should finally blog about it. And while I wanted to wait until I had the digital files for my wedding pics to post pics, some of you have asked to see some so I'm going to post some that my friends took.

I'm proud to say that I remained pretty calm throughout the wedding planning process. I guess after going to law school and studying/taking the bar exam, nothing can be more stressful. Plus it helped that Tiffany, aka, the BEST maid of honor ever, flew out a few days early to help with last minute details. Since we had a long engagement, I was able to space out details pretty well and fortunately we only had 1 unexpected thing go wrong (candle holder drama) so I didn't have to deal with too much before the big day. The rehearsal (which went smoothly after everyone finally got there due to ridiculous SF traffic) was fast and the dinner was lovely. We all ate too much and happy. Here's Tiff and I right before dessert. I was in LOVE with my vintage 1950's dress that I got at Shangri-La Vintage in Chicago. I love it there!
After the rehearsal Tiff and I went back to my house where we painted our nails and I watched Tivoed talk shows until I finally fell asleep. I woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and watched an episode of "Clean House" before taking my shower - typical Bianca.

My bridesmaids and I all went out to breakfast before heading to the venue where we were all getting our hair and makeup done. We were greeted with champagne and juice which we drank while getting pampered for 4 hours. Lovely. Time flew by super fast and before I knew it I had to put my dress on and go outside for pics. When we walked outside, we were shocked. It was 90 degrees outside which is hot for the Bay Area and even worse considering it was late September. My dress fit perfectly, but that also meant there was little breathing room and I was pretty sure I was going to faint. Fortunately that didn't happen. Here are some pics of me and my bridesmaids:

The girls helping me with my dress

Group portrait for the photographer

The photos didn't take too long and after relaxing for 20 minutes and having a group dance party to "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus (don't judge us) it was time to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was quick (15 minutes or so) but it was beautiful and everything I wanted it to be:

Walking down the aisle to a string version of "Pictures of You" by the Cure

Saying our vows

Yay, we're married! Walking back to "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes

The reception was fabulous. My colors were pink and champagne and while it was stressful to pick out cake/linens/flowers without seeing what they would all look like together, I loved it:

Entrance

Pretty Friends!

Cake!

Along with dinner and dancing, my favorite part of my reception was that we had a photobooth! It was the 1 thing that I always wanted at my wedding and I'm thrilled that we had one. Guests not only took pictures, but the machine printed doubles which they placed on a page that they decorated and wrote notes on and was then placed in a book which we used as our guest book. Photobooth + open bar = ridiculousness. I love my friends. Here are some of my favorites:

The Girls

College Roomies!

Groomsmen

Law School Girls!

Me and the Boy

At the end of the night we waited for everyone to leave and then we took off for the Four Seasons where we had the coolest hotel room I've ever been in which included a TV in the bathroom. Love it. I'm so, so happy with how the entire day went, but more importantly I'm unbelievably excited that I'm this boy's wife. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

officially a mrs.

2009-09-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been absent. I've been pretty busy. Nothing special really...

Ok, that's a lie. I've been busy getting MARRIED!!!

Things are super crazy as we're running around saying goodbye to the family that flew into town as well as preparing for our honeymoon, but I promise to write all about it when I get back!

But to summarize - I'm a happy gal.

back in chicago

2009-09-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night I flew back to Chicago. In the past month, I've been on a plane 3 times and as a girl who really hates to fly, it's been a little bit rough. I'm terrified of flying. I used to love it and then suddenly about 6 years ago, it started to scare the crap out of me. I still have trouble wrapping my head around how something so big can fly. I know it's physics and it's not that complicated and that it's the safest way to travel. The boy constantly tells me that I have no problem with driving and that it's much more dangerous than being on a plane. I think it has something to do with giving up control. I get so nervous that I'm super alert for the day or so before the flight and I'm really jumpy during the flight so I'm exhausted by the time I get home. I also haven't been sleeping well the last few nights, so I'm a sleepy gal. Anyone with advice on how to cope with flight nerves, please pass them my way.

I've spent the last 2 days running a ridiculous amount of errands. I'm absolutely thrilled to be back home. Since I was here 3 weeks ago, I feel like I never left. I don't get home very often so my mom totally pampers me when I'm here and I have to admit, it's lovely. I'm a lucky gal. Plus, I absolutely love waking up to this view every morning:

Yesterday the bestie and I went to our spot for some much needed BLTs and pie and were thrilled that it was free pie day. We ate far too much and she suddenly pulled out plastic vampire teeth, put them on and asked if she sparkled (if you're in the know, you get this). We proceeded to spend about 30 minutes quoting twilight and laughing about how ridiculous we are. I swear I'm 26 years old...and that this behavior is totally normal. I adore that girl.

Oh, and I'm getting married in 3 1/2 weeks. I was really calm but I slowly feel like freaking out. There are a bunch of little details to take care of and I'm worried about it getting done and looking fabulous. I keep reminding myself that the day is really about the act of getting married and everything else will fall into place but the girl in me wants it to be perfect. Yesterday I had my final dress fitting and it's amazing, so at least I was able to avoid the cookies and sweets and zip the dress up :)

Chicago Peeps, let me know if there's anything fun going on in the city this week/weekend that I should be aware of!

i'm a lazy gal

2009-08-26T14:46:00.001-07:00

It has been almost a month since I took the bar exam (which is bananas) and while my days have been filled with wedding planning, a lot of them have been spent lounging around my house. So what does an unemployed recent law school grad do with her time? Here's a little recap:

1) Travel to/Miss being in Chicago: I flew home a few days after the exam because I wanted to leave California for a while. On top of getting my wedding dress altered and celebrating the Bestie's birthday, it was just super nice to be back home...minus the humidity - I wasn't a fan of that. I'm flying back next week to pick up my dress and celebrate my last single gal trip to the Windy City - which is really weird.

2) Watch Far Too Much Reality TV: does anyone remember when VH-1 was MTV for our parents? Playing music videos 24/7 of artists that our parents wouldn't cringe at with a few hours of Behind the Music and Pop-Up Video sprinkled in. While I do miss those shows (and Behind the Music is coming back!), I am so thankful for the trashy reality tv that has taken the place of the music. I was totally into "Megan Wants a Millionaire" and I'm sad that they had to take it off the air along with the upcoming season of I Love Money (though those events are really tragic). Also, I'm loving "My Antonio". Is anyone else watching this show? I had a massive crush on Antonio when he was on General Hospital, but I'm really watching the show for the crazy girls who are one it. The girl who kept crying and running away? His ex-wife coming back? That crazy lady who was paranoid about her clothes getting stolen? Genius!

3) Becoming Obsessed with "One Tree Hill": I avoided this show when it started because I was certain that I didn't need another "Dawson's Creek" to watch. Several of my friends told me that I HAD to watch it and when it started from episode 1 on SoapNet, I decided to dvr it but still avoided it as 20 episodes piled up. I finally decided to check it out...I hate myself but I love it. In addition to angsty teen drama, the music on that show is amazing.

4) I can't stop listening to "She Wolf" by Shakira. I don't know why, but I love it.

5) Now that I have time I've started reading for fun again. I think I've read 10 books in the last month and I'm running out of books. Next up on my list are "My Custom Van" by Michael Ian Black and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer. I'm taking suggestions so if you have any good ones, pass them my way.

6) I also sleep 9-10 hours a night. My bed and I are bffs.

7) Note that no where on this list do you see cleaning my house, laundry, running errands, etc. I'm bad.

Wow, reading this list shows that I've been quite lazy...part of me feels like I deserve it, but I do feel guilty. I'm very, very lucky that the boy is able to support both of us and I realize that I better enjoy these last few months before I have to enter adulthood...and on that note, I'm off to sit outside and read.

every song should have this

2009-08-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

This is brilliant:

Thank you for being genius

my kind of town

2009-08-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Chicago - So glad to be back!!!

I always get a little giddy whenever I fly home. Now that I'm finished with school and I'm ready to enter the lawyer world full of writing memos and court appearances, I realized that I won't get to come home as much as I use to. So sad.

But for now, I'm excited to have a week here. It's absolutely gorgeous outside and I'm ready to hit the town.

So Chicago friends, what exciting things are happening in the city this week? Any new restaurants or bars I need to try? Let me know!

P.S. I was going to write a post about the hellish bar exam, but I'm still not at the point where I'm ready to talk about it. Sitting in a room with 1500 other people for 3 full days of essays, multiple choice, and performance tests was not a good time. But I stuck it out, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

wish me luck...

2009-07-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

I've been a wreck the past few weeks. This was to be expected. My head is 2 seconds away from exploding from being filled with useless legal information and none of the information that I'm sure I actually need. After a much needed chat with Kahea yesterday, I think I've come to terms with whatever happens happens. Le sigh.

BUT what has made me happy is walking around the house in these beauties that I think have won the "I'm Bianca's Dream Wedding Shoes" contest. What do we think?

So my dear friends, wish me luck and think happy thoughts for me this tuesday-thursday. And if I can manage to type, perhaps there is a drunken blog post in my near future, aka thursday night.

some things to be thankful for

2009-07-12T23:34:00.001-07:00

oh how I miss my blog. i long for the days when I was taking [insert law school class here] and I would ignore everything my professor was saying and write. This is also the reason why I don't bring my laptop to bar review lectures because we all know I wouldn't pay attention.

I've been a complete emotional roller coaster lately. One day I tell myself that I'll be ok and the next I'm crying/staring blankly into space/wishing for thousands of dollars to fall out of the sky so I can buy shoes and feel better. But tonight as I was taking the world's longest shower, I started to think about the things that are making life good right now:

1) The Pipettes: my future sister in law took me to one of their shows randomly a year or so ago and I just adore them. They take their sound from 1960's girl groups (think The Ronnettes/Shangri-Las) while singing about one night stands. This cd isn't long, but it can sit on repeat for the entire day and I don't get sick of it.

2) Netflix: inspired by reducing our cable bill dramatically after switching to DirectTV, the boy and I decided to get NetFlix. While getting movies delivered to my door is fabulous, I'm in love with the ability to stream some movies and tv shows on our Xbox. There is a crazy selection of 80's sitcoms that I listen to while studying because I either remember the episodes from when I was young and don't need to pay attention or they're so bad it's good that I can't necessarily bring myself to watch. Currently I'm watching "Charles in Charge". Awesome.

3) Fat Free Reddi Wip: Trying to keep my diet going while in a constant state of stress is super hard, especially since I have a big sweet tooth. But I treat myself to berry medleys and fat free reddi wip. It's the only reason I'm succeeding (update: down 31 pounds. no bad my friends, not bad)

4) Daisy of Love: Because whenever I need mindless television, this does the trick. I wasn't a big fan when she was on "Rock of Love" but I just love this show. Oh the drama.

5) Jess for her amazing "you're awesome" care packages. Life doesn't get better than tank tops covered in stickers, almonds, starbucks gift cards, and postcards. This girl is truly amazing.

6) My Google Reader: one of my few connections to the real world and is generally an uplifting moment in my day.

7) That in less than 3 weeks this will all be over

garage sales can help you pass the bar...maybe?

2009-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while running errands, Matt and I decided to pop into a garage sale. Really they were selling everything in the house. Bananas.

While looking at the bookshelf, I saw this:

"Dictionary of Legal Terms: Definitions and Explanations for Non-Lawyers"

I figure law school graduate minus the bar exam = non-lawyer.

In the midst of studying for the bar (and the reason why I currently don't have a life), I felt compelled to pull out $.50 for it. While reviewing something today I pulled out the dictionary to look up a term and went "ooohhhh...that totally makes sense."

Maybe this book will be my key to passing

stop...hammertime!!!

2009-06-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

There are only a handful of things that can make me laugh during this stressful time, but this really got me:

How I wish I could have been in that store!

fortune cookies don't lie

2009-06-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to believe fortune cookies. Yes, like the Lindsay Lohan version of "Freaky Friday". While I know they are random and often make no sense, sometimes I believe them. Let me explain:

My senior year at my small Catholic high school, I was a Eucharistic minister and one of my tasks was to help set up everything for Friday mass. One Friday the we had a visiting priest come say mass and my teacher introduced me to him and told him if he needed anything, he should come ask me. No big deal. The time came for him to say his homily. He grabs the microphone and says "will Bianca come up here?" Totally confused and a little embarrassed, I walked up. He then proceeded to tell a story about me - a girl with a lot of potential, but I was afraid to take advantage of it. Instead, I hopped on the bus and went to the bank where I rented a safe deposit box and locked up my potential. While I would visit it from time to time, I would never remove it. Bizarre, right? The whole point was for us to live to our potential which is a lovely message but I thought nothing of it. That night, my friends and I went out for one of our weekly dinners and went for Chinese food. At the end of the meal, I opened my cookie and read the fortune: "Be Sure to Make Full Use of Your Potential." I was totally freaked out but took it as a sign that sometimes I should pay attention to the message.

Today, after a day of feeling super overwhelmed, I decided that I wanted Chinese food. I also went out for it a couple weeks ago. Yea, it's not on my diet. Whatever. The fortune from a few weeks ago was "Things are Not Always What They Seem. It's Not That Bad." Today's fortune was "Keep Up the Good Work. You Will Be Rewarded Within the Month."

Must remind myself of this when I freak out while studying for the bar.

just call me miss bianca, j.d.

2009-05-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been super crazy and I had planned to write about all of the wonderful things that occurred...but then life got the best of me. So while this post won't do it justice, I felt compelled to write it down before life got too crazy...again.

1) Tiffany Comes to San Francisco!!!

I'm constantly running around doing something, so I'm really bad about having friends come out to visit. However, for the first time since I moved out to California almost 8 years ago, the bestie flew out to visit. She arrived the day I turned in my last law school final (yay!) and I was running on 1.5 hours of sleep. No good. But I pulled through and had the most amazing 5 days with her. We started off her visit with a trip to Chevy's. Pre-diet I ate there every other week or so because I'm a sucker for their chips and salsa and it's 5 minutes from my house. She heard me talking about it all the time, so off we went. Feeling this need to celebrate, we decided to get margaritas and figured "hmm, a pitcher is cheapish, why not." Seeing that I was on so little sleep/my tolerance has dropped dramatically since college...well it was a good time. I highly recommend the strawberry-raspberry ones. Delish.

The next day I played tour guide and took her all around SF. It has been a long time since I went all around the city, the weather was insanely gorgeous, and so it was crazy fun. to not do something relating to school. We started at Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder in bread bowls which is so tasty and I ate way too much. Awesome. We followed that with a drive down Lombard street where we felt the need to take this lovely photo: We then did a ton of shopping before going home and lounging around the house before the big event of the evening: Tiffany's first trip to In n Out where I forced her to order this
3 Words. Animal. Style. Fries. So so bad for you and so so good. After being denied In n Out for 4 months, I totally crashed after dinner which was good, because I needed a lot of rest before...

2) My Bridal Shower!!!

Though I'm not getting married until September, I'll be spending this summer studying for the bar exam, so we decided the have my bridal shower right before graduation. The lovely Miss Lailah banded together with my bridesmaids to throw the most amazing shower. She made these adorable cookies
and Tiffany made fantastic mix cds as my party favors. The house was decorated with all kinds of streamers and pictures of me and the boy, which are still up and will probably stay up for a while. We played a bunch of games and my friends sat around and told their favorite stories about me (we made me go "aww" every 2 seconds). I received an amazing amount of gifts that are beautiful and I felt like such a lucky gal. It was a bit of an intense day. After everyone left, I sat down and started sobbing. I looked like I was watching the end of Beaches. As a girl who doesn't love a lot of attention, I was so overwhelmed by how much attention was on me and how much love I felt from my friends and family. Mix those feelings with a bit of cosmos and I was a mess. I wonder how I'll keep myself together at the wedding.

3) The next day I turned 26. More than halfway through my 20s. I don't know what else to say about that.

4) Drumroll Please...

Tiff left the day after my birthday and I had 1 day to relax before my mom and brother flew in for...LAW SCHOOL GRADUATION!!! I can't believe I did it. While we don't get the official "you're finished" until all our grades are in, walking across that stage made it feel like we were done. I spent the entire weekend saying "it's not a big deal" (and really, passing the bar will be a bigger deal), but as I stood in line with my friends it hit me and I couldn't control my excitement. 3 years of work, stress, and sleepless nights...finished. It's awesome and I'm so proud of my core group for keeping it together...WE DID IT!!! Hopefully I can muster up the motivation for the next 2 months of studying for the bar (for which classes started 3 days after graduation) but I'm almost there. Phew.

Let's hope the next few months won't be as crazy as I think they will be.

just breathe...

2009-05-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

12 days until finals season is over.

20 days until law school graduation.

1.25 papers, 5/6 of a take home final, and 1 in-class exam stand in my way.

I'm a social gal, and being in hiding is the worst. As unmotivated as I am, I just need to remember to breathe and think that this insanity is almost over.

...until I have to start studying for the bar in 23 days.

Send happy thoughts my way!

thank you for being a friend

2009-04-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

First Estelle Getty and now Bea Arthur. I'm totally bummed. While Blanche is my favorite golden girl, the relationship between Dorothy and Sophia always makes me laugh. How such a tall girl was created from such a short woman is ridiculous and I love it. I can remember my mom watching that show when I was little and I will almost always watch a rerun when it's on tv. So sad.

giving in to peer pressure

2009-04-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

It's crunch time in the law school world...my last one...to say I thrilled, ecstatic, insanely excited, etc., would be an understatement.

I have 2 papers to write, an outline to prepare, and a take home exam that I'll pick up next week. While I've done a little work, there is oh so much to do.

But I haven't been working on these papers...

I've been reading Twilight.

The Bestie and Kahea have been bugging me to read it for months. I finally agreed to borrow the first 2 books from Kahea back in February. They sat on my coffee table watching the weeks go by. I wasn't going to give it to the peer pressure (not that these 2 ladies could ever pressure me in a bad way). Finally, I had a presentation to work on for class and I ran out of ways to procrastinate. So I picked it up expecting to be over it within 5 minutes.

I loved it.

I found myself being taken back to 1999 when I was 16 years old. I was a crazy giddy girl, slightly boy obsessed, and thought I knew everything. As I sat in my bed at 3 a.m. reading, I found myself laughing at parts because in a weird way, I could relate to some of it. Clearly I wasn't in love with a Vampire, though for one like Edward, I would have considered it.

I finished the first 2 and went out and bought the rest yesterday. Really Excited.

Is it bad that I'm 25 and loving this?

me minus 4 bags of sugar

2009-04-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today is a good day.

Either my scale is lying to me or...

I'm down 20 pounds!!!

Out of control. Tonight is sushi/sake bombing for the boy's birthday, so I may ruin it. But that's totally worth it.

wedding weekend

2009-04-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

It was a crazy wedding planning filled weekend. It was a little stressful and overwhelming, but really fun. Plus it involved no schoolwork. Fabulous!

Last weekend we were stuffing and licking envelopes for our save the date cards. We ordered them from Wedding Paper Divas, a super cute local company but they are well-known and did an amazing job. Here's the card we chose: which you can find
Here. Clearly that's not my exact invitation since my name is not Gabrielle, but it's beautiful. I started getting calls as early as Tuesday and I found out that the card made it to my relative in Spain on Friday so I think everyone should have received it. Big check out of the way.

On Saturday the boy and I spent the entire day sampling wedding cake from several bakeries. I haven't had real sweets like this in 2 months and it was INTENSE. Complete sugar overload. The amount of samples and flavors that we got to try was unbelievable. Not just vanilla and chocolate, but Bailey's and Kahlua, lemon, cheesecake, dulce de leche filling, ridiculous types of frosting...you get it. I was in heaven! The boy had his heart set on Red Velvet and I'm a girl who likes simple cake so we were worried we wouldn't be able to decide on what we wanted. Fortunately, we found an amazing bakery and designed our cake: 4 square levels, the bottom and top will be red velvet w/cream cheese frosting and the middle two levels will be vanilla with strawberry and whipped cream filling (a la strawberry shortcake). The outside of the cake is butter cream frosting with a thin layer of fondant for decoration. I wish I could explain the outside of the cake. Each level has a different decoration and the sketch of it looks AMAZING. It's girlie and wonderful.

Yesterday we decided to finally start our registry. I thought it would be pretty easy: we have similar tastes, already have some stuff since we've been living together for 3 1/2 years, and discussed what we need. Oh. My. Goodness. Impossible. We only started our registry at one store and we were completely overwhelmed. Which coffee maker do I want? How do I decide between 3 different flatware options that look the same? Wow, pots and pans are expensive...can I justify it? It's rough. I need help and I know there are some super lovely, married bloggers who read this. What do I do?! Any registry advice (including places that you love/hate) would be great.

And finally...for all you baseball fans, today is opening day. I'm treating myself to some low fat popcorn and rocking my Cubs hat and watching the game in an hour. Go Cubs!

shamwow and blog love

2009-04-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Law school really needs to learn I have a life. Really. I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep in two weeks, hang out with friends, watch trashy reality tv, etc. It's just not right. Here are a few things worth mentioning:

1) Today I found out that the Shamwow guy was arrested for assault w/a prostitute. According to "The Smoking Gun, Mr. Shamwow paid a prostitute $1,000 for sex. When he kissed her, she bit his tongue and wouldn't let go so he punched her a few times until she did. Shamhow? Shamwow. Also: he's 44. Doesn't he seem a lot younger?

2) I'm obsessed with "She Loves Everybody" by Chester French. Listen to on repeat obsessed. The guys met at Harvard and have that nerdy vibe which I dig. Check it out:<

3) In weight loss spectacular news, I'm down 5 more pounds. Though friday I'm going to Zachary's Pizza with the girls (one of the 2 semi-accurate Chicago style pizza places in the Bay Area) and then I have cake tastings at 3 bakeries on Saturday, so I'm sure I'll take a few steps back. But screw it, I love pizza and I love cake.

4) I received some great blog love last week from Post Smith and Jeans Friday. These two ladies are absolutely lovely and their blogs are always fun and entertaining. Thanks for the Love! So here we go:

Here are the award rules:

List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love!
Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ!

1) Cinnamon and Sugar rice cakes. Generally I think rice cakes are pretty blah, but these are surprisingly tasty.

2) Listening to "Nothing But a G Thang" super loud in my car at 9 a.m. on the way to school. That song is so classic and pumps me up.

3) Vintage Pin-Ups: they're totally cute and girlie. I try to bring their style into my wardrobe.

4) "The Cosby Show", particularly the early episodes. Those Huxtable kids were out of control.

5) Backgammon: my mom and dad taught me how to play when I was little and we used to sit outside and play during the humid, summer nights in Chicago.

7) C.O. Bigelow Rosebud Salve. Best lip gloss ever.

8) "Teen Witch". That movie is awful, and yet I love it, particularly for this scene:

to accurately follow the rules for this award, I have to list ten not-so-cute things about myself. Hmm, can I do this? Absolutely:

1) Though I sometimes sleep in cute jammies, often I'll sleep in long jammie pants, a hoodie, and have my hair in curlers. Doesn't really set the mood.

2) I will watch an episode of certain shows every time they air. I know exactly what is going to happen. I can even start to talk along with the characters. It can get extremely annoying.

3) If I can't find something or I'm frustrated, I'll sing random songs about that thing. When the boy asks me to stop, these songs just get louder. Speaking of songs...

4) If for some bizarre reason "mmm Bop" comes on, it's stuck in my head all day. And I will continue to sing the chorus until it gets out of my head.

5) During finals, my hair smells like coffee because I spend most of my time at starbucks. Ick.

6) I start movies before I go to bed and fall asleep before it's over so the title screen along w/any music or dialogue will play over and over again.

7) I'll grab my boobs at random. I think this started when I first got them and I was super stoked that they finally arrived.

8) My feet are always cold. But I refuse to wear socks unless I'm going to the gym or it's raining. Makes snuggling not as comfy.

9) If something really makes me laugh, I'll let out a little snort.

10) I have a potty mouth. I drop the f-bomb at least 10 times a day (but probably more). My mom has given up home on me being "ladylike". But, I can turn off the potty mouth in a heartbeat.

Phew! I'll pass these awards to:

1. Tiffany
2. Kahea
3. Lailah
4. Pardon My English
5. Miss Type-A

Also...Just finished the season finale of "Life on Mars". Did anyone else see this and think "wtf???"

90's movie soundtracks

2009-03-22T21:36:00.001-07:00

The other day Kahea and I took a much needed shopping break during our massive time gap between classes. On the drive back we started talking about 90's movie soundtracks and how they were so great. Being the pop culture/music gal that I am, I thought I'd share my favorites:

1) "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" Bonus points to you if you had both soundtracks. This movie came out when I was in 8th grade (1997ish) and I loved it. I thought it was beautifully shot, lovely and modern but let's be honest, it had Leonardo DiCaprio and he was super dreamy. Almost every girl I know remembers the scene 10 or so minutes into the movie where he's sitting on the stage, writing in his journal and smoking a cigarette and he looks up and that little bit of hair is in his eyes. Hardcore gals can also start humming the song that's playing in the scene. But the soundtrack had a lot of gems. For starters, there was "Lovefool" by the Cardigans which you could hear every time you turned on the radio during ths time. But it also had Everclear, Radiohead, Garbage, and Butthole Surfers. Kahea and I started laughing as we realized we both loved the song "To You I Bestow" by Mundy and actually started singing it out loud.

2) "Can't Hardly Wait". I'm not going to lie, I bust out the cd fairly often. My favorites are "Dammit" by Blink 182 and "Tricky" by Run DMC, but it also has Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, and Busta Rhymes. Plus any cd that ends with "Paradise City" is fine by me. It's surprising that they didn't include "Mandy" on there since Barry Manilow was kinda a big deal in the movie, but while he makes the songs that make the whole world sing, I didn't miss him on here.

3) "Clueless". If you read this blog enough, you know I love this movie. But I also adore the soundtrack. When I first got it, I listened to "Supermodel" a million time. Not that I wanted to be a supermodel, but I loved the line "I wish that I was like Tori Spelling with a car like hers and a dad like hers". My favorite song was "Where'd You Go" by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. This was right before I was into ska music, but it was so bouncy and fun. I was thrilled when I saw this song was included on Rock Band 2. The soundtrack also had 90's favorites from the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, and Luscious Jackson. Plus who doesn't love "Rolling with the Homies"?

4) "10 Things I Hate About You". This is one of the few tweeny flicks I can watch with the boy and we both actually really enjoy it. My friend Cat and I saw it in the theaters and thought we were so clever because "Bianca and Cat were seeing a movie about two girls named Bianca and Cat". Yea...we're awesome. The big songs that really stick out in my head from this movie are "I Want You to Want Me" by Letters to Cleo and "I Know" by Save Ferris, both bands which appeared in the movie. All my friends were really into this cd. The only this missing was "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Heath Ledger. I still can't help but swoon a little when I watch that.

5) "American Pie". That movie was absolutely ridiculous and I loved every second of it. Whoever thought to have some guy "have fun" with a pie is insane...or genius. Besides goodies from Blink 182 and Sugar Ray, my favorites were "You Wanted More" by Tonic and "Sway" by Bic Runga. Whatever happened to them? VH-1, get on that.

After having this convo, I spent the weekend listening to these cds and working on a paper. The music was great...I wish I could say the same for the paper.

What 90's gems did I miss?

eating a banana is the same as...

2009-03-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm a girl who likes to sleep. A lot. This means that it is almost impossible to wake me up for breakfast. When the choice is breakfast or 10 extra minutes of sleep, I'll always pick sleep. Unless there's french toast available. But that's another story.

Since I'm always running out the door to go to school, I tend to grab things that are easy to east in the car: lemon zest luna bars, rice cake, maybe yogurt if I'm feeling especially coordinated. Some days I feel like fruit, so I'll grab a banana. Banana's are delicious on their own. Banana bread is also yummy and Banana cake at my high school is probably my favorite dessert of all time.

One morning I was driving to school eating a banana and I heard loud music coming from the car next to me. I looked over and noticed that there was some 16 year old driving a car. It made me laugh for a second because he totally reminded me of myself when I was 16 and driving to school. But as I looked at him, I noticed he was making a weird gesture. What was he doing? He pointed at my banana and made a blow job motion.

Yea. Classy. Because eating a banana and blow jobs are the same thing.

I later told the story to friends and we kinda laughed at how silly teenagers can be (because you know, I'm so much more mature now that I'm 25...)

This morning I had a banana for breakfast. It's been many months since the last incident and several bananas have been consumed since then. And today, another bratty teenager did the same thing.

WTF?

So what's the solution? I could stop eating bananas in the car, but I don't think that's going to happen. I could ignore these people which would be the mature thing to do. Or I could find a witty comeback/motion for when this happens. Any suggestions?

Weight Loss Spectacular - Week 3

2009-03-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

So it's been a little more than 3 weeks since I've started this weight loss/eat better/looking hot regimen. I wish I could sy that that it hasn't been bad, that I love the gym, and I don't miss pizza at all.

That would make me a liar.

The first week was rough - I was crabby 24/7. Anytime I would see a food commercial on tv, I could feel my stomach say "one more time - you know you want it". For some reason Burger King commercials made me drool. And I don't even eat hamburgers. But I wanted it. The hardest part was that I drive past In N Out every day on my way home for school. How I dreamed of animal style fries. But I survived. The last 2 weeks have been somewhat easier. All crappy food is out of my house, so I'm forced to eat healthier things, which is good. And I've started to eat real breakfast again, something I haven't done since grade school. Nuts. I forgot how delicious breakfast can be.

The gym has been the better part of all this craziness. I made a killer gym mix on my ipod which keeps me motivated. How can you not want to run when you're listening to "Bust a Move"?

I also forgot what a great place the gym is to people watch. What characters did I see at my gym?

1) The guy in 90's AC Slater stone-washed jeans lifting weights: Last time I checked, jeans weren't the best work out attire.

2) Woman who clearly was into Jane Fonda's workout 20 years ago rocking a multi-colored leotard and spandex pants with scrunched socks: I'm not going to lie, I did a little staring when I saw her. I think my workout Barbie had the same outfit. But she was comfy and was singing along to her music, so work it out...

3) Man on the bike talking on cell phone as loud as possible. Actual Conversation: "Hey man...I can barely hear you, the music at the gym is too loud...no problem, I'll just scream so you can hear me."

4) The girl on the elliptical trainer in the sorority shirt and pink ipod...oh wait, that's me.

So here's the update: after 3 1/2 weeks, I have lost....12 pounds!!! I'm stoked. Let's hope this continues.

And that I can continue to stay away from the chocolate. Any suggestions for healthy sweet things would be great!

100th blog post!

2009-03-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

I fully remember the day when I started this blog. I was sitting in my first year property law class with the scariest teacher in the world who, if you were so unlucky to get called on, would call on you for 90 minutes straight. It was almost the end of the school year and several of us were taking abroad trips during the summer. We decided that we would start blogs and write about our adventures and keep our friends updated. When I got to the Dominican Republic, I found that the internet cafes couldn't load the blogger page. But I decided to keep it and while I don't write in it nearly as much as I should (seeing that this is almost 2 years later), I'm happy that I have it and pumped that this is my 100th post.

I keep this blog for me as a place to write really random thoughts and as a reflection of where my head was at any given point in time. But there are some really fantastic people who read this blog - I absolutely adore all of you and am so thankful for all the nice comments that I receive.

A long time ago a friend challenged me to write 100 things about myself. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but I thought maybe if I did it chronologically, it could happen. So, in honor of this 100th post I present "100 Random Things About Bianca":

1) My mother had her choice of 3 Wednesdays to have me: she chose May 18th because it's Haitian Flag Day. She grew up there and every year on my birthday she likes to tell me that there is a huge celebration in Haiti in my honor.

2) I was named after Bianca Jagger, ex-wife of Mick Jagger and Studio 54 regular (the pic is of her riding a horse in the club. Out of control). She's now a great humanitarian. I'm a girl who loves to go out dancing and went to law school with all these plans to save the world. I would say I was named after the right woman

3) I went to a Jewish pre-school even though I'm Roman Catholic. My mom still has the Menorah I made out of a block of wood and birthday candles.

4) I started taking dance classes when I was 3 years old. I loved it. I would wear my tutus all over the house and if my mom was in a good mood, to the grocery store, libary, etc.

5) My earliest memories are of me dancing on top of my coffee table to all the songs on Madonna's "Like a Virgin". I knew every word to every song. Cleary I didn't know what she meant, but I adored her. Which brings me to

6) "Dress You Up" may be my favorite song of all time. It's so 80's and poppy but I can't hear it without singing at the top of my lungs and dancing around. I once recreated this outfit.

7) Chicago Style Pizza is my favorite food in the world. I get it shipped out to California because I haven't found a place that gets it right. When I was little, I hated it and would only eat parts of it. For a few years I'd only eat the crust. At some other point I thought the crust was gross and would only eat the cheese on top. Silly Bianca.

8) My parents never forced me to eat certain foods. I'm still an extremely picky eater.

9) I used to read magazines that were designed for girls older than me. I started reading "Teen" when I was 9, "YM" when I was 10, and "Seventeen" when I was 12. I'm a rebel.

10) I loved fashion from an early age and I was a big fan of "Dress N'Dazzle". I had this outfit. I can't believe they tried to pretend it was 3 dresses in 1:

11) I learned how to walk in heels when I was 8 and got my first pair when I was 10. My nutty Godmother in NY gave me clothes that were designed for girls at least 5 years older than me.

12) I went to a super small single-sex classroom grade school. There were only 19 girls in my class.

13) I met my best friend in 2nd grade. She walked up to me and told me she liked my hair. I told her I liked hers better. We were best friends ever since.

14) That same year I won a really big award at the end of the year prize day. Each year it was given to the 2nd grader who showed the most kindness and generosity to her fellow classmates. All these pompous parents pulled out their expensive camcorders because they were convinced their daughter was going to win. My mom said it took a ton of energy to control her laughter when she looked at their faces when I won.

15) The first word I read was "fuck". I was 3 and it was written in crayon on the laundry room wall in my apartment building. My mom didn't know whether to yell at me or tell me congrats.

16) Sometimes I'll randomly make comments in French. It's completely unintentional. My mom speaks it fluently and I took classes in grade/high school and a little bit in college. Sadly my french isn't so great.

17) I used to love the show "California Dreams" and wanted to start my own band. Tiffany and I would hold auditions on the playground.

18) Besides my ankle, the worst injury was when I got a huge gash in my chin when I was 4. I was at the park on a big metal pumpkin (a la Cinderella) and some girl said "fuck" to me. I politely informed her that it was a bad word. But as I spoke I let go and my chin smacked the metal. I still have a little scar.

19) I went through a year or so period when I refused to eat. My parents had to sit at the table with me for hours until I took a few bites of my food. But I would eat puffy cheetos.

20) I used to rock bedazzled jeans. No, I'm not ashamed.

21) My parents always had the best junk food cabinet. At any given time we had fruit roll ups, gushers, hostess cupcakes, pringles, etc.

22) One time while enjoying some treat from the cabinet, I decided to enjoy a glass of non-alcoholic eggnog. Worst idea ever. I threw up all night. To this day just thinking about eggnog makes me gag.

23) My first celebrity crush was Jonathan Brandis. His "Teen Beat" pictures were all over my bedroom door. That is part of why:

24) "Ladybugs" is one of my favorite movies. It's totally underrated. Tiffany and I can recite it word for word. We're awesome.

25) That movie made me enjoy playing soccer. That and orange slices and capri sun.

26) I really love "Schoolhouse Rock". I will bust out into "I'm Just a Bill" at random.

27) When I graduated 8th grade, I was the girl with the least developed body. I prayed every night for God to give me boobs.

28) I now have the largest boobs of anyone I know. I guess prayer works.

28) I went to an all-girls high school. People are surprised that it was by choice.

29) I had my first kiss when I was in 3rd grade. The boy's name was Sam and I thought he was oh so dreamy. We were at a family friend's son's birthday party at Discovery Zone. We kissed in the tubes. He took my choker necklace to remember me by.

30) The only detention I ever served was for being late to school 3 times.

31) The school tried to give me multiple detentions for my skirt being too short. My mom called and told them if they wanted to buy me a new skirt, they could. Otherwise, I would not be serving detention.

32) My favorite unit in gym class was badminton. I love it. And I kicked ass.

33) When I was in 8th grade, I got to adopt a dog because I got straight As. He was a black cocker spaniel named Taco. People always asked if he had a brother named Burrito. They thought they were funny. But he really did have a brother named Burrito.

34) My first concert was N'Sync. I'm not ashamed.

35) I've always been a good writer. My honors english teachers always commented that they could tell that I put a lot of time and effort into my papers. I always wrote them the night before.

36) I took the Metra for the first 2 years of high school. It took me 45 minutes to get to school and I hated it.

37) My first boyfriend took the same train at the same station. He was friends with another friend of mine and we first talked online. It wasn't until weeks later when I saw a picture of him on his website that I realized that we took the train together. The relationship lasted a month.

38) My first car was a 1989 Honda Accord. It was the perfect first car.

39) I totalled the car 4 months later. The accident happened 2 minutes away from school. To this day I'm still extremely cautious when making left hand turns.

40) This car was replaced by a blue Ford Focus. I picked it because it matched my coat. That car was totalled years later when it was parked in front of my brother's house. A drunk frat boy hit it and drove away. Too bad he didn't realize that his license plate fell off in the process.

41) I was a theater brat. But I was never in a school production.

42) I studied at an independent theater in Chicago. My junior and senior year, I was super lucky to be selected to be in their company. It was amazing.

43) I was also a choir brat in high school. I tried out for the competitive choir on a whim and made it.

44) I was really into ska and pop-punk music. I loved Reel Big Fish and Blink 182.

45) In high school, I went to almost every Q-101 festival.

46) At Q-101 Jamboree in 2000 I smoked my first cigarette. I was 17.

47) I smoked on and off for 2 years. Every once in a while when I'm super stressed I still crave one.

48) My mom's smoked my entire life and on an almost daily basis I tell her to quit. She doesn't know that I ever smoked and I think she'd be devasted if she knew.

49) I first got the internet when I was in 8th grade. AOL 3.0. It took forever to connect.

50) My AIM name is still the same one I had in 8th grade. I'm too lazy to change it.

51) When I was in high school, my dad refused to let me fill up my car with gas. He was being "protective" and didn't want me to run into any problems at the gas station. I filled up my first tank when I got my current car when I was 20.

52) I had my first job when I was 16. I was an administrative assistant at a temp agency. A lot of my job was contacting clients about jobs they were hired for and mailing out their checks.

53) At this job I was asked out by clients about once a week. My dad, who was the accountant for the company, would come out and tell them that he was my father and the man who signed their checks.

54) That same summer I went out on a date when a guy that I was friends with for a while. We went to a movie at a theater where my brother worked a few summers back and still had friends who worked there. He called these friends to let them know that I was going to be there and to "watch out for me". They spent the entire movie sitting behind me and making comments any time the guy tried to put his arm around me, hold my hand, or even talk to me. Worst date ever.

55) Surprisingly, that guy still wanted to date me.

56) Junior year we had to have a meeting with our parents and our college counselors. The counselor told my parents which schools I was interested in applying to and what my chances were of getting accepted. The only school in IL was University of IL in Champagne-Urbana. The majority were in California. My parents were pissed.

57) My parents were really protective and I never got the chance to do things on my own. I decided to apply to schools outside of IL so I'd be forced to do things for myself.

58) I chose my college because there were palm trees at the front entrance.

59) The summer before I left for college I worked as a camp counselor at an visual and performing arts camp. My campers were not into art. They spent the entire summer begging me to teach them how to wear make-up. I've never seen kids so happy as they were on the last day when I taught them.

60) I was supposed to fly out to school on September 12, 2001. Every flight I booked to San Jose for the next 5 days was cancelled. Finally my parents and I loaded up the minivan and drove out to California. It took 3 days.

61) Somewhere in the dessert in the middle of Nevada we got a flat tire. My dad had issues changing the tire and I told him "get out of the way" and I did it by myself. That's one of the few times I heard him say that he was proud to call me his daughter.

62) I could not stand my freshman year roomie. She locked me out every friday night and kept coffee in the coffee pot for days at a time and would rewarm it.

63) I met the boy the 2nd day I was at school. There was a huge meet and greet thing in the dorm's lounge. I went up there to get my computer fixed and a girl (one of my future roomies) was the first person I met and decided to introduce me to a few people, one of which was the boy. He said hi to me and didn't say one other thing the 20 minutes I was talking to that group of people.

64) I did not like him at all.

65) A few days later I found out he was in my English class. We went to the cafeteria after class to get sandwiches. He said a few more words this time and I decided that we could be friends.

66) The boy and I helped a guy we knew ask out a girl who was our friend. During the process he told me that the boy and I should go out. I told him he was crazy.

67) A few weeks later the boy and I kissed. I knew that I didn't want to start dating someone so early (after all, this was my frist time at a co-ed school and there were boys EVERYWHERE) so I decided that the thing with me and him would be a fling. Here we are 7 1/2 years later.

68) I declared Biology as my major when I started school. I wanted to be a pediatrician since I was 5. I hated chemistry. It was the hardest A I ever earned and I decided that I would have to change my plan.

69) I asked my sophomore year roomie to be my roommate by posting a cheesy poem on her door. It said "roses are red, violets are sometimes pink. I wanna be your roomie, what do you think?" I'm ridiculous.

70) We lived together for 3 years and she's one of the most amazing people I know.

71) That year, we were in the same French class and had a big presentation. The night before we decided to do some "spring cleaning" (drink the little bits of alcohol left in the random bottles around our room) and watch Woodstock: the movie. It's one of my favorite college memories.

72) In college I had a hamster named Abbie. She was named after Absolute vodka.

73) On my 21st birthday I got so drunk that I called my mom at 4 a.m. Chicago time to inform her that I drank a lot.

74) The next day a few of us went to "1984" to go dancing. My roomie Erin and I got insanely drunk on 1 drink. I don't remember any of it, but I do remember throwing up on the side of the road. Jessica = best DD ever.

75) 1984 is still my favorite place to go dancing.

76) My other roomie ran for State Assembly our senior year. Yes, like real state politics. It was the only time that my liberal self voted for a Republican.

77) I joined a sorority my junior year. I decided to go for it because 1) they gave us free roundtable breadsticks at the introduction meeting and 2) they had really cute pens. I spent the next 2 years having a love/hate relationship with it.

78) I decided to apply for student government my senior year, hoping to get appointed to one of the class offices. They placed me on the Executive Board. It was one of the most demanding things I've ever done, but I met one of my really great friends from it.

79) Every year my roomies and I took cute pictures and made them into Christmas cards. These are the only photos my mom has on her fridge.

80) I never really rebelled in college. In my mom's eyes, the worst thing that I did was get my ears double pierced. But she was really pissed about it.

81) Good thing she didn't know that I also had my belly button pierced.

82) The roomies and I made a pact to get Alkaline Trio tattoos. Jess already has hers. I have to find a way to incorporate it into the 1 tattoo I'm considering.

83) All of my friends in college were WAY into the Harry Potter books. I tried and tried to get into them...I only made it through the first 2. But I have seen all the movies.

84) After graduation I worked for an intellectual property law firm. I hated it more than anything and I quit after 3 months. I wasn't sure if law was the right career for me, but I decided to apply to law school anyway.

85) A few weeks before I started law school, I found out my parents were getting divorced.

86) The gory details of the divorce resulted in me not talking to my dad. I still don't.

87) I had planned on dropping out of law school after the first semester. Convinced that external factors were the reason for my unhappiness, the boy and my mom convinced me to keep going. I cannot believe it's over this year (yay!!!)

88) That year I found out that my school had a 2 week immersion trip (and the basis fo this blog) to the Dominican Republic to work with Haitian Refugees. Seeing that I'm 1/2 Haitian, I had to apply and was thrilled to go. Besides Canada (where I stayed with family) and Puerto Rico (where I went w/my friend's family and stayed at a ritzy resort) it was my first trip out of the country. I was excited and terrified.

89) Being the picky eater I am, I survived on cookies and rice. I lost 10 pounds by the end of the trip.

90) My mom was born and raised in Haiti but because of the conflict there, I haven't been able to go. On my trip to the Dominican Republic, we crossed the bridge and spent 10 minutes in Haiti. I cried. One of the best moments of my life.

91) One of the many, many reasons that I love the movie "Clueless" is because Cher does one of her debate speeches about the Haiti-ans. I almost peed my pants laughing when I saw that. I can recite the movie word for word.

92) I love my tivo. I don't think I could have made it through law school without it.

93) I'm really, really good at "Don't Forget the Lyrics", due to my ridiculous amount of music knowledge. People tell me I should apply to be on the show, but I'm afraid the first song picked will be so completely random that I'll fail.

94) I absolutely adore my dog. Not only is he ridiculously cute, but he also participates in my dancing parties by hopping along next to me.

95) When I was 18, if you told me that at the age of 26 I would be a lawyer and married I would tell you that you were the biggest idiot I've ever met. Oops.

96) If no one wakes me up, I can easily sleep until 1 p.m.

97) For graduation, I think I'm going to treat myself to a pair of Christian Loubouins. Can I afford them? Not really. But the little kick I'll give when I get my diploma to show off the red sole will be totally worth it.

98) I'm convinced that I'll never be able to grow my hair longer than a few inches past my shoulders. But I would really really love to.

99) I really want to take hustle lessons. Yes, I know disco is dead. I still want to.

100) I'm a little scared about what the next 25 years has in store for me. But I'm also excited.

I can't believe I actually thought of 100 things about me. If you read through this, you now know some of the most important things about me. And you're awesome.

high school crushes and black eyeliner

2009-02-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I was fully determined to be scholastically productive. Books and highlighters out, opened word document to write case briefs, headphones on: I was on a mission. Fortunately Tiffany saved me from this pathetic Friday night to entertain me.

We have a ridiculous way of spending hours on youtube or wikipedia. Here's a reduced summary of our viewing last night:

1) We started by talking about the Blink 182 reunion. We were HUGE fans in high school and I would be lying if I didn't say I'm pumped about them getting back together. While I loved the music, I also had a huge crush on Mark Hoppus. Little known fact: when I first met Matt, he had black spikey hair and was wearing gray dickies shorts, a skater tshirt, and vans. He definitely had a Mr. Hoppus vibe going on which made me go "hmm..." He hates it. I love that I'm marrying a boy that looks a bit like the band guy that I was obsessed with. Rad. After watching a series of their music videos we talked about their "Making the Video" (which they should bring back) episode for this:

2) Since "All the Small Things" mocks boy bands, we started listening to our favorite boy band songs of the 90s. And not just N'Sync or the Backstreet Boys. We were looking up those 1 hit wonders. Anyone remember "Faded" by Soul Decision? How about "Baby When the Lights Go Out" by Five? You should. Those songs still make it on my workout playlist. In the mist of all this boy band craziness I started to think of that MTV movie that made fun of boy bands, which brought us to this:
Did anyone else see this movie? Absolutely ridiculous, and I loved it.

3) Boy bands brought us to the awesome mix tapes we used to play in my car on the way to school. They were random and amazing. There was usually some mix of current poppy hits, 70's folk, and oldies. It was often that we had Britney Spears followed up by Jim Croce. Quality. That go us talking about how back in 2nd grade, our parents use to sit and chat for hours and hours (often into the wee hours of the morning) while we would sit in her room and listen to Oldies 104.3. We always wanted to hear "Judy's Turn to Cry". We took turns disguising our voices and would call over and over again until they played it. We thought we were so slick. We were just ridiculous. That brought us to the fabulous Dusty Springfield:

4) Dusty Springfield and her fabulous 60's fashion made us talk about the movie "Elvis & Me" and how I'm thinking I want to use photos of Priscilla Presley at her wedding as inspiration for my rehersal dinner look. Big hair, lots of black eyeliner. Clearly not the veil and such. I just love the drama of it.

5) Thinking of us as little 7 year olds made me think of my favorite show back then: Blossom. I always felt Tiffany was "Six" and I was Blossom. Clearly Tiffay was cooler. I also tried to rock the hats they wore on that show. Completely unsuccessful. I haven't watched this show in years and I'm dying for it to go on DVD. I just hope it's as good as I remember.

So. Completely. Random.

Dresses and Funfetti

2009-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

I'm a horrible blogger. I'm well intentioned and plan to write a bunch of blog posts, but I fail. Je Suis Désolé. But I've been wedding planning up a storm which, lets be honest, is slightly more important.

On Saturday my lovely bridesmaids and I went to look at bridesmaid dresses. Fortunately I went with my bff/best maid of honor ever to look at them several months ago so I had an idea of what I wanted. I was super nervous that they wouldn't like the dress or it wouldn't look good on them, but it was super easy: they all looked amazing. Here's the dress:

It's a Melissa Sweet dress and I think it's adorable. The bow on the back is my favorite part. It's not going to be that blue color, but either a blush color called "English Rose" or pale gold color called "Oyster". Feel free to take a look and give me advice: http://www.priscillaofboston.com/dress_detail.jsp?sfid=50631. Jessica is my hero and sent me a picture with my bridesmaids heads on both dresses. It reminds me of "the Girls Next Door" and it's amazing.

So dresses are picked out, mine is ordered, venue and catering reserved, photographer is booked, priest booked. Somehow I've managed to keep on track with my school work, but I'm a tired gal. Too tired to go the gym. Which is bad and brings me to...

BIANCA'S WEIGHT LOSS SPECTACULAR 2009!!!

I've learned that
+ does not = a skinny me. So...I'm on a movement to eat better and be healthy. I don't have a weight loss goal since I care more about being fit than tiny (because let's face it, I would fall over if I was tiny...like a Barbie doll...get it?) But the hardest part about dieting is that I'm constantly tempted and since I'm only responsible to myself, I manage to justify eating that brownie or making full use of the bottomless fries at Red Robin. In order to combat this, I'm going to post my achievements (or lack of) here. I'm a little apprehensive, but I think this will be good. And it'll be a good way for me to keep track of how I'm doing. Wish me luck. And any tips on how to avoid the hostess cupcakes are greatly appreciated.

is it wrong...

2009-02-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

...that I want to get married in these shoes???

i heart my bestie

2009-02-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

So this crazy cold/flu left me feeling pretty crappy all week. Tres tragic. The bestie has be great calling to check on me every day to make sure that I'm resting, drinking lots of tea, watching Gossip Girl, etc. Today I got home from class to a box of flowers waiting for me. I knew Matt didn't send them and so I was a little freaked out. Then I opened them...and they were from the bestie telling me that she hopes I feel better and to remember that I'm going to be an amazing bride and lawyer. I was so touched that I was misty-eyed for about 10 minutes. She really is my heterosexual lifemate and I'm so, so lucky to have her in my life.

I love you Tiffany!!!

girlie shoes and weekend update

2009-02-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas, the boy's mom was going to send us on a little vacation (Vegas anyone?) as a joint present. Things are so crazy w/school and work that we decided that we didn't really have time to take a trip, so we got the cash instead, which is rad. Matt wanted to split it, but I decided that we should use the money to buy the tv (which, btw, is amazing. It really is for more than just video games). He felt bad that I wasn't getting a present, so he wanted to treat me to a pair of shoes, because he knows how happy they make me. Score! Earlier in the week I saw a pair of killer, 5 inch purple stilettos that I thought would make a wonderful addition to my collection, so we went to pick them up on Friday night. While trying them on, Matt found a pair of Coach wedges that he thought I would dig and he brought them over for me to try. I put them on and stared at them in the mirror and slowly felt my heart melt because I loved them:

Bianca: "No, I can't. They're expensive and against everything I stand for."
Matt: "They're shoes. They're pink. They're Coach. That's everything you stand for."
Bianca: "Sigh..."

So I said goodbye to the impractical purple stilettos and hello to these new beauties:

I especially love the bow detail. And since they're wedges, I can wear them while tackling the hills of San Francisco.

I did feel a little sick this weekend and about an hour ago it caught up to me and I've half-lost my voice. I sound like Peter Brady going through puberty while singing "Time to Change". Not sexy.
Yesterday I attempted to do some reading for school...and it was SO painful. I have 3L-itis and have no motiviation about anything school related, which is a problem since I still have a full course load that I have to pass in order to graduate. I'm hoping that the motivation will come, but I have a feeling that's not going to happen. Last night and today I got to hang out with a bunch of friends from college and it was a great reminder that I need to let myself go out and have fun this semester. As much as I love staying in w/tivo, I need to go out more. I can't fail out anymore...right?

Also, GORGEOUS weather today. It's supposed to stay this way all week. Lounging in the backyard with the puppy and reading may be in my future. I heart California.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed Superbowl sunday. I ate far too much, but when there are buffalo wings, nachos, spinach dip, and beer in front of you, there's no choice but to eat. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

reason #472 why i love the boy

2009-01-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a big day for the boy. He was dying to get a big and pretty LCD flat panel tv and while he has saved up a ridiculous amont of money, he didn't feel like he could buy it because he wants to make sure we have enough money for the wedding. After researching a particular tv for almost a year and looking at amazon.com every day, he finally bought it. On Monday he got the call that it was going to arrive the next day (yesterday) and he was like a 7 year old boy running around on Christmas Eve hoping that Santa would bring him the original Nintendo so he could spend Christmas playing "Duck Hunt". Hopefully he would be nicer than my brother who wouldn't let me participate in the duck shooting games, but that's another story.

Last night I had class, so I expected to come home to the boy and his friend playing "Call of Duty 4" while yelling at 8th graders on the other team who are whispering fighting words and trying to keep quiet because they are up way past their bedtime. I walked into the door and there was a huge bouquet of roses waiting for me:

Bianca: You bought me flowers?!
Matt: Yep
Bianca: What did you do...
Matt: Nothing!
Bianca: Because you don't want me to be jealous of the tv?
Matt: I don't need a reason to buy you flowers. And as much as I love the tv, I will always love you more.

I guess he does love me more than video games.

my love/hate relationship with costco

2009-01-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

Today was errands day. Usually we try to limit ourselves to Target and Safeway but once in a while we decide to go all out and make the trip to Costco. Fortunately the nearest Costco is only 5 minutes away but while there are some wonderful things about that store, there are also the things that make me cringe. Here's a little play by play of my trip today:

1) We pull into the parking lot and there's bumper to bumper traffic. There are 2 lanes going towards the store. The right lane is for people who want to get gas and who will wait in that line for 45 minutes to save $.08/gallon. I'm not sure that's worth the wait. 3 people in that line didn't realize that they were in the gas line and decided to cut in front of me to get into the parking lot. When a 4th person tried to get in front of me and I didn't let them, they proceeded to honk at me and start yelling. Whatever, I think the 3 people I let in was sufficient. Hate.

2) As we're driving down the aisle we see someone walking towards their car. Turns out they have the 1st non-handicap spot. Score, rockstar parking! We turn on our blinker and wait for them to put their goods in the trunk and get into their car. Someone starts driving up from the other side and stops and puts on their blinker. Um...no. Costco parking is a nightmare and I was not about to let someone grab my spot. Fortunately the person in the spot saw what was going on and pulled out in a way to block the other guy so I could get in. Love nice people. Hate Costco parking.

3) We walk in and are greeted by wonderful, huge displays. Costco displays may be my favorite thing about the store, especially in the summer when they have the boats and I can pretend that I'm in Greece drinking champagne and rocking big Jackie O sunglasses. Today's displays were far less extravagant, but I did get to watch a group of people attempt to use a karaoke machine. I'm really glad I didn't have to hear a rendition of "I Will Survive", but it was highly entertaining. Love.

4) Since Sundays are family packed days at Costco, there are tons of samples. I'm convinced that you could eat enough food for an entire meal if you go at the right time of day. Shrimp, spinach dip, pita chips, and cake make me a happy gal. Love.

5) There were a ton of people shopping today and I hate when people suddenly stop with their carts in front of the flow of people walking through the store instead of pulling their cart full of toilet paper, bottled water, and gallon jug of ketchup to the side. I decided to start counting: 5 people who randomly stopped in front of me and 3 shopping carts that hit me. Hate.

6) The beauty section keeps getting better and better. I was stoked when they started carrying some Smashbox products but now they have stuff from Stila and Bobbi Brown. I restrained myself and didn't buy, but I'm excited that the carry it. Love.

7) Longest. Checkout. Line. Ever. One should not have to wait 20 minutes. Hate.

8) The thing that makes Costco worthwhile: where else can you get a hot dog and soda for $1.50? LOVE.

So there you have it. I'm happy I survived and even happier that I won't have to go back for a few months. Anyone else have the love/hate relationship?

dirty water, target, and feeling like a smartie

2009-01-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a little week in review:

1) On Sunday night I was lounging around the house rejoicing that I didn't have to go to school on Monday and watching "Rock of Love Bus" (which, btw, I want to know if anyone else watches. Bret Michaels is out of control but not nearly as out of control as those girls and yet I can't. stop. watching.) Matt calls up from the basement to ask if I did laundry because if not, we had a problem. I walked downstairs and there was water EVERYWHERE. Gross, dirty, water. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm a girlie girl (ok, not really a secret). But I was the 8 year old girl that refused to run in the mud during a soccer game because I didn't want to get my new, neon green laces dirty. Matt took one look at my face, laughed and saidh would take care of it. But I rolled up my jean legs, grabbed some rubber gloves, and totally cleaned. Without complaining. In fact, I couldn't stop laughing and singing made-up songs about dancing in poopy water. Am I mature or what? There weren't any leaks in the house and the city came out to check if the sewer was backed up, but it wasn't. Turned out that at some point the pipe is met with a clay pipe and that clay cracked and roots and such were growing in it and prevented things from flowing away from the house. So since it couldn't flow out, it flowed back in and was redirected to another pipe which empties into the large sink in our laundry room. All fixed now, but the basement carpet is STILL damp and we're still laying down towels to soak everything up. We'll be going through a massive carpet clean in the near future. But the greatest part of all of this is that Matt was silly proud that his future wife is helpful. I guess I'm good for more than shopping and writing case briefs.

2) I was completely convinced that I would fail my corporations class. Crying bucketfuls, hands trembling, couldn't eat, super scared. I got my grade Tuesday: A-. Fucking amazing.

3) I have a shopping problem. When people are upset or need comfort, they may clean, go for a drive, take a bubble bath. I shop. And when I'm on my shopping mission, I have to get something. Not nearly as bad as "True Life: I'm a Compulsive Shopper", but still. The biggest problem is Target. That store is dangerous and without fail, I go and leave with something that I don't need: the new Maybelline mascara, tank tops, tote bag...you get the idea. But it's my "go to" errands store, so I can't avoid it. I recently decided that I was going to try and save up my money and stop buying random crap. To help this, I've decided that I can only go to Target once a week. At the end of week 1, I was completely successful. I left Target with face wash, toilet paper, and contact lens solution. Totally necessary items. Let's see if I can keep this up.

I'm a happy girl. Since thursdays are my fridays (thank you law school for allowing me to make a pretty schedule), I feel like I should treat myself to a nice glass of wine. Or 2. Or 3...

Maybe I Don't Hate the iPhone

2009-01-15T23:01:00.001-08:00

A while back I wrote a post about competing with the iphone for my fiance's attention. As more and more iphone applications are released everday, and the boy's excitement over these applications, I was about ready to throw that crazy piece of technology out the window...until I realized there was an application where I could order this:

What is that? Chipotle burrito. BRILLIANT. Can I order a steak burrito? Yes I can. Can I add extra cheese? You know it. Can I add chips and guacamole? Absolutely. I guess the application broke the first day due to high demand, but they're bringing it back. I guess the iphone isn't so bad after all...

Good Vibrations, Contempo Casuals, and Cyndi Lauper

2009-01-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight has been a night of watching movies from the 1990s, so I thought I'd share:

1) I adore Mark Wahlberg. I think it's a combination of the accent/Calvin Klein abs/Funky Bunch. The first movie on was "Fear". I remember watching it when I was 13(ish) years old and thinking that he was super dreamy, even though he was absolutely nuts. But I don't think my sheltered suburban self fully understood the crazy until I rewatched it tonight. Example: Mark's character trashes Reese Witherspoon's father's car (that is a red convertible) and leaves a note that says "Now I've popped both your cherries". Classy. I also love his home made tattoo that said "Nicole 4eva". I guess grammar doesn't matter when marking yourself for life.

2) Next up we have "Clueless" which is one of my favorite movies of all tme. I saw it in the theater 4 times and thought Cher and Dionne were the coolest girls ever. Plus the fashion in that flick was genius. Best line: Amber: "Ms. Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose." Dionne: "Well, there goes your social life." I definitely didn't understand that until many years later.

3) Finally we have "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" which seems like a flick from the 80's because of the quality music. That movie has many quality parts, but this is by far the best:

Is it sad that this is a quality Saturday night???

Yay Award!

2009-01-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

The lovely Free and Flawed gave me this fabulous award! I adore her and I feel so special!

The honorees are to:
A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

Here we go:

1) I really love buying shoes...like LOVE. My roomies in college told me I had Barbie feet so shoes look cute on me. But I also love shoes because I never have to worry if they'll fit because my shoe size doesn't fluctuate like my weight. I find comfort in that.

2) I think that music sounds better on vinyl. When I was little I used to watch my dad put a record on the player and slowly lower the needle onto it and I would beg for him to let me do it. One of the strongest memories from when I was little is the day he finally let me do it. Subsequently, because he didn't like that I got mad at him for cheating on my mom/divorce, he took the massive collection of records we had because he knew it would hurt me. And it did.

3) Strawberries are my favorite fruit. When my mom was pregnant w/me, she ate them every day. On my lower back I have a little red mark and when I was little, my mom said I got it because of all the strawberries she ate.

4) I often regret my decision to go to law school. I still question if this is what I want to do forever. This gets scarier and scarier as I get closer to graduation.

5) I read a ton of fashion magazines and I always look at the "Cover Girl" ads and think about how I could do them better. Sometimes when I put my makeup on in the mornings I look in the mirror and do a "beauty shot" (antm watchers will understand). Whenever I watch the last episode of America's Next Top Model, I get so angry at the girls with bad photos. If they ever look for a "regular" girl to do an ad, I'm soo there.

6) When I was 7 I was convinced that high school would be just like an episode of "Saved by the Bell" and I couldn't wait go. Seeing that I went to an all-girls school with 180 students (total, not just in my class), clearly it was a different experience.

7) I have 2 guitars but I rarely play them. I played the piano for 15 years and my teacher made me promise that I wouldn't play guitar. I bought my first guitar when I went to college. I wonder if the reason I don't play is because I made that promise. But I'm determined to play more this year.

8) 7 1/2 years later, I still feel really guilty about moving away from Chicago. I don't know if I'll ever get over it.

9) I think that I'm too judgmental. But I'm working on that.

10) I've never broken a bone, but when I was young I always wanted to because I wanted a cast. Who am I???

Here are my nominees:

1) Kahea
2) Tiffany
3) Lailah
4) Rachel
5) Maegan
6) Andy
7) Jessica

Goodbye 2008

2009-01-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

I intended to do this before NYE, but things were a little crazy. I do enjoy these surveys and the chance to reflect on the past year.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Walked into Target and didn't buy something, got a puppy w/Matt

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make formal new years resolutions because I'm really bad at keeping them. But I did tell myself that I was going to try to relax a bit and I think I did a decent job at it.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope.

5. What countries did you visit? Um...the U.S. Ok new resolution - take a trip out of the country.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Patience, the ability to say "fuck it" and actually mean it.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why? May 18th - spending my birthday in Chicago for the first time since high school with some wonderful friends; January 26 - the day we got our puppy

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting an A in law school (which seems silly but was HUGE to me)

9. What was your biggest failure? hmm...not saying "no" to things when I was clearly overwhelmed

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope (woo!)

11. What was the best thing you bought? My Wedding Dress

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Lots of people: My mom for being able to move out of the house we lived in forever and be on her own; Matt for continuing to put up with my ridiculous law school stress; Tiffany for knowing exactly when I needed her and calling me to cheer me up; Lailah and Rhea for being able to laugh through the ridiculousness that was corporations.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My dad. 2 1/2 years after this divorce craziness, he still can't understand that I'm not mad about the divorce, but about his lying cheating ways. And his solution is to call and yell at me. Not cool.

14. Where did most of your money go? Textbooks, cell phone bill, stilettos...

15. What did you really, really, really get excited about? Picking a wedding date, realizing I only had 1 more semester of school, spending my birthday at the cubs game

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Ooo...the 2 that snuck in at the end of the year that I CAN'T get out of my head are "Womanizer" by Britney Spears and "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.

17. Compared to this time last year are you:
Happier? Absolutely
Thinner? Haha, that's cute
Richer? Not at all

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Relax, go out without worrying about what work I had to do

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Complain

20. How did you spend Christmas? With my mom and brother eating too much food and watching marathons on TV.

21. How will you be spending new years? I spent it with Matt and Tiffany and some ladies from HS at a rooftop party room at a condo downtown. You could see the skyline and the fireworks and I drank entirely too much. Awesome.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? Still in love with the boy (which is a very good thing).

23. How many one-night stands? 0

24. What was your favorite TV program? Gossip Girl, Always Sunny in Philadelphia

25. Did you meet anyone now that you didn’t know this time last year? All the interns I worked with over the summer

26. What was the best book you read? "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield

27. What was your biggest musical discovery? I don't think I had any this year. I suppose "Automatic Loveletter" would fall into this category. I did get really into old school stuff like Etta James.

28. What did you want and you got? A puppy.

29. What did you want and not get? All the super expensive shoes and purses I've been tagging in magazines (it doesn't matter that it wasn't realistic...)

30. What was your favorite film of this year? "Role Models". That movie made me laugh harder than I think I laughed all year.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old did you turn? I turned 25 and spent it with Tiffany and gals from HS. We went to see Paul van Dyk.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A bigger bank account, learning to accept that I can't change everything

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Comfortable meets Gossip Girl meets vintage meets basics.

34. What kept you sane? My tivo and the people that love me

35. Which celebrity did you fancy the most? Haha, um...I went through a 2 minute period where I was into Chace Crawford.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Prop 8.

37. Who did you miss? My mom, it's rough being away from her.

38. Who was the best new person you met? My summer coworkers. They're fab.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: The world won't end because you can't do everything.

40. Quote or Song Lyric that sums up your year: “Just Dance" - Lady Gaga

Melting Snow and Sugary Goodness

2008-12-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-17T17:40:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-12-06T23:09:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T22:26:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-11-29T03:43:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-23T01:25:00.001-08:00

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?

2008-11-16T17:03:00.001-08:00

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???

2008-11-09T15:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-04T15:02:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-11-02T13:18:00.001-08:00

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

2008-10-31T00:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-26T19:52:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-02T22:29:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-09-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-09-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-09-21T21:24:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

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???

2008-09-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-19T20:46:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

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???

2008-08-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

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"

2008-08-07T23:14:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T18:35:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-04T00:51:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-30T21:03:00.001-07:00

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?

Buh Buh Buh Bennie and the Jets

2008-07-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

I love music (duh, if you read this blog/know me I'm sure you've figured that out). If you put my ipod on shuffle you'll get the most bizarre combination of music. For example, today on the BART ride home I listened to "One Song Glory" from Rent followed by "Nuthing But a G Thang" by Dr. Dre. Random.

While I love listening to music on shuffle, today I realized that I have another music problem - when a song that I love comes up, I get really excited about it and proceed to listen to it over...and over...and over again.

While on shuffle mode, "Bennie and the Jets" came on. I LOVE that song. 70's Elton John was a genius. I learned the words to this song when I was like 5 and thoroughly enjoyed the scene in 27 Dresses where Katherine Heigel and James Mardsen are attempting to sing along but screw up all the words. So I turned the volume up, sang along and danced a bit in my seat until it was over. But then I started it again...and again...and again. And sometimes if I'm feeling particularly motivated and moved by a song, I'll look it up on youtube and see live performances, or if I'm really lucky, someone's attempt at singing the song. Am I the only one with this problem?

Also in youtube fun, I've been watching clips of "The Dan Band". They're the band/comedy trio in "Old School" who perform bouncy and often crude covers of songs that are usually performed by chicks. Here's a little Wilson Phillips for your listening and viewing pleasure:

NPH

2008-07-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adore him...from Doogie Howser to HIMYM to Harold and Kumar to Dr. Horrible...this man can do no wrong

That is all

Today's Lesson

2008-06-16T20:51:00.001-07:00

On my BART ride home today, something was wrong with the brakes so we stopped between 2 stations to have it checked out...45 minutes later (over an hour after I got on the train) we finally pulled into the next station.

What did I learn today? Make sure to use the bathroom right before you get on BART because even if your commute is only 20 minutes long, it could turn into over an hour of you wishing that you didn't drink that 20 oz. bottle of diet coke.

Law Student Turned Music Critic

2008-06-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I ventured up to Amoeba to dig through some stacks of records to add to my new collection. It also turned into a "Bianca teaches Matt about the beauty of vinyl" lesson. Seeing that I'm a starving law student this summer, I limited myself to 3 purchases: 1) Chicago's (then known as Chicago Transit Authority) first album. It's beautiful because it's the only album they released under that name since the actual CTA threatened to sue. Gotta love my hometown; 2) The Go-Go's "Beauty and the Beat". Another fabulous debut and contained "Our Lips are Sealed" and "We've Got the Beat". Obviously a necessary addition to the collection; and what I was most stoked about, 3) Fleetwood Mac "Rumors". I remember each and every lyric on this album. My parents were obsessed with it. While it was released in the late 70's and I wasn't born until 1983, I vividly remember my parents playing it, on the turntable in the house and on a recorded tape in the car. I remember my dad used to tell me how it was one of the best selling albums of all time. So as I sat here listening to it, I decided to do a little wikipedia search...

When I decide to look up something on wikipedia and I have some time to spare, I tend to start clicking the links within the article. This usually leads to hours reading random but incredibly enjoyable information (example: last night Tiffany and I looked up "where are they now?" of our favorite childhood stars. I didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m.) So I look up Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" and I get a link to the best selling albums of all time...

At #1 we have Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Completely acceptable. It's the album that included "Billie Jean" (my personal fav - in my young years I wished the sidewalk would light up as I walked), "Beat It" and "PYT". This is followed by AC/DC and The Eagles (ok, I'll give it to them) and then...The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I thought "this can't be right..." but apparently it is. Ok, when Whitney hit those long, high notes towards the end of "I Will Always Love You", I was impressed. 42 million albums sold impressed? Not really. Following Whitney we have some unsurprising artists: Meatloaf, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin. A little further down the list we have...the Backstreet Boys. Not once, but TWICE!!! 30 million albums each. Higher than other Michael Jackson Albums, Nirvana's "Nevermind", and my beloved "Rumors". Insanity.

Perhaps I think I'm a music critic. Or maybe I've been watching "Almost Famous" too much.

Designer Imposters

2008-06-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

When I was 10 years old, I got an allowance of $2/week. I thought I was rich - $2 can buy so much! Candy, string to spend hours using to make friendship bracelets, and when I was feeling extra special, a bottle of Wet & Wild nail polish or designer imposters perfume. My friends and I would walk to Walgreens and spend hours spraying the different scents in the air. Sure we made customers cough and sneeze as they walked past, but all we cared about was finding the best scent for us. Imagine my surprise today after a long day at work when some lady on Bart pulls a bottle out. First I was surprised to see they still existed. Then, imagine how I felt when she popped off the cap and sprayed it...in the bart car...so everyone had to smell it. I was no longer that 9 year old girl, but one of the many adult walgreens customers coughing and sneezing like crazy. I think I can still smell it...

Update: I should have quoted Clueless in this post:
Amber - "Was I the only one listening? I thought it reaked."
Cher - "I believe that was your designer imposters perfume."

My Kind of Town

2008-06-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Some peeps were bugging me to talk about my recent trip home and since things have been bananas lately, I haven't written. So voila...

Chicago = Pizza, Water Tower, Dunkin Donuts, Visits with WA Girls, Al's Deli Cookies, Lake Shore Drive, etc. I love it all. The trip to Chicago was absolutely fantastic. It had been such a long time since I was home during the spring and I forgot how pretty the city can be. My mom's new place is fabulous. It's so great to see her being independent and it's soo much closer to all the fun stuff in the city that I love. I was a little bummed out that I had to get used to a new neighborhood. I totally took advantage of where we lived before. But once I figured it all out, it was great. ALSO, I spent my birthday here:

FANTASTIC. I love my Chicago Cubs and it had been ages since I had gone to Wrigley field. Plus I got to spend the day in the sun resting up from the birthday festivities of the night before. I hope I can go back in August to get a small glimpse of the humidity before school starts. We shall see.

Loving Being Bitter

2008-05-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

This book was freaking hysterical. It's nice to know that there is someone else out there who will say certain things out loud. She may be my new hero.

~*Isn't She Pretty in Pink*~