In defense of Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day...my opinion (and really...the only opinion that matters!)

It seems like Valentine's Day is massive hot topic button.
No, not this type of Hot Topic


Naturally the tendency is to like Valentine's Day only when you're in a relationship. Which makes sense...it's all about love, sex, and the other warm fuzzy stuff. A whole day to celebrate your LOVE, oh golly gee, what could be better...

And if you're single, then either you just treat it like a neutral day or you vehemently oppose anything related to all things reminding you that you're NOT in a relationship.

I'm here to argue in defense of Valentine's Day. Yes...me...the girl who'd rather stab her eyes out than deal with Christmas and every other pagan holiday.

I get the rationale of "why do you need a day to tell you to get flowers, you should be doing that anyway blah blah". Yes, which is true when it comes to the materialistic side of it...the same with Christmas as well. Some things are just common sense: don't buy roses on valentine's day. Yes, they are overpriced. It's not the stores' fault. I worked in a flower shop (Bryan: Select Roses on 10th line if you remember!), it's the suppliers in south america who jack it up, and thus the retail stores have to do the same.

But as great as it is to think of the utopic situation where out of the blue you get roses, jewelry, whatever, some dudes/couples need a little help. Let me put this in perspective:

Kraig bought a timeshare before i met him. Trust me, it's the worst purchase a person can make. It's the only property that goes DOWN in value right off the bat. Anyway you can "deposit" it and exchange your week for weeks elsewhere but there's a deadline (hence the word "time" in "timeshare"). I can truly say that without those deadlines, we never ever would have vacationed anywhere. It's easy to say "someday we'll go to X place" but with vacation time, schedules, money, time just flies by and you realize it's been years since you've gone anywhere for more than just a 3 day weekend. It was fantastic to be FORCED to take a vacation and be guilt-free about it (for those of us that have guilt over taking time off of errands and other To-Dos).

Valentine's Day is nice because you don't NEED an excuse to have to take the time off. To tell people you are busy. To revel in your love. To have a day where you specifically think "damn...i LOVE this guy/girl." To have a set scheduled day where damn right, you're getting laid. To find a card that expresses everything you feel if you're not a fantastic writer yourself (you don't get the same concentration of cards focused on love any other day of the year...and those are people PAID to write about love. For $4, if it gets the point across that youc an't the rest of the year, that's a good investment).

I'll admit, I'm a little biased. Valentine's Day is a chick holiday with a focus on jewelry and chocolate (i'll subtract the flowers...as much as I like them, I've been quite scarred by the flower shop job. I like the IDEA of flowers and i'm a little picky based on the cleanup factor later..stargazer lillies are AWFUL, MESSY, and a PAIN IN THE ASS to dispose of.)

Okay, so for single people, there's a whole other slew of arguments in favor of it. Nothing bonds women better than bitching about men and consuming chocolate. Much like Valentine's Day is a great excuse for couples to get together, the same applies to chicks and their girlfriends on Vday.


I've told this story a billion times but I'll say it again: my best Valentine's Day was not with a guy...it was when I was single for the first time in a few years and my friend Christine brought a carnation to work for me, saying she knew it would be a bit rough on me since it was my first Vday experience singlehood. It was the sweetest gift ever: it's one thing when your boyfriend gives you a flower on Vday, it's another when your friend who has no obligation to get you something still remembers you.

I guess my point is: it's about Love, in all shapes and forms. Whether its friends or your significant other. Christmas is about traditions and buying crap, St Patrick's Day is about drinking, July 4th is about USA...a day filled with Love, in any form, sounds pretty damn good to me.

(no matter how bitter or upset I may be on that day)

Again...incomplete...must...have...

I saw this dress in a frickin' PROM magazine. How this is kosher for a prom is beyond me.


I adore it. I also adore the idea of having Giselle's body to go in it (grumble) but it reminds me of the poor man's version of this knockout:



A note to any designers out there: I'm pimping out my body for the sole purpose to wear free clothes. Hook me up. I'll tell everyone and anyone who sponsored me. "Yeahhh this sweet dress? Courtesy of BCBG"..."You like my boots? Thanks Steve Madden!"....

This dress just blows my mind. Maybe also 'cause it's 3:15am and I'm loopy. LOVE it.


For real. I could live in a cardboard box...as long as I have the above grecian dress.

In unrelated but yet somewhat related news, it's become my obsession to find the dress Gretchen wore in Part 1 & 2 "Naked Wars" of Real Housewives of Orange County. I can't even do a search for it by color..not quite magenta, not quite peach...odds of me ever BUYING it are remote, but if I can find out who makes it I can work to find a good knockoff. And then wallow over not being able to afford it (or that if i could afford it, where the EFF would I wear it? Time for my friends to start having parties where they hire celebrity caterers and demonstrate their mad table manner skillz).

Trader Joe's RANT

I hate Trader Joe's.

I really do.

I hate that basic food staples there are like $5 (for milk? Come ON! WTF organic cows must be eating caviar). I hate that their stupid organic bread has no preservatives, and thus expire and get moldy after half a day. I hate that alot of their food doesn't taste as good as it should (their hummus is pretty bland).

What I mostly hate are the people who shop there. It's not really Trader Joe's fault. Their flyers are very well written and fun to read. But shoppers there are crazy hippies. Do you need to be a snob about your stupid tomato? And why do you need to take forever scoping out everything? They have 1/2 the selection and since everything is organic it lacks the aesthetic beauty of steroid-induced vegetables.

I've tasted some good 'ish from there, don't get me wrong. But nothing I've consumed there is worth the trek there, especially since Ralph's and Pavillion's have awesome selections of specialty foods, organic crap, and rare items.

My hatred came to a peak during the 2003 grocery store strike. That meant we all had to shop at Stater Brothers and Trader Joe's. Well apparently no one told the hippies this, because the lines wrapped outside the door didn't stop them from writing with checks.

Aside: if you ARE going to write a check, you can fill out EVERYTHING when you're in line. Get your ID out. Then when they give you the total, just write it out. And please don't use fancy cursive slow writing. Just scratch out some text, the cashier isn't your school marm. It's unacceptable that you start filling that stuff (in your one-letter-per-five-seconds writing) when you find out the balance. Then dont' act SHOCKED when you're asked for ID. I've never written a check in a store in my life but even I know that. This is a whole other rant, because no one visibly under the age of 50 should be writing checks. They take the cash out instantly, you might as well use a debit card. And for security reasons, you REALLY shouldn't be writing checks. Geezus.

Trader Joe's should have implemented no-check lanes during that time...it was horrific. I actually just gave up and crossed the picket lines, getting yelled at by irate cashiers and fearing for my car was SO much better than suffering through another line of hippies.

Today I had to go to Henry's as part of my hunt for Tazo Tea's Organic Apple Red flavor. That stuff is like crack, and obviously I'll go to even my most hated of places to find it. Yes, i'm willing to whore myself to the Hippie Man in order to get my tea. suck it.

Fortunately, oh happy day, THEY HAD IT! And on sale. So...maybe the Hippie isn't so bad after all.

And then as soon as I got to one of only two lanes open...my cashier had to stop to help out the other cashier who had a problem with her customer's check. Ugh.

I'm going to be sick. Seriously.

I've decided to chart my aging through the years (in case later i might want a record of it...or my kids, if they want to know the exact years their body will fall apart)...my latest beefs are the spider veins in my calves. I RARELY, if ever (I mean, maybe 2x a year) cross my legs because I read as a teenager never to do that.

Well, my calves have them. And it's pissing me off. Yay for Age 31 Woes.

It takes ALOT to gross me out. Alot. I watch Dr. 90210, surgery shows, whatever. I love watching my blood being taken. I would love to SEE a surgery take place.

But when it comes to spider/varicose vein options, i get the heebie jeebies.
If i have to do this, I'm going to seriously vomit my intestinal track.


I just looked up the solution to spider veins and now i'm seriously squirming in my seat, tensing my muscles, and i'm ready to cry I'm so effing freaked out.

Sclerotherapy
This is the most common treatment for both spider veins and varicose veins. The doctor injects a solution into the vein that causes the vein walls to swell, stick together, and seal shut. This stops the flow of blood and the vein turns into scar tissue. In a few weeks, the vein should fade. The same vein may need to be treated more than once.

This treatment is very effective if done the right way. Most patients can expect a 50% to 90% improvement. Microsclerotherapy uses special solutions and injection techniques that increase the success rate for removal of spider veins. Sclerotherapy does not require anesthesia, and can be done in the doctor's office.

Possible side effects include:

Temporary stinging or painful cramps where the injection was made
Temporary red raised patches of skin where the injection was made
Temporary small skin sores where the injection was made
Temporary bruises where the injection was made
Spots around the treated vein that usually disappear
Brown lines around the treated vein that usually disappear
Groups of fine red blood vessels around the treated vein that usually disappear
The treated vein can also become inflamed or develop lumps of clotted blood. This is not dangerous. Applying heat and taking aspirin or antibiotics can relieve inflammation. Lumps of coagulated blood can be drained.


why does the human body f*cking suck?! Or more importantly, MINE?!

So far this is my list of ailments per age:
early 20s: cellulite (i mean, BAD cellulite)
28: forehead wrinkes, signs of age on hands
29: crow's feet, thinning eyelashes
30: thinning hair, undereye wrinkles that DONT shrink back after squinting (and i wear sunglasses diligently! WTF!)
31: spider veins

In order to pre-emptively avoid freaking out over more things, i've taken the following actions:
1. I will just keep dying my hair. I will go postal if i see a grey hair. Might as well just do it now.
2. I've started waxing my chin. Now i don't have anything there, thank GOD, but i once had a bunch of older women telling me that that's a massive thing that happens when you get old. Granted, they were in their late 50s, but who knows when that facial chin hair situation started. I'd rather not deal with one day finding it OR even worse, not even REALIZING i have it. So i'm just going to slather my face with wax regularly and if nothing comes off, great. If so, well, at least i nipped it in the bud before i'm 60.

Attempting to preserve your youth is ALOT of effing work, costs alot of effing money (yay for free samples from plastic surgeons' offices), and TIME which is the hardest of all things to comes by.

Oh, i've also started using the bottle of Phyto-Axil that I bought kraig like 7 years ago from when we started dating. Figured it's in a pressurized can so it can't go bad...

Carrie and Sabina (and Nicole's) Excellent NY Adventure

Last week I went to NY for the first time with Carrie for our friend Liz's wedding, met up with Nicole there...I can honestly say it's been a long, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I laughed as much as I did on this trip. Maybe because I was both sleep and shower deprived, and Carrie is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet.

Just like San Diego...only dirtier, louder, and more expensive...and yet, still pretty dope.

Here was the plan (bear with me):
1. Red-eye on Wednesday. Arrive Thursday morning.
2. Thursday get a rental car, spend the day in Manhattan. Everyone told us that it would take HOURS with traffic. Turns out we had zerrrrrooo traffic...to quote Alanna "It's Yom Kippur. 75% of the city is in temple".
3. Saw WEEKS' worth of tourism in a single day. Everything south of Central Park. I'm not kidding. Did MOMA in 45 minutes. Saw ground zero, took some pics, ran to Century 21 only to discover it was closed for the holiday, got some S'Mac on with Carrie's Ohio friend Tara (soooo sweet, and her kids are adorable too), got to see my beloved Chelsea Market (Food Network bitches!)...you name it....

4. Drove up Thursday night to Fishkill. Which is the boondocks north of the city.

5. Friday morning I slept in like a MOFO. Got ready. Went to the wedding in Cold Spring (ummm is it bad that we entered on the heels of the bride?)

6. Killed time by changing in the car, shopped around Cold Springs, then changed again in some forest with a dude in a red truck driving back and forth...fortunately I was changing in the back, where the windows were tinted...maybe he caught a nip slip from Carrie.

7. Went to Garrison, had an UNBELIEVABLE time at the reception. Went to the after party in the hotel next to ours in Fishkill.

8. Slept in some more, then Nicole Carrie and I drove to Ossining to see Jeff and Liz's SUPER AMAZING HOUSE WHY DO HOMES IN ORANGE COUNTY SUCK SO BAD...their home (and backyard) is enough to make me want to move to NY!

9. Did some nature walk in Rockefeller park...

10. Went back to the city, vegged out with Nicole's college buddy Kit...walked EVERYWHERE (over 30 blocks)...

11. Drove to the ghettoooo (some area called Jamaica...much like the real Jamaica, i was ready to be robbed) where our hotel was near the airport...

12. Got up ridiculously early Sun morning and flew back.

And that was NY in a nutshell.

For the pics...

I'm in AWE of the Olive Garden in Times Square. You don't understand...my mission in life is to eat there. This might trump my desire to go to Italy. I want a window seat in this Olive Garden sometime between now and the day I die:


Let me tell you about Canal street. I wanted to go because last year I saw the knockoffs that my friend Wendy got when she went. It was nuts. Cops were everywhere, and there's people whispering "whaddiya want?"...they would have laminated pictures of Coach or LV merchandise, you say what you want, then they run off to some van to get your requested item. The trick when you go into a shop is to say "hey, where do you keep the Coach stuff"...then they take you through some secret hidden door where there's a teenie room with the REAL knockoffs. Well Carrie and I get locked in a room (with this huge black guy who was also buying stuff for his "bih-niz")...after we both got horrible Gucci knockoffs, I realized we couldn't get out. There's this crazy locking system...the chick inside with us had to get on her walkie-talkie to get someone on the OUTSIDE to buzz us out. Crazy! If there had been a fire, we would have been fried along with dozens of horrible Gucci and Coach knockoffs. The price you pay for fashion!


Nicole perfected my infamous "side shoulder" pose:


Us girls with the gorgeous bride...it's been too long since we've all been together! And can someone PLEASE explain to me why natural light makes us all look older?! Thank God I don't have a job that requires me to be in natural light all day, ughhghghgh this is why I think botox is the shiz (note to self: inject some fat under my eyes...and into my boobs...).


I didn't have the extra camera battery so I'll have to wait till Carrie gets hers up online to post the rest of them (minus any drunken debauchery pics of course!)

Weekend randomness and Oprah's Sensual Years

Scenes from a mall...

Seen on Sunday: Sean Hayes (Jack from Will & Grace and Victor Garber (the dude from Titanic who was also in Legally Blond). Sort of an odd couple:



Shopping together at American Eagle. Or J Crew. Crap I don't remember which one. I know for sure I wasn't in Abercrombie. I think they were debating on a top for Sean Hayes to buy. Or they were having a passionate discussion while leaning over folded polo shirts. Either way, I've never seen any dude(s) so passionate while trying on a shirt. Maybe they were discussing politics. Or they were discussing whether Sean should get the yellow one. It was just bizarre. Plus Victor Garber is surprisingly much smaller than I would have thought, i think neither of them could have had more than 20lbs on me.

Other random thoughts:

- I'm very pro-plastic surgery (if you can afford it), but the thought of a dude getting triceps implants freaks me out. Gives me the same skin crawling feeling that i get when I think of spiders.
a girl can never make too many wardrobe changes. Men however should just stick with one thing a day. Especially if i'm the one who's doing the laundry.

- I am a horrible driver when i'm nervous. Some people can focus. I however, can not. You know who makes me nervous? The Garmin GPS lady. She reminds me of a mean schoolteacher. Repeating over and over that in “point two miles, exit ramp”. Yes ma'am!

- it's amazing how one weekend of not sleeping in your own bed can make your body feel like someone took a baseball bat to it....I woke up today seriously feeling like I'd been mauled all weekend. Maybe I need to pull a Carrie and bring my pillow around with me, that Guess pillow was $16, I bought it at Sears when i was in college, and it's the best pillow EVER.

- what is the appropriate ratio for a chick's arms? In particular, a sportscaster on ESPN? More importantly, if the camera adds X pounds, can it add it onto just one area?

Yesterday I caught a bit of Oprah, and it was all about sex. Or specifically, Sex In Your Sensual Years. Which I think is just Oprah's way of saying, sex when you're old. They yammered onto about how sex when you're older is better than sex in your 20s.

This would have be a hard sell for me, because when I was 20 I was fully AWARE that not only was I twenty, I also fully remember thinking that my metabolism was going to start going downhill so enjoy poutine and calzones as much as possible. Now i should hope that I'm not in my “sensual years” (otherwise i'll be forced to stab myself), but i'm definitely more self conscious about my body than I was in my early 20s, even though I'm the same weight as I was back then. If I continue on this path, I'll be wearing mumus by the time i'm 40. (Oh geezus, are my 40s my “sensual years”? Note to self: shoot self upon 40th birthday. Alternatively, bitch-slap self on 40th birthday). Gone are the years of the uber short skirts and tummy-bearing tops. Oh granted tummy-bearing tops haven't been in style for ages (Are you listening Mariah Carey?!), but you get the point, I would never even CONSIDER wearing that now even if it was in style.

Did everyone get the “oh you'll have better self esteem and self image as you get older” gene except me? Before my goal was to just get a tummy tuck after having kids...now my laundry list of things that I want done in the next 15 years will require taking out a 3rd mortgage. Hmmm, I guess I justify it that the available procedures back when I had my original 1-item wish list was much smaller than all the crazy things you can do now. Watch out Cat-Lady, i'll be giving you a run for your money. Meow.


Ewwwww, I suddenly thought of Oprah thinking about her “sensual years” and getting it on with Stedman. AND Gayle. At the same time. With lots of lube.

Oh the humanity.

Absolutely stunning

My life is incomplete without this skirt in my closet:


It's a promo pic for Macy's anniversary. If i get hit by a bus tomorrow, please sell my entire closet, shoes, purses, accessories, car and buy that skirt to bury me in it.

So, so stoked!

For 10 years, I've been wanting this hat from a guy I went to University with. I knew it was from surf shop, and I always thought he got it from San Diego.

Every time I go to Comic Con or wherever, I always try to go into surf shops to see if I can find the hat. I didn't know the name or anything, I just knew I'd recognize the logo when I saw it.

Seriously, it was an awesome effing hat.

Anyway, I finally thought to just ASK Eric where he got it from, and he's like "the Ron Jon hat?"...YES YES! And best of all, there's a Ron Jon Surf Shop right in Orange! Swwwwwwwwwwwweeeeet!

This is the hat I want (in cream, not navy):


Hmm maybe I'll just get Kraig to get it for me for my birthday and be done with it.

Let me backtrack a bit here...baseball hats are REALLY hard for me to find. The best one I have is my highschool one, which I adore but you know, it's been years since highschool and I rarely wear it because I don't want to wear it out. It's got a snap button strap on the back, which is perfect: I can put a ponytail through it, but it's already perfectly adjusted for my head.

I can't find anything like it anymore. Either you get hats that are fully covered in the back (not ideal for chicks with ponytails), or they velcro straps or something retarded like that...i don't want to keep adjusting. And they never fit right. Or they're those plastic snap doodads, which also are kinda weird.

The Ron Jon one i think is the plastic snap doodad kind, but considering how effing awesome that had is...I'll make an exception. Maybe I should just order it online, considering the $7 shipping is probably the same cost of gas for me anyway.

Today is a good day.

Scariest corporate mascots

I'm copping out by just linking to another article, but if you don't have time to read the whole thing at the very least read the very first item (#7) and watch the Jolly Green Giant commercial circa 19-something-before-color-tv...scary crap man!
top 7 most terrifying corporate mascots of all time

A+ service: View Cleaners

So everyone on the planet knows my fiasco with the AWFUL dry cleaners that ruined my White House Black Market dress...in case you don't, just know that you should boycott with every bone on your body:

Dry Clean Express
23842 El Toro Road, Unit C, Lake Forest CA 92630
949-457-1800

I mean, come ON...one employee flat out said to me "what do I know about fabrics? I'm a guy!"...to which my reply was: "You're a DRY CLEANER...you're supposed to know fabrics!" and he had no reply.

Anyway, I should have taken it to my USUAL spot...View Cleaners in Ladera...I meant to take my other dress there but it's not like i drive to ladera all the time and on Saturdays I always forget, then Sundays they're closed...

I dropped off my NEW White House Black Market dress (courtesy of my wonderful girlfriends who were sick of listening to me bitch about the old dress that got ruined lol) and the lady was SO nice, and was like "of course we inspect the dress when it comes in...if it were damaged we wouldn't even bother"...EXACTLY! And then I just called to confirm it was ready and with a pleasant voice she was like "yep, it's ready one item for pickup!"...

At the other place, their idiot employee Fidel would have been like "i don't know...maybe...i dont' know...i'll call you back"...incompetence is not acceptable.

Anyway, I just wanted to give props where props is due!

(knowing my luck i'll pick it up and it'll get damaged...dammit.)

Letter to the Editor

I'm not sure I agree with that, the term customers isn't mutually exclusive to either Sellers or Buyers, they are both customers of eBay.

I disagree. A customer is someone who's dishing out the dough...you, as a buyer, don't spend a dime to ebay. Now I do think Ebay has a responsibility to ensure that their sellers are legit, and that the items are legit, but the "true" customer is not the bidder but the seller.

When you purchase something on ebay, ebay is not responsible for the item itself, for shipping it, for making sure you're happy. That's the seller. The bidder can be considered Paypal's customer, sure, but basically Ebay's interest in keeping bidders happy is because they need to keep things legal and kosher in order to make their marketplace not look like some underground crack den.

I used to adore ebay, but because of all the bad seeds out there the whole thing is just jacked. I used to use Yahoo Auctions back in the day, but that caved when Ebay became uber powerful. I will probalby always use Ebay until there's another alternative...but I don't have the same "fun" as I used to.

Ebay enjoys taking money from the sellers and then stepping back and only involving itself when necessary (that excludes Paypal, which I actually have had very good experiences when it comes to getting effed over with my money...but i attribute it to their legal team and that paypal wasn't owned by Ebay initially). One prime example is how it's being sued by Tiffanys...

Ebay takes a stance that its not responsible for fake items on ebay...well Tiffanys disagreed and discovered that 75% of the items on ebay listed as Tiffanys jewelry is fake. Ebay claims it's just a forum...but it's NOT just a forum. They make money off the fake stuff too...the more fake stuff, the more ebay makes.

I think I lost alot of respect for them when they purchased Skype...NOT because they needed it, but because Google wanted it and if Google wants it, then Ebay HAS to have it (so an insider told me at the time). I just really question the people running the show.

/soapbox rant.

Ebay Discussion

Just perusing the ebay seller board (I figure, I've sold enough stuff and i sell more than I buy, i deserve to provide my input...i've been on ebay since 1999), someone posted this:

Well, Ebay has forgotten who its customers are. We, the sellers, are Ebay's customers. But they protect buyers (who are our customers, not theirs) over sellers (their customers) almost every time. Their business model depends on extracting fees from sellers -- even from a buyer's scam -- and they really seem to have no interest in protecting this community or the sellers who make it up.

Which is absolutely true.

Idiot ebayer, part II

So the moron from yesterday sent this to me today:
I think it's time to consider refunding my money. The dvd's have not been delivered. I don't believe they even exist. Today makes 12 days from the time I paid for them. There is no reason why they shouldn't have arrived yet. I'll expect a call from you by 4:30pm eastern time to work out the details of the refund. If I don't hear from you, be rest assured, I will file reports of items not received with EBAY, Paypal and file a formal report with local law enforcement. This is not something I want to do but I refuse to be ripped off. I can be reached at 917.709.0457.


I asked for help on the ebay seller board, the only problem is that he has a non-confirmed address, which effs me over even IF the tracking eventually shows he got it.

What kills me is that...it's not 12 days from the time he paid, it's based on BUSINESS days...and it hasn't been 9 days yet. To top it off, 4:30 eastern time = 1:30 my time, and I got this at like noon. WTF, how unreasonable can you get?! Fortunately on the ebay board everyone was like "yeah, this guy is insane. it's not worth dealing with him".

My concern isn't if in the end paypal were to refund him or something (see my note** below), i just don't want bad feedback. I can lose the $20 or whatever, my feedback is what's important.

** so check it...apparently the reason you want to ship ONLY to confirmed addresses is that there's alot of address fraud...so by confirming the address (I believe with a credit card), if the delivery confirmation shows it's shipped then ebay will find fault on the bidder if they bitch. But if they bitch and you shipped it to a non-confirmed address, well paypal figures it's your own fault for shipping it to an unverifiable address. I didn't know that. So i figured out how to set my paypal settings to ONLY accept payments from a confirmed address.

Anyway...on the advice of someone from the forum I replied to him short and simple that parcel post is give or take 9 business days and when a reasonable amount of time has passed i'll file a claim with the post office. That's it. (You can't file a claim until after 14 business days).

Once the transaction is totally complete (i.e he gets his item and either gives me bad feedback or...its' been awhile) i'll post his ID so the world can block him from bidding on his bids.

Ebay f*cker!

From an email I sent to someone:

Okay I"m SO p1ssed. I got this email from a bidder:

This item was paid for on 12/30/07. It's now 01/09/08 and I still haven't received it. What is going on? I called the post office and gave them the tracking number you supplied. They said they have no record of the item or the item number. With all due respect, I'm not in the habit of paying good money for nothing. I need you to contact me asap at 917.709.0457 with an explanation and the whereabouts of my dvd's. If not, I'll be forced to file a report to EBAY & Paypal claiming non-receipt and possible fraud. I'll be expecting your call by 5pm Eastern Standard Time (2pm Pacific time).


So not only did I send him an email saying if he actually looked at the tracking numbero nline, it shows it was processed, but also that it was shipped parcel post which takes up to 9 business days (which hasn't' been 9 yet).

Then i call him and the guy is a COMPLETE idiot, giving me until 5pm tomorrow to have the item to him. I'm like "well you can't escalate it to ebay, it shows the shipping label was printed and the item was indeed shipped but okay go for it", and he starts tellling me how the post office is MY responsibility. I"m like "uh you didn't get insurance, so no i'm not".

he also proceeds to tell me that he doesn't use the online tracking tool, he goes straight to the "horse's mouth". Uh the government employees at the podunk post office? WTF!

So then *I* called the 1-800 number and the lady was able to tell me that it was shipped on the 31st, left california on the 4th, and that she didn't have more info but the 9th day is technically Friday so worry about it on Friday.

I call the guy back and he FLIPS OUT on me...why? Because i didn't ship it priority mail because he spent all of $5.10 on shipping. I'm like "well that's what was listed on the auction, if you wanted it shipped another way you should have said that BEFORE it was shipped!"...so then he yells that he's going to escalate this to ebay and hangs up on me!

What kills me is that i'm going to get bad feedback from this moron even though it's 100% his stupidity (I even checked his ebay ratings, someone else gave him a bad score for the exact same thing)...

So now I'm praying he'll get the item today or tomorrow. OH to top it off, i said i would call him when i spoke to the post office (even though i'm not going to ask the local post office, wtf there's not much they can do when it's in transit) and he said "well this is my work number and it gets turned off at 5". then i said "well...it will be after 8pm your time before I will talk to them" and he insisted that I call him before 5pm...HIS TIME. I'm trying to be all nice and polite but i'm like "WTF i can't leave work before 5pm and there's a time difference, you f*cker" (i didn't say that but damn i wanted to).

WHY WHY WHY are the majority of people total morons?!

Going to post this on my blog. Even with his frickin' phone number.

Money, costco, jobs, and bling

So did some web surfing crap and came across this:
Job-related stress is extremely common. According to the Jobs Rated Almanac, the five most stressful jobs are:
1. President of the United States
2. Firefighter
3. Senior corporate executive
4. Race car driver
5. Taxi driver
The five least stressful jobs, according to the Jobs Rated Almanac, are:
1. Medical records technician
2. Janitor
3. Forklift operator
4. Musical instrument repairer
5. Florist

I think it bothers me a bit that a medical records technician's job isn't stressful...you SHOULD be stressed. Keeps you on your a-game. That being said, I once was item #5 (although being 14 years old nothing is stressful...oh wait, this is me we'er talking about. The only job that I felt wasn't stressful was Le Chateau, because I was there for so long and I was the quickest person on the cash register...so when the store got crazy busy, i was automatically put on the cash register which is easy monkey work).

Naturally being a florist isn't stressful...although I sucked at floral arrangements and the only thing I could do properly was a simple bouquet of a dozen roses (with or without baby's breath, although I preferred to make it without). Other than not being able to arrange anything in a vase, the only other thing that bugged me was that my hands were marred from the roses' thorns...it'd say I had a ratio of 60:40 skin to holes on my palms. Which even then wouldn't be so bad if part of the job didn't involve packaging our own floral preservative, which was like pouring battery acid on all those wounds.

In other news, my Costco membership is expiring and I really don't feel like doling out another $50 for a membership (seriously, I hate costco. Almost as much as I hate 24HF. You have to save $50 just to break even. And their prices are NOT that great...i've compared them elsewhere. I just go for the stuff that's costco-specific) until BBQ season. So last night I went on a huge grocery store spree and ended up talking to the cashier about how much people spend at costco.

She said that people easily blow $10-$15K, mostly because they're buying TVs and stuff. But then we started talking about the jewelry section...when i never really noticed because it's not like I'm going to buy anything and my goal with Costco is to get in and out asap (the longer you're there, the more you spend). She said that one time someone bought a $100K ring. It was 22 carats. They had to get the police to escort them out. Nuts!

And seems like bigwig executives buy jewelry there all the time. So I went again today at lunch and checked out the jewelry section...nothing was $100K, but there WAS a pair of diamond earrings...for $56K. FIFTY SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS...at Costco. I think they were a little over 2 carats. Most of the diamond stuff they had averaged between $2K to $15K. I just can't get over that you can buy a bulk box of detergent...and a pair of earrings that cost more than my car (and heck, i bought my car brand new!).

On to money matters...

So in February I have a CD that's finally expiring. Effing Bank of America...the rate was so crummy. I believe I put in around $3000 and earned $483 in interest. Gasp. Such a huge amount (grumble. I think the crummy rate was 3%, which hardly keeps up with inflation). Anyway, so my debate when it expires has been:
1. Put the $3K towards the HELOC loan, put the rest in the botox fund (it's been awhile since i had it done).
2. Put the $3K towards the HELOC loan, get laser teeth whitening. I am obsessed with teeth, especially my own (naturally), and the past 2 years of drinking diet pepsi has stained them IMO.
3. Put a little under $3K towards teh HELOC loan, get a decent frickin' laptop.

Let's break this down. I went to the dentist today (my dentist kicks ASS. She works at another office and on Wednesday she's going to be working on Brad, Angelina, and all fifty of their kids) and she was like "you're nuts, you're teeth are white, you're fine. Just use the bleaching trays you already have" (another reason why i love my dentist: 'cause they don't sell me crap to make a buck). And the hygienist agreed. But...i personally LIKE teeth that are milk- or paper-white. I've invested alot into my teeth (as have my parents) and if they have to glow to get attention, so be it. There's very few things I like about myself...my teeth deserve center stage.

But...well if she thinks it's not worth it, then fine.

I was going to forego the botox, but this morning I looked in the mirror and I think i wrinkled my forehead IN MY SLEEP. And it's making my whole face look haggard. The only problem with botox is that you do have to maintain it...granted, the mroe you do it the less you have to get it done (i.e. down to 1x/year), but until then it's kinda pricey.

So that leaves the laptop. Which is the smart choice, assuming that I verifythe bootlegged s/w I have (Office 2003, Dreamweaver, etc) works on Vista since that's all you can pretty much get (and i'll i'd want...i wouldn't want to get a laptop with XP only to later upgrade it to Vista since hardware with Vista pre-installed was designed specifically for it. I'm not f*king around with microsoft).

THEN...i was scoping out HP laptops (my favs are HP or Sony Vaio laptops...HP because that printer of mine was kickass and it sens a message ot me about the reliability, Vaio because i had one once for work and loved it), their mousepad track thingy is awful. So...we'll see.

Cooking with that ghetto free Costco cookbook

Over the holidays Costco gave away this cookbook using, naturally, costco-specific products (which isn't too hard to substitute). Cookbooks are like serious food porn...i could pour over the pages, salivating, oggling, for hours...and repeat it frequently.

I decided today to give two recipes a whirl: the meatloaf and the apple-cheese soup.

The soup (link to cookbook, go to page 77): it's actually pretty tasty, except I added extra mustard powder and tabasco, since I generally think recipes are very bland in flavor (I feel pretty confident in my spice-skills, since a coworker pointed out that whatever I bring in always has the right amount of spices...which I tend to triple in a given recipe). Oh and I used that fat-free oil (Enova) instead of butter, since the whole planet knows I've got an aversion to butter. Only problem is that I was cooking while reading and missed hte part that said to peel the apples before putting them in...ahh well, it still tastes pretty spiffy.

You wouldn't think a cheese-apple soup would be good, but you gotta use granny smith apples which makes it very tangy.

Healthy Mini Meatloaves: (link to cookbook, go to page 147) this is my first ever meatloaf, to be honest I've never really had meatloaf before (unless a bite off someone's plate once counts). It's good, VERY easy to make, except this is what I would change:
- don't bother with the muffin concept...i dunno, maybe i'm weird, but i think a traditional old skool meatloaf format would be better.
- I added like 5 times the thyme and i would definitely not hesitate to be liberal with that. Plus I would add even MORE pepper than the boatloads that i added. Turkey's not exactly the most flavorful meat.
- I would really, REALLY chop finely the mushrooms and onions...even maybe puree them (if i had a mini food processor...not worth whipping out the big one...heh heh that sounded perverted), i don't like big chunks of stuff in my food.

Overall, considering it's Costco, it's a very good cookbook. Instructions are clear, recipes may look like they take alot of ingredients but they're all basic stuff nothing crazy (One thing I hate about Rachel Rey's stuff is that they usually need some white whine...wtf i don't keep white wine laying around, let alone waste the rest of the bottle...not a white wine fan)....

Time to get my Girls Next Door and Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood on...

Adult survey

Saw this as a MySpace bulletin and well...you know the drill...it's all about me :P
Meant to be completed by those ADULTS out of high school)

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?

'Have you ever kissed someone?'
'Missed someone?'
'Told someone you loved them?'
'Drank alcohol?'

Hate all those questions!

Here are some questions for the people who are a little more mature... Okay, okay... OLD FOLKS like us.....

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Mortgage bill(s).

2. What's the best place to eat a romantic dinner?
There was this restaurant in Ottawa, argh it was fabulous and expensive and tiny and perfect, right in the Market, but it closed down.

3. Last time you puked from drinking?
Hmmm...i think at Nicole D's bar hopping night.

4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar?
I've danced on stages and cage thingies but never on a BAR itself...I have this thing to not piss off the bartenders!

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
I remember kingergarten...but 1st and 2nd grade, for the life of me, no idea their names.

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Sleeping, watching the rest of Nip/Tuck on DVD, driving a new car

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An artist, and then later either a lawyer OR go into biochemistry/genetics and mutate crap.

8. How many colleges did you attend?
0. In Canada college is different than in the US. I went to The University of Ottawa...ghetttoooo.

9. Why did you wear the shirt that you have on right now?
'Cause it was long enough to reach my waist and i'm wearing lowwwww black pants and i can't be flashing nobody at work.

10. GAS PRICES! First thought?
that I was on empty yesterday.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you, where would you go and who would you take?
Okay i know this sounds awful...but I"d move back to Canada (but somewhere warm, like BC) and take my cat Marmalade. Is that bad that I didn't say Kraig? I jsut couldn't survive without my cat.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
Hit snooze asap.

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Cartman, RadioHead, and buying pubes.

14. Favorite style of underwear?
Oh PLEASE...it's ALL about that Hanes "best underwear ever" stuff. Thin, stretchy, doesn't ride up but still looks attractive.

15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?
Boxer briefs. Mmm mmm good.

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
I can't STAND vacuuming. And scrubbing the bathtub. EVERYTHING else is fine. Seriously though. Scrubbing the tub is horrible. That's why I got that Automatic Shower Cleaner.

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer at an art gallery?
Uhhh...no? Is that my only volunteer option? Eff that. If i didnt' have to work, i'd volunteer for an animal cause OR/AND i'd sit on my ass all day watching tv.

18. Get up early or sleep in?
I'd prefer to sleep in, but i end up getting up early.

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Tough call...Mr. Burns and Homer (Simpsons)...Butters and Cartman (South Park)...that chick who looks like Betty Boop (Drawn Together)...and of course, all the disney princesses minus Snow White.

20. Favorite NON sexual thing to do at night with a girl/guy?
anything that results in tons and tons of laughing.

21. A secret that you wouldn't mind everyone knowing?
When i went to Target today, they didn't charge me for 2 cases of soda 'cause it was on that bottom part of the shopping cart. And i didn't say anything.

22. Your favorite lunch meat?
Uhhh...like deli meat? It all tastes like the same processed stuff to me.

23. What do you get every time you go into Costco?
I'm anti-costco. But when i DO go...i guess my answer is....ALOTTA CRAP.

24. Beach or lake?
Well lake mission viejo has a manmade beach...i'll take both please.

25. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual that was invented by people who died at 20?
It's not a ritual, there's alot of legal stuff behind it. Like how you can't be forced to testify for a spouse accused of a crime. Or if your mate is in an accident, you get to make the medical decisions if there's no paperwork saying otherwise. It legally binds you saying you've got a responsibility to someone else now, suck it.

26. Who do you stalk on MySpace?
The Orleans, Ontario page. It's crazy fabulous.

27. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Celebrity stuff. Ohh...and i admit it...i'm STILL watching Fashion House. It's on 6 days a week. I know. It's the WORST SHOW EVER MADE and i'm effing watching it each night.

28. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
Listen, don't knock Footloose. It's effing FABULOUS. Kevin Bacon plays a straight guy who is soooo gay, it's crazy (i'm not anti gay. But if you're gay, just be gay dammit). I don't know any guy who vents his anger through GYMNASTICS and DANCING.

29. What's your drink?
Soda: Diet pepsi, no ice. Hot beverage: Tazo Passion Tea + 2 Splendas. Alcohol: some girly martini.

30. Cowboys or Indians?
Uhhh...no preference.

31. Cops or Robbers?
Depends who's on MY side.

32. Do you cheer for the bad guy?
As long as he's not ugly.

33. What Hollywood star do you think resemble?
Sigh. APPARENTLY THE CHICK FROM WAITING...just in an uglier format. And Sophia Coppolla. And BLossom.

34. If you had to pick one, which cast member of "Lost" would you be?
Kate. So i could hookup with Sawyer. I would choose sawyer, but there's no mirrors on that island and I would want to stare at myself all day.

35. What do you want when you are sick?
Sleep.

36. Who from high school would you like to run into?
That i don't already still talk to? Hmmm...i wonder what Rashna is up to. Oh, and Christine Masterson to tell her FINALLY that she's a f*cking bitch, she's pure trash,...which also means i'd want to see that Renata chick who was only in school for 1 year but told Christine Masterson if she lays a hand on me, she'll kick her ass. Ahh, everyone needs a strong friend to protect them!

37. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
No idea. I pretty much just listen to KFI 640 (am) and whatever station has The Triplets.

38. Norm or Cliff?
Norm. Cliff was a PAIN. ANd his mom was always around.

39. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons?
Oh that is such a tough call. I dig both. But the SImpsons are close to my heart, so they win.

40. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
I don't think I want to take any of them back, even if things went south they were always good when they were GOOD, you know? And it's always a good learning experience. Although i wish I could knock off "brian-toucan", the dude with the big nose i dated briefly during a "break" with Adam...he was a tool. And a highschool dropout.

41. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
No one is across from me, but next to me is someone I ADORE, she's fabulous.

42. If you could get away with it, who would you kill?
Without causing ANY pain to those who might care for this person? I can't say, because even if you knew the relationship with that person you'd think i was horrible!

43. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Someone hot. It's not like i'm having dinner witht hem because i care for the conversation.

44. What famous person would you like to sleep with?
matthew mcconaughey, nick lachey, tom welling, the rock, ryan reynolds, ryan phillipe

45. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
Nope.

46. Last book you read for real?
Right now i'm reading What's Not to Love?: The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer

47. Do you have a teddy bear?
No, i grew up with my Curious George stuffed toy

48. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
My cube.

49. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
I've pretty much been everywhere in Cali.

50. Number of texts in a day?
Depends.

51. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or relationship?
Ha ha i'm married, what do you think?

52. Do you go to church?
And by "church", do you mean "Target"? Of course.

53. Pencil or pen?
Purple, medium point ballpoint pens. None of this rollerball crap.

54. bueller??? bueller??? bueller?
You know, i'm not a big fan of that movie for some reason.

55. How many jobs have you had?
Oh geezus I did the math once last year when i wa sstuck in traffic, it was like 27 jobs in 19 years.

56. What do you want to achieve in life?
Wow. Finally a good question. This sounds sooo stupid...but inner peace...

57. RANDOM THOUGHT
"Time heals all wounds", "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and "if it ain't broke, dont' fix it" are some pretty good words of wisdom.