Love: Lined winter shoes!

#25:
I'm not a big fan of Uggs, never have been, but I can't say I never will be. As the years have passed and Uggs still remain a staple of many women and girls, I have started to slowly see the appeal.
There's still no appeal in the boot itself, I still think they're ugly and make your feet look fat and cartoon-like. But I do see the appeal in the lining and making your feet nice and toasty especially during these harsh New England winters.
I guess my disdain for the suede boot started when I first saw Pam Anderson wearing them in her Baywatch bathing suit being interviewed on Entertainment Tonight. What a joke- the ocean backdrop and the tight orange bathing suit, and then essentially, mittens on her feet. I thought it looked ridiculous and it started to bother me even more when I saw regular girls on the street making the same statement. Not in a bathing suit, but in 85 degree weather in July wearing cut off shorts and Uggs. Really?! In New England?! What's wrong with some people???!!! Everything!
I started to hate them right then and there and vowed never to buy a pair. It's 2010 and I still, very proudly, do not own a pair of Uggs. (Insert smiley face and pat on the back).
BUT- I recently visited one of my best friends in Brooklyn and she had the most adorable pair of.... Moccasins!! Lined with fur, like Uggs, and suede, I adored them! A slip-on shoe for the winter that will keep your foot warm and you look cute wearing it too. I'm sold! So of course, I have had to buy a pair, and I haven't received them yet, but I know I'm going to totally LOVE them. And I couldn't have ordered them at a better time. It's COLD up here in Boston, and mama needs a pair of winter shoes that are not my winter boots, which are quite cute, but really can only be worn when there's actual snow outside. Otherwise, I just look silly and like I didn't check the weather for the day, (which I hate).
So, I'm really looking forward to getting a special package in the mail on the 16th and keeping my feet toasty, comfy, and cute.

Love: Buddha in costume

#24:
I always liked the idea of animals in costume or really any kind of attire, but never thought I'd be the kind of person to buy a wardrobe for Buddha, our Pug, let alone Halloween costumes. I'm so uncreative when it comes to human costumes, how could I possibly gain the mental capacity to purchase one for my dog?
Luckily, Target made it super easy by selling some ridiculously cute costumes for animals. It also helps when your dog is one of the cutest creatures alive.
Target sells a range of costumes from bumblebee, to ram, to banana split. My favorites were the squirrel which happens to be holding an acorn, the classic pumpkin, and the one we ended up purchasing for our baby, Buddha, the turtle.
The turtle headpiece, which to me is the highlight of the outfit, is one of the cutest things I've seen, especially when resting on the shrunken head of Buddha.
And if you don't believe me, here are pictures to prove it.
I would totally open my door for this creature of the night, wouldn't you?
Happy Halloween!!

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Love: Cooking in the fall

#23:
I love cooking in general any time of the year. But I especially love cooking in the fall and wihnter. My husband likes the cold weather and in the summer he likes to keep the house as cool as possible. I think as a reminder that the seasons will change and he will feel the 60 degree air again one day.
Either way, turning the oven on the summer is a no-no in our house and therefore we miss a lot of yummy meals in the summer months that we are so appreciative of in the fall and winter.
My favorites to cook (and eat):
Baked pasta- any
Pizza- which this season's goal is to start making it from scratch. My best friend Jen says it's really easy
Roasted chicken
Roasted vegetables
Roasted anything :-)
Potatoes au gratin
Homemade mac and cheese
Meatloaf- Chinese style
Baked goods- including cookies, cupcakes, Apple kuchen

I'm hungry now just thinking about all the lovely food I'm going to cook this weekend!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

Hate: No official Blogspot App for Droid

#21:
I LOVE my Droid. LOVE it. I love the apps available in the Market. What I don't love is that there's no official app for Blogspot. Only a couple from third parties. Yet Tumblr and Wordpress seemed to find the time to create official apps for their bloggers.
What's up Google? Can't make the time for your bloggers can you? Too busy eating free food in your awesome cafeteria on your fancy schmancy campus?! Or playing with all of your dogs in doggy daycare??
You can build me an app that will explain the constellations to me if I point my Droid at the sky but you can't build me a simple and official app so I can blog whenever the F I want?!
Poor form, Google, poor form.

love: the HTC incredible

#22:
yes, I completely and utterly love the Incredible and am an Android fan for LIFE!! thank you Google!

Hate: Being around super Chinese people

#20:
Yes, I know, that sounds weird, being that I, myself, am Chinese. But in the end, when I really think about it, I am American and I've been trying to explain that to people for years. Around white people, it's not such a big deal, every once in a while, even in this century, I still get the question, "where are you from?" I've tried all different answers, "New York", "America", "from the same place you are", "where are YOU from?" Ultimately, white people just keep digging until I say "my parents are from China, I'm Chinese". This ends in victory for the white man, and they finally leave me alone.
Chinese people on the other hand, are relentless and waaay rude about it. ALWAYS. I have yet to meet one that just lets it go, accepts the fact that I do not have crimped hair, speak broken English, have porcelain skin or speak fluent Mandarin. Sorry China. I was born and raised here in the good ole U.S., I don't even have a New York accent or a Boston accent. I speak amazing English. I read and write amazing English, I am whiter than most of white friends.
Instead the Chinese give me dirty looks, start talking about me in Mandarin, knowing that I will not understand them. But I do understand them. I know what they're saying. They think I'm insulting them by not knowing Mandarin, by not understanding China and where I came from, I will never understand who I really am, or so they think.
I'm actually very aware of who I am and what I'm capable of. I know I can make a mean stir-fry and order from the "authentic" Chinese  menu when I want to. I eat chicken feet at dim sum and can make lo bak go from scratch. I know what to buy at the specialty Asian market without having to read the labels. And I know how to celebrate Chinese New Year like a Chinese person. I also know that Katz' Deli is way better than Carnegie Deli. NY bagels cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world. NY pizza is real pizza not that deep dish crap or even California Pizza Kitchen. I also love all things Hello Kitty and all of her friends too. Also my meatloaf and homemade mac n' cheese rules, just ask my husband.
Do I wish that I could read, write and speak Mandarin fluently? I do now. Do I regret zoning out all those Saturdays my mom dropped me off at Chinese school and I had to cheat off my friend during the tests just to make it to the next grade? I do now. Do I wish my mom actually understood how hard Chinese school was because the teachers all expected you to already speak Mandarin and they weren't actually teaching me they were just talking at me in a language I could not understand? I do now.
At the time, I could care less. All I wanted to do was be rebellious and embrace America even more. I bleached my black hair blond, cut it short like a boy, all as a big "F you" to Chinese people who wanted me to be "more Chinese". What does that even mean? Just because I have the features does not mean I have the heart.
And has it bitten me in the ass now as an adult? Maybe. China could take over the world someday. They're growing faster in every aspect of society, including population, technology, and consumer power. They're no longer as rural and backwards as they once were. Communist still- yes, but maybe that could change one day too. In my lifetime? Maybe, although I hope to be elderly by then, and everyone will have to respect me regardless of what I speak and don't speak.
So at this time in my life, I wish I had made some different choices when I was younger, but I was stupid when I was young, everyone is. But I am my worst critic and forever will be and I don't need one billion Chinese people to tell me how to live my life and judge me because I was born in this country and they weren't. I know who I am and what I love. So sorry China if my Chinglish isn't good enough for you. In this country, it works and I'm proud of it.

Love: Avocado, Ming Tsai, and this recipe

#21:
I love avocado and I love that my husband finally loves avocado too (he's a very picky eater). I also love Ming Tsai, he looks a lot like my Uncle Paul, seriously. I'll put side by side pics so you can compare the two, the resemblance is practically uncanny. And I love this recipe. I haven't made it yet, but I can just tell I already LOVE it.

Ming's delicious avocado puree and chips - Dishing - Boston.com

Love: This Baby Dancing

#20:
I do love this baby dancing. For the first minute at least. But after 2 minutes, I dunno... it gets to be a bit much and I start wondering, maybe he dances so well cause he's not really a baby? Maybe he's like how all those South American kids get chosen for little league baseball teams to compete for the title but they're really like 18 and not 10. Maybe he's really like 5 and wearing a diaper?

HATE: Buddha with a swollen eye

#19:
Normally Buddha walks around looking concerned a lot of the time. I think that's just a pug's normal face, due to all the wrinkles. Sometimes she looks sad even when she doesn't act sad. But seeing Buddha with half a swollen face, makes her look constantly sad and makes me feel sad looking at her.

How could anyone look at Buddha and not feel bad?

Buddha with a puff face

LOVE: Food Inc.

#19:
What a great flick.
I was a bit reluctant at first to watch this, I'll admit, but once I started, I couldn't stop.
I will honestly say though, that by the end of the movie, I was no longer hungry for dinner, and the thought of eating made me slightly sick.
I'm a meat eater and lover, and I know that meat is an animal that has to die, and although watching the process was still hard, it also didn't transform me into a vegetarian overnight. Although beans are looking tastier and tastier by the minute, as well as plain toast, which is what I had for breakfast today.
I will say that from now on I will no longer think twice about paying the extra few dollars for organic beef, or grass-fed beef when I see it in the store. And I'm no longer eating tomatoes in the winter.
Please see this movie, and I hope you start making the same lifestyle decisions that I have. We do have a say, we can make a difference- 3 times a day.

LOVE: This website

#18:
This website will randomly generate a recipe every day from the Internet.
And basically it says exactly how I feel most week nights.
Why didn't I think of this???
DOH!!

http://www.whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/index.php

RIP: Ronnie James Dio

The original Tolkien Hobbit, my rainbow in the dark.... You'll always be a mystery to me

(1942 -2010)

Hate: Buddha's new home

#18:

And I'm sure Buddha hates it too...

Love: Buddha in recovery

#17:
Buddha's been home for a week and a half now and she's recovering nicely. We won't have the official word until she sees the doctor tomorrow to get her staples removed and also has her first session of physical therapy.

But so far, she's started to squat on her own to pee and poop. She can stand in her crate and looks pissed at us doing so. She's also been able to scratch her head with her back left leg, but I think her back right leg was the one most effected by the surgery, so it seems to be taking her longer to feel that one.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow...

Buddha's 1st day home

Buddha looking pissed off

Buddha so pissed off she can't even look at us :(

Hate: Seeing Buddha so sad...

#17:
One of the things I love the most is to see a happy and mellow, beautiful Buddha being lazy in the house. That will not be the case for the next month as she's on the road to recovery after receiving surgery yesterday from a ruptured disk in her back.
Tuesday night she was shaking, moaning, and would not walk up the stairs or get comfortable on the couch. When I carried her to bed, she wouldn't lay down, and maybe all three of us got about an hour's worth of sleep that night.
Yesterday morning we drove her to the vet and they were able to see her on short notice and then had us take her to a neurologist in Woburn at the Mass Vet hospital where he decided that they needed to do an MRI on her to determine the cause of her pain. Before they took her to give her the anesthesia, we said our goodbyes and when Alan put her on the floor, she collapsed because she could no longer feel her back legs.
Now knowing that she's on the way back to being her normal self is a huge relief, although seeing her sad and ill is not the way anyone would want to see a loved one.
Here are some photos of Day 1, post-surgery:

Buddha and her IV

Hi Buddha!

Buddha has 9 staples in her shaved back :(

Sleepy Buddha, sad Zeus

An attempt at a smile

Love...

Being so busy at work that I can't find time to 1- write in my blog, and 2- look outside to see that it rained.

Hate: The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno

#16:
Yep, I'm boycotting it and I will watch Letterman just to screw with Leno.
I don't care how humble Jay gets, he will not get my household to watch the Tonight Show any longer.

Go away Jay, you weren't funny the first time, you weren't funny the second time with your most recent show at 10pm, and you certainly are not funny now!

HATE: New England Meteorologists

#15:
PEOPLE! What happened yesterday????? How come the weathermen and women could not get their shiz together??!!! What were they doing all day? What were they THINKING???

I don't know about you, but yesterday was the most ridiculous weather reporting I have ever witnessed.

If I went to work and I put this report together and said everyone in the office had to plan accordingly based on the findings in my report, because this is how the next day will be run, and everyone listened to me, and they did all the planning, but then that next day, everything they planned for was completely changed on them, and they found out they shouldn't have listened to my report in the first place---- I'd be fired!!!

So good job Pete Bouchard, Dylan Dryer, and the rest of the people in your profession who we listen to on a daily basis so we can dress accordingly. You better get your act together before you get replaced by robots. Cause that's what the world is coming to!!

Love: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Read an excerpt

#16:
This was a great book. It's just kind of sad that it took my 5 years to finally read it. My bad.

My husband's been telling me how awesome this book is for the last 5 years, and it finally took seeing a poster for the movie by Martin Scorcese with Leonardo DiCaprio's face on it for me to say, oh yeah, that's a book, I should probably read that before seeing the movie.

And I'm glad they did make the film, or else I never would have known how awesome the book is. I think it may have taken me this long based on Dennis Lehane's past novels, mainly "Mystic River", which turned me off to reading "Shutter Island", but it's really nothing like his other novels.

I will say, it's quite sad when you finally take the time to reflect on the story. It's part mystery, part thriller, part horror in a small way, but hugely romantic, just not in a Nicholas Sparks kind of way.

I will also mention that the last chapter, 25, I still don't understand. I liked it all the way until the last chapter. It's just a little confusing, at least for me it was.

Now I have to wait for my husband to reread the book to explain the last chapter to me. I hope it doesn't take him 5 years.