i wonder if it is better to have a mirror that makes you look fat or better to have one that makes you look slim. the former would frustrate me to no end and i would always be depressed at how fat i am. i would be less confident, less smiley, and generally a less happy person.
OR i could be deluded into thinking i was slimmer than i actually am, and be quite happy and oblivious to reality.
but maybe the fat mirror will push me to get off my ass and work out. and the slim mirror will make me complacent and eat a little more because i can afford it!

the little dilemmas of life. tsk tsk.

whenever my sister is around we end up watching brainless reality tv on mtv. like, oh my god!!

FOILED

unfortunately as i was getting my wares ready to sell, my mum calls me and asks what i'm up to.
i'm packing.
for what?
oh just selling old stuff.
where?
i dunno, maybe set up a table somewhere or something.
what?!! like an immigrant by the roadside?!!
no lah... just sell near the flea market... nothing wrong
are you in financial trouble?
NO
then why do you need to resort to selling your things on the street like a beggar?
i just need to get rid of my old stuff! you guys are overreacting.
come on, you have a good job and we are all living comfortably... if you need money, let us know... no need to go sell your stuff by the road. if you get caught, we can't come and help you... why jeopardize everything you have because of a few hundred dollars?? will you promise us to not sell? your father is very worried now. he thinks you are in trouble.
ok ok fine i won't sell my stuff on the street i promise.

so taking the conversation as a bad omen, i decide i cannot set up my table because if i did, knowing my luck, i'd get into trouble and my parents will think "see told her already...always never listen". i was so bitter that day but thankfully it rained hard later on so it made me feel a bit better that i took heed of their warning.

being the entrepreneur that i am, i put up my stuff on ebay. but to my great dismay, two weeks and about $26 later (the cost to post) there was NOT A SINGLE bid for my BRAND NEW BCBG BLAZER AND ALMOST NEW SISLEY PEA COAT. eh, branded leh!! i guess mid-market just doesn't cut it for the world wide web and it definitely will have no value at all at mauro's consignment store. SO my grand plan this weekend is to set up shop on the streets of the east village like a true blue capitalist. i will pick a store that is closed on weekends and hijack the street in front of it with my home depot foldable table and bags of goods.

i am not sure if i need a license and maybe i do, but then there are always these african mystics selling their incense and bongs on the street and i highly doubt they went to the chamber of commerce or what have you to obtain permits for that. well, it's worth a shot and i'll make sure to be close enough to fede's apt to run in if the need arises.

coffee talk

low fat double shot sugar free hazelnut latte
caramel macchiato extra drizzle, low fat, not too hot
light mocha frappucino, extra shot espresso, no whipped cream but i'd like the chocolate drizzle please
coffee with room for cream please

coffee has become such a complex beverage and you had better get with the program baby. better get that starbucks jargon down so you don't embarrass yourself in front of the guy behind you because he knows all the fucking combinations you can create with milk and ground beans.

sometimes when i'm in line i practice my order just so i sound like a regular and i really know what i want. i think if there is a hint of inexperience with the coffee ordering, the barista will fuck you over and make you a full cream latte and not soy like you asked for. so i always pretend to look at the snacks when i get up to the counter, but in fact i am reciting in my head low fat sugar free caramel latte please. "can i get a sugar free caramel latte please. oh yeah, can you make that low fat?" F. i screwed up the flow of my order. now i am paranoid she didn't hear my request for skim milk and that the barista who is making my coffee doesn't give a damn and squirts three pumps of non-sugarfree caramel which would be a blow to my diet plans.

i hate that i am a franchise whore. not just starbucks, but target, chipotle and whole foods! i am a slave to american commercialism and i am truly somewhat ashamed! but the cafe next door doesn't use skim milk and doesn't have sugarfree caramel syrup.

cab adventures

cab drivers must have some kind of special cabby package for cell phone minutes because they are ALWAYS on the phone. whether in new york or chicago, EVERYTIME i get into a cab, they have their hands-free set glued into an ear and they're yakking away in some foreign language, usually arabic or some indian or african dialect.

because i'm such a cab junkie, i have had many cab adventures. not just that one guy who gave me a free ride and sent me emails professing his attraction to me (and no, i am not being thick-skinned here. he honestly did send me a long email telling me how special he thinks i am based on our 10 min conversation. yes i know- freaking strange) but also the guy from pakistan who had a master's in english and won the diversity visa lottery so after 6 years of cab-driving in new york he was finally going to bring his daughter and wife over.

today in chicago we drove past a mega long line outside the house of blues and i asked what was going on. the driver said it must be some huge star at the house of blues but he would never pay to see someone- unless the person was jesus. he went on to then tell me his life story about how he raised his kids and where they went to school. he had the funniest cackle for a laugh and I couldn't tell if he was slightly deranged or not.

windmills scattered throughout the valley. it was an amazing sight. i felt like any minute some UFO spaceship would land in the desert and zap us away

  

how very spg-looking i am here right haha.

  

andres looks like the mafia boss here

  

spritzer fan. v cool

  

  

  

  

  

  

amazing

  

this was meant to look like a pole dancer shot but i got embarrassed and managed only to muster up a grab the pole because i really need to go look

  

kibum andres fede and me

  

mind you it was abt 37 degrees celsius- what people do to make a fashion statement

  

the 80's gym junkies. they were there both days in the same outfits it was hilarious

  

at coachella

  

just doing our car model thang

  

andres practising his dance moves before the festival

  

  

better than virgin- AMOEBA music store has everything you can imagine. awesome

  

  

venice beach, LA

  

coachella baby

out in the middle of a desert, an oasis of retirement homes and golf courses constructed out of bare sand - palm desert/ palm springs or the desert cities as they are so known, is truly a magnificent human construct. because for miles and miles all one can see is arid land, but somehow humans have managed to make green green grass grow and tall tall palms thrive- like it was an architectural model in a workshop and someone like adele painstakingly planting the fake trees and spreading the green felt patches to look like grass.

anyway, so indio (another desert city next door) is where the coachella festival took place. the event sold out (100,000 people) partly because coachella sold out. first they brought in madonna and then to get the last couple of thousand tickets sold, they brought in kanye west at the last minute- not like i cared because hey i'm not a purist when it comes to music. all i really wanted to see was daft punk and massive attack and daft punk was absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. they had an amazing lightshow and they performed in these ridiculous robot outfits. the tent was packed out everyone was dancing and cheering, it was simply amazing and just to see them was worth every cent i paid to come. ru, you woulda loved it!!!

the tickets were 190 for both days and i how the gel/wax held up in the desert heat but it did). i'd say everyone kinda looked like they walked out of an urban store, some worked well and others not so well.
think i spent more time walking around from tent to tent, lining up to use the bathroom and drinking frozen lemonade than actually listening to the music. but it was impressively organized and just the experience of being in the middle of a freaking desert with 99,999 other people coming together for one thing but all for different reasons, was well worth it. and the best way to describe the crowd is definitely east village rocker/vintage punk. i have not seen more people with oversized vintage sunglasses, ratty old cowboy boots, thrift-store finds and the funkiest hairdos (have no idea

spent some time in LA too. beverly hills is definitely pretentious, but not as glam as it looks on MTV, VH1 or E! so i was a little disappointed. sunset blvd had some awesome houses but we never got the star map to go see the celeb dwellings. we drove past the hollywood sign from miles away and went wow for half a second.

back to ny in a couple of hours then schlepping my ass to chicago in a few more. oh what a jetsetter i am! hahahaha