Shut down

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.

More long weekends please

Something heartwarming:

Dinner with the crew at Two proved to be fun, easy and shall I say, very "grown-up." There's none of the unnecessary drama or trying too hard, but simply good friends talking about their weeks and laughing over comfort food and wine. I do love hanging out with you guys

Something delicious:

Scones on the bread platter! I get excited over restaurants that do a play on pre-entrée rolls (think Bobby Flay or umm, Red Lobster... Lol)


Warm pistachio orange crepe with pistachio ice cream. Just like me to show dessert first :)


Yoshi's beef cheeks with horseradish sauce


My simple ol' chicken and kale

Something homecooked:

Mee Siam, Prima Taste style

Something girly:

Met a dear gf at La Boulange on Union St. to chat over coffee and croissants. It's SO fun, we really have to do this more often

...and finally, something pretty.

The lovely and very funny Tina Fey

is making me deliriously happy with 30 Rock.

Few great lines:
"I thought you made love like an ugly girl: so present, so grateful." ~ Jack Donaghy
"Someday I'll have an office like this. To clean!" ~ kid from Knuckle Beach, "the worst neighborhood in NY"
"I couldn’t lie any more, sir. Because everyone knows the weight of a lie makes your soul so heavy, you cannot rise up to heaven. And you don’t look good in jeans from behind." ~ Kenneth Parcell
"No onion rings! Ah! This place can eat my poo!" ~ Liz Lemon

Few great scenes:

You're not my dad!


Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Aack!

3-way call

It's been such a long week, I plan to spend the rest of it rejuvenating via the following tactics:

1. Home cooking
2. Daily gym sessions
3. Theater solos
4. Mini meetings with gfs
5. Champagne
   
6. Mani/pedi
   
7. Louboutins

And of course, watching Season 2 of 30 rock from start to finish all over again

Sweets and bubblies

'T was a lovely day...

Mental exhaustion

Elation
Sadness
Guilt
Pain
Excitement
Depression
Confusion
Resentment
Comfort
Patience

These all spell emotions I felt over the insomniac weekend.

Today it got worse with frustration, anger, incredulity (over unaccountability and incompetence), betrayal, shock and finally, resignation. It never ceases to amaze me how some people manage in this fast-paced world. I am going to refrain from elaborating further but if there's something everyone should know is that accountability is key in the work place, and people will always know when you're lying.

Resigned

As quickly as it came, the SF heat wave left us under a dark blanket of chills tonight. During moments like these, there's nothing like hiding within the comfort of my apartment (for as long as I have it). I can't begin to describe how painful it is to see something the bf and I built, slowly disappearing before my eyes.

Just know that I love you very much.


*Kisses

High-level shopping strategy

I'm spending this summer in London with Suen and my lil sis (who's turning 18!). As we're planning where to go and what to buy during the precious week, Suen mentioned how she found a gazillion things she covets from this month's Elle UK. The plan is for me to get a copy of that and discuss over IM in detail what to buy as we're planning our trip. How's that for new-age shopping?

I love being globally available.

Sure spring is nice and all...

...but the lingering allergies are causing me to resort to bug soup. Eep!


(Literally)

Just through analyzing my face, the Chinese doctor depicted my symptoms accurately. Talk about being psychic. When a man like that suggests you drink bug soup, you don't question him.

5 more days of ingesting this foreign brew. Wish me luck!

Cupcakes & champagne

If you recognize this...

...I'll see you then!

Of essays and nostalgia

I was fixing an old laptop today when I discovered folders upon folders of memories from college.

Here's an application essay that was bastardized rewritten as a joke by the bf (who wasn't quite "the bf" then). It cracks me up every time I read it, and I hope to God it's obvious which parts were changed because there are things that I would never think to write. Ever:

I watched carefully as she put her hair up in the mornings. Rays of sunlight peeking in through the curtains landed on the plush carpet next to her bare feet. With a stuffed bunny in my right hand and a glass of soymilk on the other, my eyes followed those fingers attentively as she lined her lips with a pink pencil. The room was rosy and bright. Amongst it all was a sense of cheerfulness floating in the air. When she turned around making a soft swishing sound with her skirt, she was like a goddess. Twinkling eyes and all she would look my way, smiling. I smiled back in awe each time.

Mom was getting ready for work at the office and no doubt beauty radiated through her. It wasn’t just the skirt, the stockings or the lipstick. Neither was it the radiant smile nor the huge eyes that came with it. It was her elegance. My mother is a beautiful epitome of elegance.

As she stepped past me kissing me on my forehead before reaching for her pumps and briefcase she would say, “I love you my big headed ogre.” At that moment, I would bask in her affection hoping that one day I could be exactly like her.

Today as I rush out of my dormitory room with barely brushed teeth, an unwashed T-shirt against my unpolished skin, and a torn backpack slung over my shoulders, I’m very sure I’m far from the image of splendor that my mother exudes. I worry my way to class over a possible quiz and stress over the essay I’m about to turn in -Is it too long? Should I change the conclusion? Am I too late for that? What if my grade falls? Damn, I hate myself!- Knowing how I’m letting my insecurities eat me away, I smack my bulbous forehead with my palm in an attempt to wake myself up. In class, I nod as the Professor looks my way sexually, what does he want from me? After 2 hours I trudge my way gladly out of class, knowing that I’ll only be met with another Professor… I hope he’s not another pervert.

With my eyes half closed and dragging along by themselves, I dream of skipping lightly to class the way mom does to work. I skip all the time. Instead of looking down I’d be holding my head up. My posture? Poised. My T-shirt with the words “Got Beer?” on it, is replaced by a pressed white blouse and my jeans; a pencil skirt size 39. My eyes are shining and my face would glow from the remnants of oil oozing out of their pores. I am gripping a file full of essays written with love and confidence. I, Danielle Chong Jen Yee, would be on my way to class. … An ugly duckling metamophorsized into a beautiful swan… albeit with a big, bulbous head.

Who am I trying to kid? I’m not Mother. Mother’s sweet and elegant. The air of confidence she possess, emits from her figure like the sparkles around a princess looking forward to the ball. Nonetheless, I’m not giving up on my dream. I look up and open my eyes to the brilliant sun. There’s still time for a change. Tomorrow, I shall come to school with a pressed shirt. Walking to my next class, I feel myself skipping as I wonder how much my professor would enjoy reading my essay. Would I get a 10 out of 10 or a 9? Doesn’t matter.

And here's a picture of the bf and I when we weren't quite bf and gf:

I had originally named it "My bro and I" which is a little weird now that we're together. Boy were we young then.

A sense of achievement

Finally I've mastered the art of chocolate French macaroons, the trickiest of all macaroon flavors. And I know because even David Lebovitz couldn't get it a 100% right. Boy do I feel a sense of achievement. With the French meringue method too! I mean sure a lotta folks have it down by now. See here, here and here. But 1000s have gotten into Harvard, and I'd still feel pretty freaking AWESOME if I did.

Filled with vanilla buttercream instead of ganache because my gf thinks that's too rich

I bumped into my Freshmen year Physics lab partner today. After 8 whole years of not being in contact, we randomly meet in the city of SF. It's surreal.

Especially how he reminded me of my first B in college.

The same one that made me cry.