Merry Christmas!

Wow! Lots of presents this year, even if we're all apart!

My work had a Christmas party this year at Katana and then an after-party across the street at skybar.




And THEN, Steve's work had a xmas party the same day at a club down the street. Yup, 3 nights of drinking all rolled into one.

Gingerbread Contest

The only time I've ever won anything at work, and I didn't even get a prize. =/

The production team (Studio, QA, Interactive) broke up into groups and made gingerbread houses. Our team (Dave, Sasha and I) created a holiday drive-in.

Attention to detail was key. The drive-in was for the movie "Elf" and we even had my iPod playing the movie in the front.


And what's a movie theater without a popcorn stand?


Some of the contending entries were pretty impressive:


Some were not:

Holiday Update

I am already in Holiday mode which makes it very difficult to concentrate on work! I just have to make it through this week, which should be lightening up by the day and then I'm off for a week and a half. Well, technically I'll be "working from home" on the 27th and 28th... so we'll see how that goes. I feel like I'm in high school again waiting for my 2-week Christmas break. Heehee.

Some random updates:
- I cut my own bangs before my holiday party and it's not that cute. I really need a haircut.

- I used the Crock Pot I bought on Black Friday for the first time on Sunday... works pretty well! I'm going to use it again tomorrow to try to make some rendang... hopefully super soft and falling apart. Yum. Funny thing is, Steve found an old Crock Pot in my cupboard that I wasn't even aware I already had. Oh well.

- I am missing my company's white elephant gift exchange. The last time I did this was the first annual JT&CO Christmas Party where somebody brought a model of a church among some other weird stuff. I'm wondering if my life would be any different if Joanna chose the PSP instead of the video iPod. I wouldn't have won the Rapp Gingerbread contest for sure if that was the case. (BTW Ai, you can have it back if you want, :P)

- We traded in a bunch of old games this weekend for Rockband! We got over $100 off... collecting $1 for my old PS2 Britney dancing game among other things. :) I should write up a list of what we got for each game, pretty interesting. Anyhoo, more about Rockband later.

- This is probably the first year that I finished Christmas shopping waaaay early, I've been done since last week! I don't even remember some of the stuff I've gifted. I can't wait I'm sooo excited. So is Lulu.

- This winter is colder and wetter than usual. Makes me wish I still had a pair of Uggs. Too bad I can't wear Uggs to work, that would be awesome.

- Steve and I go to Happy Six way too often. I think all the workers there probably recognize us now.

- I tried baking Creme Puffs the other day and they came out disastrous. It might have been something that I did but I blame the electric oven I have for not puffing up the puffs. Although technically the cream part never touched the oven, I still blame the oven. I think I'll limit my oven use to just baking Lulu cookies, since she wouldn't care too much if they were hard.

A Night at the Opera

My first night to be exact! Steve took me to see Don Giovanni at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. The classic story of Don Juan was timeless and surprisingly dark. I assumed all of Mozart's pieces are light and comical but this one was definitely dark and twisted. The music was amazing and the set was definitely visually stimulating. I was surprised that the set was so modern and geometric (complete with laser lights) but found later that it was unique to this director.





The occasion was definitely dressier than a musical. We both had the day off (he had a free day and I was "working from home") so we were able to start getting ready early at around 5PM. The Opera did not start until 7:30 but we wanted to allow for traffic to downtown and get there before the pre-show lecture. The entire show was sung in Italian and some of it was subtitled in English above the stage. It was fun to try to pick out what little Italian I knew while they were singing... as I think the subtitles were more comedic/tongue-in-cheek. After the show we decided to stop by Little Tokyo for some ramen... always the perfect ending to any night. :)

Black Friday

I had the stark realization that I have probably fully transcended into adulthood. We spent this Black Friday at the Grove and numerous retail shops like Best Buy, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond. After reviewing my purchases, I realized we only bought very boring household items. Not even the fun stuff like an up-convert DVD player and a toaster oven for Costco frozen foods. I'm talking boring things like a Crock Pot, inflatable bed and a handheld vac. Actually, the last item is not boring at all, it's the highlight of my Thanksgiving. =X

Let's go into more detail, shall we?

Crock pot, only $15 at Target! It was shiny and red... and I immediately thought Hainam Chicken Rice when I saw it. Unfortunately, when I called my mom to ask her how to make it she said "Uh, you can use a regular rice cooker." Whatever. It's still shiny and pretty and I will find something to make with it.


This inflatable air bed with an included air pump was only $20 at Target. We're going to need one when the family comes to visit during Xmas so I thought I'd pick one up... aero beds are usually $150 and I thought this was a suitable disposable substitute. I mean, it was so cheap I doubt it will last more than one full week. Hmmm just thought of something. If I'm not going to inflate it until Xmas, what if there is a leak? I better try it out tonight.


Remember by obsession with Tyson my Dyson? Think slim, compact, portable and cute. Meet Bison, the handheld Dyson. :) He's so cute. He's a little louder than Tyson but works well with pet hair stuck in corners and other crevices. He wasn't on any type of Black Friday special but a Bed Bath and Beyond 20% off coupon did the trick of convincing me that I wanted, needed, had to have one.

Other than these household appliances, we picked up a ton of DVD's and games on major discount. We got 2 PS3 games (I don't even remember which ones anymore, hahaha) and some TV seasons as well as DVD and Blu-Ray movies. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the weekend at home in front of the TV.

Hah.