All caught up on Alias
I finally finished watching the last disc of the season 2 DVDs of Alias. Now I'm all caught up... I kinda want to re-watch the first couple episodes of this season, just to remember how it all ties in together. I'm sure they'll be showing re-runs this season. I think they've already started doing it, since the next new one isn't until 2 weeks from now!

Free candy!
There's a basket full of free candy upstairs in our lunchroom, and it happens to be one of my favorite types of candy! I was so excited when I saw them! They're those little strawberry wrapped hard candies like these. Everytime I go up there, I grab a handful... I have such a sweet tooth... not for chocolate though, but for fruity candy. I can eat any type of fruity candy anytime, anyday. My faves - these, Mamba, and any sour gummy candies.

Mini-party @ work
Just had free pizza and salad upstairs in our lunchroom. Lots of people are still here actually. They had gift baskets and raffled off all the individual pieces like boxes of crackers, cheese, cookies, and almost everyone at our table won something, except for me and a couple of other people.

Shopping!
Didn't do too much shopping this year, but what I did do, I was very happy with.... Besides waiting until the last minute and running into the tons of people at malls, my shopping experience this year was pretty good...

Still at work
I'm still at work right now, but it's pretty much like a ghost-town. Even my boss left today already! I think I'll stay for the pizza/raffle at lunchtime that my company is doing for the people who are still here, and then we'll see how it goes after lunch. I still have some work to do, but maybe it can wait until next Monday.

Merry Christmas!

Return of the King!
The movie was sooo good! I didn't even notice how long I was sitting there, watching the whole thing for about 3 1/2 hours! The audience was cool - clapping when it started, during key scenes, etc. There was this one scene where Legolas (the elf; Orlando Bloom) kicked ass! So cute :) I think I was to go back and re-read the books again. Go see it!

Sleepy
I'm sleepy right now. Maybe it's cuz I saw a movie last night from 8-midnight. Or maybe it's because I just ate lunch... zzzz. I need to wake up!

Holiday Parties galore!
This past weekend Alan and I went to 3 holiday gift exchange parties! 3 parties in 3 days!! I think I lost a lot of precious sleep, but it's ok cuz I had a lot of fun!

On Friday night, we partied it up at Diana and Mark's house in E. Palo Alto with all our Santa Clara friends. For the gift exchange, I ended up with this nice set of martini glasses. Alan ended up with a crockpot that he really wanted... or did he? We also played The Twleve Days of Christmas Unplugged, where we make up our own gifts for the song. Some were pretty funny...

On Saturday night, we had a party at Alan's house with all of his SHC (high school) friends. Lots and lots of food at this party!! It seems like all his HS friends always bring tons and tons of food! It was yummy. For the gift exchange, I got the Finding Nemo DVD and a $10 giftcard to Starbucks. We also had a gag gift exchange, and I got this little nail cutting kit (with clippers, tweezers, etc.) Alan ended up with a box of old party favors! It was pretty funny.

On Sunday afternoon, we went over to Jane & Oscar's place in Oakland to get together with all our friends from Cal. Yummy food there too... there was adobo, lumpia, Zachary's pizza, lasagna, and lots and lots of wine. For that gift exchange, I got the new Alicia Keys CD. We also played MAFIA, and I almost got away with being the 'killer', but David and Jane caught me.

For all the pics, check out Alan's photo gallery!

LOTR III
Tonight we're going to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King at Union Landing with my ex-coworkers from Incyte. Since I saw the first one (two years ago) with them during the workday (hehe), we're getting together again! I'm so excited!! Alan and I watched the second one last night, just to refresh our memories! Can't wait to see Legolas and Aragorn! :)

One month!
It's been one month exactly today since I started working again! Time flies by so quickly when you're earning money :) heheh.

Early paycheck!
I was expecting to get paid tomorrow which is when they told me we get paid (every other Thursday), but when I checked my bank account online, I had a direct deposit! Yippee. I love getting paid!

Josh Groban
I was listening to the radio (96.5 KOIT) going home the other day and when I was about one minute to my house, they started playing Josh Groban's "O Holy Night", and I waited in front of my house for about 4 minutes until the song was over. I love this guy's voice! I don't know how to describe it, but it gives me chills and makes me tear every time I hear it. It's that touching. Too bad his concert in Oakland in January is sold out! Maybe I can find some cheap tix on ebay, but I doubt it...since it sold out the day it went on sale. And he only has one show! Maybe I'll just borrow his special on DVD and find a copy of his CD somewhere .... (ahem, ahem.. a request, Joey.) hehe.

Lunch with Rex
Had lunch with Rex today at... guess where??? Sushi House! My one and only favorite restaurant that I know around here. He lives in Oakland, so he just drove over to pick me up. We ordered my favorite - Island Roll, his favorite - Power Roll, and new one - Crunchy Roll. They were all very very good, but my favorite is still the Island Roll. Wanna know what I'm talking about? Look here.

Holiday Party
This past Saturday was my company's holiday party. It was held at the Crowne Plaza Union Square in San Francisco. Besides the fact that it was totally pouring outside and my toes got wet since I was wearing open-toed heels with my dress, it was a great night! They had hor d'ourves before the dining room offically opened. It was a buffet-style dinner with 4 different food stations set up around the room. One was seafood (with salmon, clam chowder, and calamari), another was Mexican food (tacos, tamales, etc), another was Italian (pasta, foccacia bread, etc) and the other was Chinese food (chow mein, egg rolls, beef w/ broccoli, etc). The food was yummy. And there was even a separate room for the desserts - egg nog, cakes, gingerbread men, coffee, tea. The cheesecake was so good. I topped it off with fresh strawberries too. Yumm.

For the entertainment, they had a dancefloor and a DJ. But I don't think most people danced. Everyone was at the Casino room, where they hired people to set up a Craps table, a handful of blackjack tables, and a roulette table. We each got $200 of fake chips, and we played for the whole night. At the end of the night, we traded in our chips for raffle tickets - $100 per raffle ticket. Alan and I ended up only getting 2 raffle tickets, which means that we lost $200....More like "I" lost $200. But I had the most fun at the Craps table. We spent maybe 80% of the time there...

Overall, it was a great party. Nice and cozy - about 175 people. I met lots of people (since I don't know too many yet). It was a great icebreaker.

Crazy for ALIAS!
So I joined the Walmart DVD rentals last week, since I knew that the Alias Season 2 DVDs were coming out last Tuesday. So I listed the first 2 DVDs on my queue and the website said they were both shipped on 12/02/03. So I'm waiting, waiting waiting for them, and I got one last Wednesday but it was Disc 2! How can I watch the second one before the first? Well, I can't... So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for the first one, and it never comes! I wanted to watch them so badly since I didn't really do anything all day on Sunday.

So I finally give up on the Walmart DVD and start calling around Blockbusters to see if they have them for rent. I called at least 4 different Blockbusters until I finally found one that had it - in Millbrae! So I put it on hold, rush over there, and finally get it! So I watched both discs 1 & 2 in one sitting - about 6 hours straight on Sunday afternoon... And to top it off, there was another new episode for this season at 9pm. I love ALIAS!

Now I'm waiting for discs 3,4,5 and 6. Hopefully Walmart won't screw it up this time :)

Have a good week!

4 years!
Happy 4 year anniversary bubba! 1435! :)

Daily afternoon ritual
I've noticed that I'm beginning to have a ritual here at work during the afternoon. At around 3pm, I go upstairs to our lunchroom and make myself a cup of hot tea. They have my favorite tea here! It’s called Lemon Lift and they used to have it an Incyte when I was working there too. Hot water, the tea bag, and 2 packets of C&H sugar. Stir it around with a stirrer, let it sit on my desk for about 15 minutes to cool it down, and enjoy. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.

Late to work
For the past two days, I’ve been getting to work relatively late (at around 9:35am). Seems late to me, but I end up leaving home at 8:30am and there’s always traffic getting on to the Bay Bridge. Getting in late means leaving late, which I don’t mind since going back the traffic isn’t too bad at around 6:30pm. I actually get to use my FasTrak without stopping! (unlike if I leave at 5pm, it’s backed up and it’s stop-and-go through the toll plaza). I guess I can’t have no traffic both ways, unless I wanna get in really early and leave really late.

First day off
I’m taking my first day off of work tomorrow, the 4th! I have one discretionary holiday that I have to use before the end of the year, so I’m taking tomorrow off. So I scheduled a doctor’s appointment and other stuff to do tomorrow. Plus it’s our 4 year anniversary! =)