Last of 2013

Hi!

Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday!

Saturday the 14th

Kyle and I take our lunch breaks together and frequent Burrito Beach.

It looks so gross cause it's blurry. It looks and smells way better than it actually tastes.

Mom's fresh pork ribs for dinner!

It was a pleasant surprise.

Sunday the 15th

Neidra and I were dressed the same at work so I had to get a picture.

Excuse me looking like crap. I never put in the effort to look presentable for work when I really should.

Tina and her friend Michael picked me up after work for hot pot at Michael's.

*stolen from Kevin*

I thought I took a picture of Kevin, Michael, Tina, and I playing Settlers of Catan with Julie watching; but I guess not. Kevin bought an expansion pack so there are so many more rules! So much harder now!

Kevin also showed us this video:

I'm so thankful he did because it's hilarious! I would see memes on tumblr but I didn't understand.

Monday the 16th

I became a ten year old again. I excruciatingly waited all day for my mom to get off work to get my early Christmas gift: 

My beautiful pink 3DS and Pokemon X! I haven't wanted to play Pokemon after sapphire but after I kept seeing the commercials for the new game on TV, I couldn't stop thinking about it. And now I finally own it! I was originally supposed to get it myself on Black Friday, but I decided I should get it after school was out. I made a wise choice for the first time in my life cause I haven't been able to do anything else but play! This is why I never blogged. I was freaking out every five minutes because the game is so beautiful!

Tuesday the 17th

The only thing that could rip me away from the game is a concert I paid a good amount of money for, months prior.

Plain all black because warmth over everything.

I met Tina and Jelly at Thai Bowl on the UIC campus.

I only had Thai iced tea as I had a big dinner with my dad right before.

Jelly's under cooked pad thai. It wasn't good.

Tina's pad see ewe. Also not good.

Crappy pictures cause they don't allow cameras and we had crummy seats.

Kendrick Lamar opening

Kanye brought pride rock and ice mountain to Chicago.

It was my first time at the United Center and the place is humongous!

Yet. just the lights from everyone's phones lit up the entire place! It was so cool.

I realized how important distance to the stage is to me. I couldn't really enjoy the concert because I felt so disconnected to the performer and the sound. Kanye also had his face covered for 3/4 of the show. But it was nice to be able to sit while they were setting up for Kanye and during his hilarious rant. 

Twenty minutes of ranting!

Friday the 20th

Sandy and I were supposed to go to King Spa to celebrate me getting my license so long ago. 

We never did it until now.

It was super nice to have quality solo time together while relaxing. We hadn't done it in such a long time. I was very happy.

Saturday the 21st

Shopping for my mom's birthday gift part two since we were unsuccessful the first time.

Lunch at Great Beijing only cause it was on the way.

I got my mom:

A $500 rice cooker advertised by Jang Dong Geun.... It's touch screen, speaks English and Korean, self cleaning, and supposedly cooks the best tasting rices. The turn handle is even a "gem." She's only used it once so far.

Christmas Day

My family doesn't celebrate anything. I would have stayed home doing nothing as usual, if it weren't Mercede's birthday.

Jaleesa's awesome earrings she thrifted.

Headed all the way down to 95th for the first time!

My favorite coworkers! Bryan and Mercedes!

It was fun!

Thursday the 26th

I spent the night at Kyle's.

Lake Michigan all frozen!

Kyle had work at 9 in the morning while Jaleesa and I slept in till around 2. I went off and got a trim in Chinatown. That's when things started going downhill and annoying. I was so tired and mad by the end of the night.

Friday the 27th

Had dinner with Sandy at La Grande Vie after work.

We were the only ones there.

We surprisingly got super full off just these.

We were belatedly celebrating Sandy getting her internship!

Congratulations, beautiful Sandy!

Saturday the 28th

I had to grab some things after work. My mom suggested that we have dinner at Red Robin. 

I hadn't been there since high school!

My salted caramel shake and mom's virgin pina colada which they didn't have mix for.

Mom's burger.

Apparently I was super hungry and forgot to take a picture of mine. 

I like this place way more than I should.

*******

Happy New Year, everyone!

The last weeks of fall semester

School's been over for over a week and I haven't updated in that time cause I wanted to enjoy freedom for a bit. And then I got my Christmas gift early and really wasn't able to do anything else.

*******

November

An ice cream I enjoyed some time ago. Salted caramel? Hell yeah!

Seeing these always remind me of Ellen.

Tuesday the 26th

Finally tried the Trader Joe's frozen tofu masala thing for lunch.

It smells so good but tastes so meh

Bathroom stall wall art

Dinner at Stefan's

Wednesday the 27th

Dinner with Tina at Tub Tim Thai

I don't understand how they manage to get worse every time. Their crab rangoon tasted like fish oil.

Definitely the last time I will eat their food. So sad.

Thanksgiving

Coworkers brought a bunch of food for the holiday and here I came with McDonald's for myself. Woops

Thanksgiving feast at Kyle's after work!

Huge yummy honey ham

Chicken and collared greens. It was the first time I tried them and surprisingly, the greens were my favorite!

Stuffing and yams. The yams were another fave.

Mac and cheese

I forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin pie he made here's the pecan pie his friend brought:

She also brought a ham and mac

And bacon green beans

Everything was SO good!

I had like four plates!

Playing loaded questions

Friday the 29th

Ribs for dinner after work and before a comedy show with Tina!

Saturday the 30th

Mom's birthday was in a few days so her boyfriend bought dinner.

These should always be complimentary

Some fish the chef gave cause he knows both adults from way back.

Must always get the unagi don when I'm not paying cause so expense ahaha!

December: Monday the 2nd

There's a restaurant right across the street from the theatre building called Mei's Kitchen and they seriously have the best chicken ceasar salad. 

Thursday the 5th

Lunch at Yolk with Yuvin!

Tried their seasonal beef brisket benedict. It was yummy. 

I was mortified when I realized I left the other benedict in class while on the train home. T_T

Yay for going home to packages!

American and Korean makeup

Friday the 6th

Headed to Second City after work to watch Yuvin and Agata's comedy class performance.

Waited in the huge Starbucks until showtime. 

End of the sketch show! I didn't know the improv class was also performing so that was nice.

Yuvin and I caught up with Agata over dinner. It was so nice!

Cheers!

Yuvin's sad salad.

Agata's crab cakes

Yuvin's bbq chicken wings and mashed potatoes

My baked clams. They were ok.

Saturday the 7th

McDonald's before work as usual

I got a straw with no open end!

Monday the 9th

Filmed our final scenes in camera class.

*from Rachel's phone*

Al, Cassie, and I had the candy bowl scene from Marvin's Room (not in the movie version) directed by Rachel. It was the most comfortable performance I've ever done thanks to them!

Tuesday the 10th

Yuvin waiting to have a one on one with the teacher.

Had our final scenes in Pinter & Albee class.

Natalie and Hebe! More lovely girls to work with!

I saw this bottle of soju at H Mart and I just had to get it!

Too funny!

Thursday the 12th

Last day of school!

Yay!

Bree was so kind and bought the class pies!

Last voice class!

My camera sucks with distance. :(

Such an awesome person and teacher!

Last lunch with Summer and Yuvin of the year!

Four glasses because Agata finally joined us!

My asian pear martini was gross while Summer's lychee martini was super sweet. Mine also looked like soapy dishwater ha ha ha!

Agata and her steak salad that looked pretty good.

Yuvin and his curry. Look at that jawline!

Summer and her tuna salad.

My sushi lunch. I wasn't very hungry.

My camera lied and told me there was 0 film left. 

I was sure I had like two left so I tested it out and caught Yuvin.

The very last class of the semester!

Not to sound so Asian, but I had the honor of being taught by the god of the department.

You can google Mr. Sheldon Patinkin if you'd like to know why.

He's the cutest man ever! We all got in a line for goodbye hugs and kisses. I got emotional during mine for some reason.

Met up with Sandy and Eva after so that we could try the newly opened Nutella Bar.

Stopped by the Kristkindelmart cause Sandy wanted a pretzel and wine.

*from Eva's phone*

They're graduates now!!! :D

Why does my camera stink?!

What's actually behind them:

*from Eva's phone*

The Nutella Bar is in this newly built, giant Italian market called Eataly. 

I've been walking past it since I started working at Ann Taylor this summer wondering what the heck it was!

Dinner in the dining area upstairs.

*from Eva's phone*

My Moscato d'Asti and Sandy's ...some kind of rose wine. Mine was very sweet so I could actually drink it without making a face. I only got it for the occasion.

*from Eva's phone* 

Eva's butternut squash ravioli. This was sweet and so good!

*from Eva's phone*

I forgot what mine was but it was basically dumplings in a butter sauce. It was good though.

*from Eva's phone*

Poor sandy had to wait forever for her pasta cause they got her order wrong.

*from Eva's phone*

Nutella bar for dessert!

We were expecting creative concoctions with Nutella but it was just baked goods that they spread nutella over for you.

*******

Happy Holidays, everyone!