9-TEEN!

Photo: My friend's 18th birthday last year...

If I could make out with Mike He, then I don't think I'd be singing Landy Wen's "Wish Me Happy Birthday" song. Go watch the MV if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, I'm 19!! :DD

Well, to be technical and all, I'm 19 at 2:30pm... but hell! No one really goes by their actual birth time anymore! Today, I received something in the mail from my parents. I've been waiting to open it up at Midnight, and so the clock finally struck 12! It's one of those singing cards! Outside, it says "Smiles you give, Joy you live, Love you bring..." Inside, "Beautiful thing. Happy birthday to a daughter who's so easy to love. Mom & Dad." And then, it started singing "My Girl" by The Temptations! Oh man, I just bawled!!

I LOVE YOU, MOMMY & DADDY!

I need more photos with my parents! In the future, I plan on taking as many photographs as I can with my parents or just of them! I mean, why haven't I? They're just such a big part of my life! And photographs keep memories intact! :D

On a side note, do you know what I spent my last hour of being 18 doing? Something very um, unusual. I did my House chore for the week... cleaning the bathroom! -_____-;; Yeah, so my house mates started making this chores list thing where each person has a certain job, and my chore for the week is to clean the bathroom. So, earlier I had taken a shower and I was thinking... might as well just clean the bathroom so I don't have to do it later! It's freak'n filthy! And so, I cleaned. How sad~

Well, anyway! After classes, I have to deposit the rent money from my house mates so I can write a check for May's rent! My last time having to do that for this school year! After May, I'm out of here!! Woot! Freeeeeeee!! Haha, then my roommate and I are going to Ben & Jerry's and enjoying their free cone day thing! FYI, Ben & Jerry's 30th birthday! I didn't know they opened on my birthday! Yay! You know what that means, FREE ICE CREAM ON MY BIRTHDAY, EVERY SINGLE YEAR! WHAT A LUXURY! Okay, so after that, I have to go home, call my mom up so she can tell me what I need to change on my speech for Saturday's big competition. Then, at 6:45pm... my friends have organized a little get together for my birthday! I'm really excited! They are so sweet! I really had no idea they would actually plan something to help celebrate my birthday! It really makes my day and it doesn't make me feel so sad about not being able to spend my birthday with my family!

Um, and in the near future...
Thursday: Indian food with John & Reto (late birthday celebration)
Friday: Move to John's place to dog sit until May 12th.
Saturday: Mandarin speech competition #2 (where I have to sing "Wei Yi"...*pray for me*)
May 14th-??: Finals!

Becoming a Woman: Before

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." ~Alvin Toffler

What my Honest Tea "Peach Oh-La-Long" beverage cap said. How very true, indeed.

Not sure where to start but looks like I won't have to be stressing any longer, over next academic year's housing! Thank you, Buddha. :D I'll be living with 4 of my good friends that I met last Fall. Phew! The search is over! Yesterday, I wrote on my xanga (rarely used):

如果你知道的话，那你会不会改变你的主意？
我知道爸妈应该不会让我跟她们来往。
可是怎么办？我已经跟她们说好了。
哎呀！这个答案真的真的很困难。
该说什么才好？？
帮我吧！

Why did I write this? Because I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to live with them since they do things that I don't really approve of, but yeah.... they are still my friends because they are great people and I trust them. 我跟妈妈讲她们喝酒的事，可是没跟她讲别的事。我真的不想跟父母说谎，可是如果不跟朋友住，那我父母会担心我没找到住房。跟她们住，不但比现在的住房便宜，而且也很靠近学校。如果朋友被警察抓到的话，那我就完蛋了！Let's hope they don't since I guess a lot of people do it in college. *crosses fingers* ='[

So remember how I said that I wanted to make myself prettier or well, learn how to dress better... to look more mature and stuff like that. Yeah, well yesterday afternoon I went with my friend, Chelsea to Ross! :D I bought these 1" heels. They're so cute! Plus, I thought it was time I learned how to walk in heels. So, today I went over to visit my brother, John, to celebrate his 29th birthday early (Tues) with him and I decided to wear them and see if my brother noticed because ever since I can remember, John has been trying to get me to wear cute, girly shoes and I always preferred my sneakers.

Did he notice? Yes, he did!! My brother's response = "Omg! You're wearing heels?! Does Mom know that you're wearing heels now? If she did, she'd probably laugh because we have always been trying to convince you to wear some and you always turn us down for your street shoes... Wow! The city has turned you into a woman!"

I guess a minor change in appearance really does have a big effect. I guess I'll be gradually learning how to be a "woman"... as he says. Thanks, San Francisco. No, seriously~ Thanks! :D

Natural Beauty

Trying to learn how to put on makeup... what a nightmare! I know, probably every girl knows how to wear makeup except for me. How sad how sad... ='[

I didn't think makeup would make much of a difference. I mean I still feel that some girls wear way too much makeup and it just makes them look worse!! Plus, I'm not one who wants to be dependent on something to make myself pretty. I like natural beauty. But, maybe it can't hurt to try it anyways and it seems like natural beauty usually involves a little makeup as well. So... 我想变漂亮！

Though, spending $30 on a freak'n eyeliner brush... that's kinda ridiculous, don't you think? My friend says the better the brush, the more expensive... $30?!! Oh pleaseeeee~~ I'd rather use the paintbrushes that I have for Art instead! Why is makeup so expensive?? Ahhh!

So, I got back to San Francisco before noon... only to find the town home, that I'm sharing, a complete mess! The destruction of my house made by very own roommate... =[ Well, at least she cleaned the dishes after she finally woke up, around 2pm-ish. 我要写中文因为我的室友会看见我在讲她。她真得很爱睡觉。一天，她大概睡十六个小时。哎呀！妓女。。。真是的。tsktsktsk... 可是跟我别的室友比，我发现我比较喜欢她一点点。怎么办?! 还有两个月就可以搬家了! 那时候,我就好高兴! 加油加油!

Okay, well... I need to get my work done before tomorrow... with or without my flaky friend. Bye bye!

Looking for love?

My Chinese class assignment is to make a... um... well... "love" advertisement for a Chinese newspaper. Yeah~ Haha, she said an advertisement for your friend, but technically I'd say my advertisement is somewhat like me? Well, maybe not because if I had to specify characteristics of a guy I would want to find, it would probably have a longer list of things, but since my Chinese vocabulary isn't up to standards, this will have to suffice...

Plus, he must be like an Asian drama character! ;D

---

I feel so bad for getting mad at my mom for no reason when I was on the phone with her this morning. She's always asking me if I've visited/talked to my brother, losing weight, graduating early (grad school?), HOUSING NEXT YEAR... like, I keep telling her that I can't look for housing until Summer time, but as always she replies with... "Well, you were the one who chose to go to San Francisco..." Ugh! Like THANKS, MOM!~ Yeah, I did choose to go to San Francisco because I'm too reliant on you guys and I can't be sheltered from the world for the rest of my life! 

Every time she mentions something about going out to look for places... it just builds more stress over what I'm going through right now. Maybe all this stress I've been building up is because I'm taking way too many units, not getting enough rest, and being sick! I guess next semester I will try to cool down with that. But, I mean... I am double majoring and if I want to graduate on time, then I need to take a heavier workload. The workload is manageable, I just need to use my time more wisely. After all, it is my decision to double major, like I suppose my parents wouldn't mind me just doing a single major and graduating a year early and then going off to MBA program. But knowing them, they probably would want my major to be Business-related! And, unlike some people I know (no offense to them)... I can't get myself to commit only to my parent's wishes, as much as their opinion means a lot to me. So, to me... I have to double major and I want to! Plus, I feel like if I were to only do one major, then this semester would be a complete waste of my time. I don't know, that's just what I think?

I think I'm just way too hard on myself than I need to be! Ugh! Why do I give myself such high expectations that I know it's barely possible for me to accomplish?!