A String of Random Events

I know, I know... It's been a couple of weeks and you've been wondering what goes on in Jastonia (my own little world. Oh no, it's okay! They know me there.) Well, a lot has been going on. I went to traffic court, started my intensive 3 month GMAT study plan (which will most likely be the culprit of future late postings. Sorry!), celebrated a friend's birthday at Mexicali Rose and Fenton's ice cream, and I took off to Las Vegas for the weekend.

Back in May I got a traffic violation for making a right on a red light when, apparently, there were 3 signs saying not to. I never saw those signs, thus the ticket. I chose to go to traffic court because the fine for the ticket was atrocious! $250 for making a completely safe right turn on a red light?! Cruel and unusual, I know. I opted for the community service because I certainly didn't want to pay $250 to the man (the "man" being the state of California.) I got slapped with 18 hours of community service to be served by October 27th at any charitable non-profit organization. Not too bad considering I have extreme amounts of free time on my hands. And no, you won't find me picking up trash on the side of HWY 4. I refuse to be a target to be picked off by one of the many lunatic drivers that frequent the highway!

I've decided to go back to school for my master's and have found a suitable grad school. Now I've got to get into said grad school. Enter the Graduate Management Admissions Test. More commonly known as the GMAT, this test is comprised of 3 sections: quantitative (math), verbal, and analytical writing assessment (AWA). Typical study prep for the test is 2-3 months. I've designed a study plan that allows for a month in quantitative, a month in verbal, 2 weeks in AWA, and 2 weeks general review and practice tests. My attention span is gnat-like and I get bored very easily, but I really want to kick this test's ass. Pray for me. I'm aiming for at least a 700.

A friend and ex co-worker celebrated his birthday at the oldest Mexican restaurant in Oakland, Mexicali Rose. I had the chicken tacos, which were decent, I just wished I remembered to tell the waitress I'd wanted soft taco shells instead. That was my only complaint. We had margaritas and sangria and food! It was a great time and left there so full I thought my friend Heather was going to have to roll me out of there! We then headed over to Fenton's Creamery for some ice cream. If you've seen the movie Up, then you've heard of Fenton's. It's the ice cream place the little boy talks about visiting with his dad. Anyway, I had the cream carmel almond crunch and it was amazing! The carmel was so fresh, hell the ice cream itself was really fresh. Thank goodness I had the good sense to order the petite cup because I was already too full from Mexicali Rose. But then again, there's always room for desert!

My friend Marcela and her family decided to go to Vegas for the weekend and invited me along. This was the second time I'd accompanied Marcela and fam to Vegas. We stayed at the MGM Grand again and had ourselves a fun time! Friday night we owned Studio 54. Again. I swear, Crystal (Marcela's sister,) Marcela, and I were the party at that club! We danced for most of the night and I lost one of my sterling silver hoops (I'm still in mourning) and my Burt's Bees lip balm. Every time we go to Studio 54 I lose something! Last time I lost my $18 Urban Decay lip gloss that I had just bought. Saturday morning we headed down to the pool to recuperate from the previous night. Originally we were poolside at the Academy Pool, but I'd noticed that there was another pool we hadn't seen yet and sent Crystal on a reconnaissance mission to check it out. Producer's Pool turned out to be the party spot! Everyone had a drink in their hand, keeping cool in the water, though not really swimming. There was a DJ spinning and the pool was full of party people. That's were we should've been the whole time! We got ourselves some drinks and got right in. After about 4 hours spent poolside, I was 3 shades darker! That Las Vegas sun is no joke.

Chicago Fun

Sorry for the delay! I was in Chicago visiting some good friends and having a great time. It had been two years since I'd last been to Chicago and I desperately missed my friends and the City. Chicago is so awesome in that the people who live there think it's the best city in the world and there's no place else they'd rather be. That is some City Loyalty right there! Back in 2004, when I first moved to Chicago for school, it was one of the things that shocked me culturally; I just felt like I didn't get that feeling from any of the other cities I'd lived in before.

So back to the trip and how amazing it was! I stayed with Michael, my former-roommate-turned-best-friend, and we did all kinds of fun stuff! I timed my arrival to Chicago specifically to catch the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which Michael, Meredith, and I went to. It was fun! I had on my custom designed shirt (that barely got there in the mail the day of the premiere!) It's red with gold lettering that says on the front "The Original G-Unit Since 1,000 A.D." and on the back "Gryffindor." So cute!
Before the movie though, I went and got my hair done by my favorite hairstylist, LaShonda at her shop, A Hair Delight, in Oak Park. She was surprised to see that I'd relaxed all my natural hair! The last time she'd seen me was when I'd gone natural and had her cut out the all the relaxer. That was two and half years ago. Later, I enjoyed $5 martinis and then dinner with my former-landlords-turned-friends, Dave and Rene. It was either the martinis or the dinner that made me nauseous during the movie premiere. Let Michael tell it and he'll say it was the martinis. I'm pretty sure it was the dinner though. Note to self: No more Flat Top Grill for me!
We didn't get home until after 3am so we slept in Wednesday and went out to see Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens that night. The play was a fantastically fun time! My favorite line was from the Prince "Whoa Peanut [his plush horse], we're not in Wrigleyville anymore!"

Thursday was spent getting Michael's hair done, meandering about the City, and seeing the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibit was interesting because they had the real costumes and props from all six of the movies. While we were in the exhibit a terrible thunderstorm made it's way into the City and had the tents and the lighting at the tent's ceiling shaking! I was scared one of those lighting rigs was going to come crashing down on us!

Friday night we went to Boystown with Michael's friend Kevin and met up with some other friends. I ended up only staying about an hour. The black pumps I thought I'd broken in previously were killing me. I could barely wobble out to catch a cab! Got in that cab and yanked those shoes off immediately. My poor toes were all swollen and very angry at me. Note to self: break in shoes properly or pack flip-flops.

Saturday morning I had breakfast with my college mates Crystal, Gabby, and Amerit. Afterward, Crystal and I made a small detour so that I could tie a loose end, checked out the Chicago Premium Outlets, Crystal showed me her place, perused Nordstrom's Rack, and grabbed an italian beef at Portillo's. Crystal graciously drove me back into the City in just enough time to get ready for my night out with the Ride or Dies. Now the Ride or Dies consist of Luisana, Mayra, Erika, Susy, and Angela. Those are my girls! I cannot count how many times we've been out partying it up in the City. We had ourselves a good time at Club Ruby! They were playing all of Michael Jackson's jams, including PYT!

Sunday I nursed a hangover.

I had lunch with Robbi and Tracy from Dominican University on Monday. They updated me on the latest University news and Robbi gave me a ride to the Forest Park El Station so that I could be off to meet up with Victor and Gloria. I met Gloria and her son Victor while working as a bank teller in Broadview. They were one of my favorite customers so even after I'd left the bank (and that horrid manager, Paul Porter) I still kept in touch with them.

Tuesday night Crystal, Amerit, Gabby, Jose, James, and I had dinner at this great tapas place called Cafe Babareeba. The sangria was good! I also recommend the goat cheese croqueta. And before you go on a rant about goat cheese, try it before you knock it! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

On my last day in Chicago, I got a day pass for the CTA and went all over the City! I started at Buckingham Fountain, made my way to Millenium Park, headed out to Navy Pier, and then went to Oak Park for an arancini and cannoli from my favorite Italian spot, The Pasta Shoppe.

I'm so glad I got to visit Chicago this summer. I tell you what, my layoff couldn't have come at a more perfect time! I miss Chicago and I almost wish I'd never left. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, isn't it?

4th of July Weekend in LA

I'm back y'all! 4th of July weekend in LA was fun. The preparation for the trip was not. Talk about running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! Man, I was all over the place on Thursday and Friday.
Felicia picked me up from the airport Friday evening and we quickly made a Bee line for the nearest mall. I picked up a cute little white jacket and pair of black skinny jeans to wear in case we headed out to the club that evening. Got to Felicia's place and finally met her fiance, Derek. I had heard so much about Derek over the years that it seemed funny that I was meeting him for the first time. I wonder if he'd thought the same thing? Anyway, Derek was very nice and all that I thought he'd be.
After stopping by the house for a change of clothes, Felicia and I headed out for some dinner at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and maybe a drink or two at Rock Bottom. Now for those that don't know, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles is a California Legend. Since it was my first time at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles I ordered, what else, chicken and waffles. I didn't want to say that I'd been to Roscoe's and not had the chicken and waffles! How would that sound? Crazy, I know. By the time we finished eating at Roscoe's we were too stuffed and too sleepy to try to go anywhere else! So we headed home. The 'itis got us and y'all know me, can't feed me without me getting sleepy!

Saturday morning rolled around and Felicia and I were trying to find a nail shop open so that she could get her eyebrows waxed. Our search was in vain. No nail shop in the immediate area was open on the 4th. We went back to the house to start getting ready for the bbq. The bbq was held at Derek's cousin's house and most of Derek's family was there. The food was good, especially the banana pudding, but one thing brought down the whole evening there. Derek's cousin trying to mack to me! Lord, I knew I shouldn't have worn that black maxi dress.
This man, who shall remain nameless (and faceless), was doting on me like I was the only chick there! At first I took it as being friendly and hospitable, but it wasn't until he asked for a picture together that it sunk in. Then, to add insult to injury, his sister comes over and basically busts him out saying that her brother wanted my number and yadda, yadda, yadda. I quickly scrambled together a story about California's economy being horrible and that I had no intentions of staying much longer, which is true. For the most part, anyway. I spent the next hour and a half avoiding eye contact and him in general. When Felicia finally suggest we get ready to leave I was ecstatic. I wanted to get the hell out of dodge before O'boy got the courage to ask for my number! We said our "good-byes" and "nice-meeting-yous" and left. I was glad to be rid of the doting older man! Seriously, he was probably old enough to be my dad.

On Sunday Felicia and I had tickets to see Crowns, a musical about the African-American tradition of wearing hats to church. It was the last show of the LA premiere at the Ebony Repertory Theatre and that seemed to have brought out a few stars. While standing in line for our e-tickets, Felicia sees Jackee Harry (227, Sister, Sister) and Marla Gibbs (who Felicia called Florence, I guess from some stint she did on Martin.) Felicia goes on over and asks Jackee and Marla for a picture and they happily obliged. A little while later Felicia glances over and sees Allen Payne (House of Payne, Jason's Lyric, New Jack City) and was like "Jasmine, isn't that the guy from Jason's Lyric?" When I confimed that it was him she told me to go over and ask for a picture. I told her I wasn't going over there! I couldn't even remember the man's name and neither could she! So I whip out the trusty Blackberry and googled Jason's Lyric and found that his name was Allen Payne. By the time we'd worked up the courage he was heading into the theatre. We get the tickets and start making our way into the theatre when we see Allen towards the end of the hallway looking like he was waiting for someone. I casually say "excuse me, are you Allen Payne?" when he said yes I said "Oh, okay, I just wanted to be sure" and we strolled on over to our seats, which happened to be not five feet away from where he was still standing. Felicia tries her best to get me to go ask for a picture. Shoot, I was nervous and a little star-struck! So she finally got up and asked him for a picture and I just piggy-backed on her request. The play was excellent, by the way.

After the play we had an early dinner at The Grand Luxe Cafe at the Beverly Center. I heeded Felicia's warning about the pasta and followed her lead and got a burger. We got dessert to go and called it a day.

It was an eventful trip to say the least, but it was also nice to just hang out with Felicia. Since we don't live nearby, I don't get to see Felicia and hang out as often as I'd like to.

July, 2 for 1 Movies, & Flossing

I'm so excited! July's almost here and with July comes fun travel destinations, anticipated movie premieres, friend's birthdays, and fireworks.
I'll be taking off to SoCal at the end of this week to spend the 4th of July weekend with my dear friend, Felicia. In preparation for the weekend I have a hair and pedicure appointment. 'Cause ya girl has to look good! I don't know who I might meet out there. Felicia has fun stuff planned so I'm sure I'll come back on Monday with plenty of pictures and fresh anecdotes to regale y'all with. You know what I've learned? That leaving a clean house before a trip is nice because you get to come home to a clean house! So I'll be cleaning today and tomorrow.

Last Friday I went and saw My Sister's Keeper and Transformers 2. Talk about the puffy-eyed mess I was after My Sister's Keeper! I think I cried during most of the movie. Scratch that, I know I cried during most of the movie. It was good though. So if you plan to see it bring plenty of tissue. I timed my two movies perfectly because as soon as My Sister's Keeper was done Transformers 2 was starting. And what a long movie that was! Two and a half hours long, to be exact. The action and fighting sequences were exciting, it just took way too Long for Sam to get to Optimus Prime. That movie could've easily been 2 hours.

I'm flossing now. I absolutely hate it, it grosses me out, but I understand it's a necessary evil. Like pap smears.

Of Test Drives, Movies, & Gym Memberships

Last week while visiting my friend Heather in Redwood City I got the great idea to go test driving! I've been contemplating recently on what kind of car will be my Accord's successor. And while I'm not planning to buy in the very near future, I'd still like to have an idea of what kind of car will suit me for the next stage of my life. I'd narrowed down the category to small SUV/crossover. I'd been telling Heather about the which cars I'd had my eye on when she told me she was looking at the same ones! And so we went test driving. First we stopped by the Honda dealership to checkout the '09 CR-V's. Nice enough, OK cargo space, and drives nice to be a 4-cyl. Second stop was the Nissan dealership to checkout the Rogue and the Murano and to gauge their differences. Murano is slightly bigger and is a 6-cyl. It rides like a dream! Only drawback was that it was too big for what I need. The Rogue would suit me perfectly-if it rode half as smooth as the Murano, which it doesn't. On to the Toyota dealership. I'd seen the Toyota Venza in the movie theater parking lot last week when I went to go see My Life in Ruins and thought I'd like to see it up close. It is so nice! Ladies & gentlemen, I've found my next car! it has a ton of cargo and passenger room. It has push to start ignition and it effectively utilizes the center console space. I loves it! Since 2009 is it's debut model year, I have to wait until they unveil the 2010's to see the changes and be able to accurately compare it against my other options. And I still have yet to test drive the Mazda CX-7 which is also on my list. but as of right now, here's how they're ranking:

1. Toyota Venza
2. Nissan Murano
   
3. Honda CR-V
   
4. Mazda Cx-7

Before our test driving adventure Heather and I went to see Away We Go with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It was a cute movie that was quirky and off-beat. Just the type of indie flick that's right up my alley. This Wednesday Transformers 2 comes out! I'll be catching a matinee to see that one-and a couple others ;)

Last week I received a 30-day free membership pass for the local gym, In Shape Fitness, and decided to go check it out. Of course the guy, Steve I think his name was, was trying to sell me a membership right there. I'd told him that I'd had 2 gym memberships previously and that I canceled my most recent one because I was paying, but I wasn't going. And I am not in the business of donating money to gyms! He launches in about how it's a mental thing, really committing yourself to going regularly and yadda, yadda, yadda. I wanted to say "look, I'm just here to redeem my free 30 days, man. Skip the spiel," but of course I didn't. I should've. So after some back and forth and some numbers crunching on his part, I finally shut him down and tell him that I want to use the 30 days membership to see how truly committed I am to coming regularly because I don't want to be making $54 donations to In Shape Fitness! With that, he told me how to check-in as a guest and sent me on my way. I think I'll go tonight.

Camping Trips & Epiphanies

This past weekend I experienced my first camping trip! Anyone who knows me knows that camping and Jasmine don't end up in the same sentence. Ever. But since I'm funemployed and had nothing better to do, I decided to give it a try. And it truly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My dad had rented a 30 foot RV and the campsite at Lake Don Pedro had showers and bathrooms. Not bad for my first camping trip. But the best part, by far, were the smores. Believe the hype about smores. Yummy, gooey, chocolatey smores! I've never been a marshmallow person, but there's something to be said about them when they're staked and black from a campfire. It's heaven in my mouth. Smores made camping so worth it. I can see the appeal the great outdoors have on some people. It is quite relaxing to laze about the campsite or go for a boat ride. I particularly enjoyed taking pictures. Still, though, next time I'd like to rent a cabin near Lake Tahoe. That's more my type of camping.

Yesterday I had an epiphany. The Twilight Series is my "Jacob," while the Harry Potter Series is my "Edward." I had been suffering from the inner turmoil of secretly loving the Twilight series while feigning mild interest on the outside. I didn't want to. I blame Marcela for it, actually. But, as I was driving to go pick up some books from the library, I realized that while I am completely in love with all things Harry Potter, I love Twilight too. To a lesser extent, of course. Say what you like. We all have our quirks ;)

Spiders, Movies, and Concerts...Ahh, Summer

One of Summer's drawbacks: spiders. I'm already on my second can of Raid and it's not even July yet! The daily patrol consists of the living room perimeter, my room (of course,) and now the garage. So my dad calls this morning wanting me to head into the garage to see about the turkey fryer he needs a part for. I head on out there poking around, but ever cautious for the menacing spider. Lo and behold! An enormous spider web with no spider in sight. My years of arachnophobia tell me this isn't just your run of the mill daddy long legs; this is something scarier. I leave it alone for inspection at another time.

Enter another time.

I was off to finally go grocery shopping and I see it. The black widow that occupied that gigantic web. I say "okay spider, you stay right there. I got something for you" and edge along the car and run in to get the Raid. I get back and the blasted thing has escaped into hiding! "No matter", I thought, "he couldn't have gone far." I spray down the spider web and I see it falling and crumpling to the ground. Victory! I leave the spider carcass there to send a message to his friends: Don't come around here! I pondered whether his friends would try to avenge his death anyway. If they try to, I'll be ready.

Last Friday my friend Andrea and I went to see The Hangover. Hilarity at it's finest! I'm actually looking forward to the Unrated DVD version. Next on the movie list is Up. I think I'll go see it tomorrow, actually. It's my goal to see at least one movie a week. So far I'm doing pretty good.

A couple of friends and I went to the Anthony Hamilton & Musiq Soulchild concert on Sunday. It was a really good concert! Anthony Hamilton sounds just as good live as he does on his album. He's got Southern gospel roots so when he took the concert to church with "work it out" I wasn't at all surprised. And it felt like church! I remember thinking that if church was more like that I'd probably go more often.

Day 33

Chin hair is the current bane of my existence. I'm thoroughly convinced they are the karmic result of the constant teasing of the neighborhood lady who did nothing to tame her mustache and chin hair. And though you'd never see them upon first, second, or third look at me, I know they're there.

Enough about my chin hair woes.

Today is my 33rd day of unemployment. I think around day 28 I was becoming outrageously overcome with boredom. I have hobbies, don't get me wrong, but here's what I've learned about hobbies: they cost money. I just got this nice, gently used DSLR camera and realized that I need money to get to all the cool places to take pictures. And where I live, over here in the East Bay, is not very inspiring to me.

I have a hair consultant today. I think it's about time to permanently straighten my hair. For black women, permanently straightening their hair is commonly called a perm. About 3 years ago, I undertook the tedious task of growing out the perm to don my natural kinky hair. Now I'm tired of my natural hair and ready for a change!

I have to really think about this though. It took me a long time to grow my natural hair out, but I'm prone to flights of fancy. Me wanting my straight hair back is probably one of those flights.