a devacation.

I’m on my way to Miami, Florida.  Luckily, it has absolutely nothing to do with work.  I’m going to hang with my good friend (and one of my B’s), Linh.  She’s basically awesome. 

I’m super long overdue for a vacation from the insanity that is NYC and work, and this trip to Miami is hopefully the first of several trips I will take this summer.  

“Fortunately” (not really), my flight is delayed.  By 2 hours.  Yeah – so I was supposed to get in at 10:30pm, and now my ETA is 12:30am.  Oh – and did I mention Linh and I have a super early wake up call for our day cruise tomorrow?  Like, 6am early.  Yours truly is gonna be a mess tomorrow.  At the very least, I hope my contacts don’t burn my eyes out tomorrow morning (they won’t be getting a full 6 hours of cleaning. shucks). 

Hmm… I think my flight is boarding.  Early. 

I’ll take it. Peace out, homies.

adam and a bonsai

I have a friend.  Actually, we don’t describe our relationship as a “friendship” (we’re pals) but for the sake of simplicity, we’re friends.  We look like friends on the outside (when we’re not constantly expressing our hatred towards each other), but on the inside, it’s something very different. 

Just to clear the air, we’re not fuck buddies.  Yuck.  

Anyway, that friend is Adam.  We’ve been dealing with each other’s crap for almost 5 years (his 1st year/my 3rd year at UVA).  I blame marching band.

ANYWAY (for real this time), last Christmas, Adam got me the best worst Christmas gift ever: a bonsai.  No – not one that was already growing and thriving.  A grow-your-own-bonsai kit.  

Wtf. 

Folks, this ain’t no regular house plant.  It certainly isn’t a super-fast growing stick of bamboo.  It’s a mini tree.  

Do you know how long it takes to grow a tree?

I’m pretty sure it’s much longer than the 25 years I’ve been alive.  Adam calls it our “pal tree”.  I guess I’m supposed to have it for the rest our lives or something. 

Okay, remember – I’ve had it since Christmas 2008, and I started “growing” it shortly thereafter.  Here’s what it’s up to now: 

Yeah.  It’s boring.  Not only has it been in the refridgerator for 3 weeks, it also lived in my file cabinet at work for 3 more weeks.  A few days ago, I realized I accidentally put it under the warm light (for the Spring season) too soon.  I’m not supposed to move it from the warm, dark place (my file cabinet) until seedlings appear.  

I will be super pissed if I effed this tree up.  Adam will probably make fun of me for the rest of my life (he’ll probably find a reason to do that anyway).

Anyway, I should stop writing.  I don’t know many people who enjoy reading about growing bonsais.  I’ll post about it again when a seedling appears.  FYI: That could be a year from now…

what’s-his-face is the new american idol?

YOU KNOW I’M PISSED.  LIKE, REALLY PISSED.

If any of you hear/read/see me talking about watching Idol next year, please punch me in the face.  I do not support America with this decision and I am now officially boycotting American Idol.  

Year after year I’ve been let down because America doesn’t seem to consider talent when voting for a contestant.  That just doesn’t make any sense, and I’m sick of it. 

I’m so over this.

almost the (idol) finale

I flipped out on Wednesday when Danny was kicked off the show.  Yes, I screamed (and yes, I was alone in my apartment at the time).

AMERICA – WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?  JUST BECAUSE A GUY IS HOT DOESN’T MEAN HE CAN SING.  AND – KRIS IS MARRIED.  HE DOESN’T WANT YOU.  HE WILL NEVER DATE YOU.

Okay.  I feel a little better.  Just a little.  I’m still mostly pissed.  

Honestly, Kris should’ve been gone after Matt and the top 3 should’ve been Danny, Adam and Allison. 

Why didn’t America vote for Allison?!  That made me sad.

Anyways, I hate the judges.  All of them, with the exception of Mr. Simon Cowell.  He is the only voice of reason on that show.  If people don’t appreciate his honesty, they can take a hike.  Get out of my face.  I shouldn’t have to go into great detail about why I hate Paula.  Randy is just obnoxious.  His “for me for you” statement makes me want to rip my face off… with a spoon.  Kara doesn’t say anything we don’t already know.  She’s useless.  If they hired her, they definitely should’ve fired Paula.  I’m at the point where I just mute the judges’ comments.  

What is the dealio with Kris?  Yes, I understand he did a good job with Kanye West’s Heartache, but was that enough to get him into the FINALS?  No.  Were people even listening to Danny?  I’m afraid Kris’s CD will put me to sleep – he’s not exciting at all.  I kinda loved Danny’s performances because he had an upbeat song, then he broght down the house with You Are So Beautiful.  Who knew such a simple song could be so moving?  I didn’t even know that song had verses…

Then, there’s Adam.  I don’t have much to say about that kid besides a) he’s going to win and b) if he had been kicked off on Wednesday, there would’ve been mass rioting throughout the US.  

I don’t care to watch the finale… but I will.

surprises

So, Emily and Melissa stopped in this weekend… 

And so did Linh.  From effing Miami.

Except no one told me.  Her comment was, “did you think I was gonna let you guys hang out without me?!”  Crazy Linh…

I completely flipped out when Linh walked into my apartment.  I normally don’t scream like a 5 year old girl when I get surprised, but I definitely screamed and waved my arms around when I saw Linh. 

It was a 4747 Lambeth reunion – and it was awesome.  Thank God for that extra blow up mattress.

Here’s my weekend of fun in pictures:

We got 2nd row seats for Guys and Dolls thanks to Linh.  Incredible.  Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat was one of most amazing songs I’ve ever heard on Broadway.

omg.  Lauren Graham.  She’s one of the the reasons why we saw the show.  Surprisingly, she has a good voice.

We took a ridiculously long train ride to Coney Island, in search of the Coney Island Market.  It doesn’t actually start until May 15th.  My bad.

Yep, the sideshows are still there.  Coney Island is still a freak show.

 

Hot dogs!  We each ate one.  They were tasty.

Then we hit up a few sweet places for cupcakes and candy.  It’s really hard for us to pass up sweets. 

That’s Em hiding behind Seredipity 3’s extra large menu.  Our 11pm dinner was really tasty.  I highly recommend the ham and brie sandwich.  And the frozen hot chocolate, of course. 

Oh – and we saw Little Ashes.  Emily wanted to see it because of Robert Pattinson (aka. Edward from Twilight).  Definitely worth the $12.  PS: Javier Beltrán is crazy hot.  

Whoops, one more picture: 

That’s the ping pong table (at Fat Cat) where Em and I both schooled Melissa in 3 awesome ping pong matches.

 

So, my weekend was pretty freakin’ awesome.  Me and my B’s :)  I miss them already. 

an attempt at something new.

En honor del Cinco de Mayo (o May 5th, en ingés), escribo esta entrada en español.  Buena suerte a mi.

Me llamo Deva.  Me gusta cantar.  Soy americana. 

Y… es todo. 

No tengo nada para decir. 

Bueno.

Pues, si digo la verdad, viví en España por 4 meses.  Yo sé el español.  En serio, no tengo nada para decir. 

Por cierto, ¿sabes que muchos mexicanos no celebran el cinco de mayo?  No es un festivo nacional – es voluntario. Y no hay margaritas.  No hay burritos y enchiladas.  Los mexicanos (y mucha gente en el mundo) pueden comerlos todos los días.

¿Por qué celebran los americanos (sin conexión a los mexicanos)?  No tiene sentido.  Entiendo la razón para los chicanos, pero no sé sobre los demás.

 Whatever.

roommates galore

I would not recommend living with 5 other women in a tiny 3-bedroom apartment.  It’s such a bad idea. 

Think: syncing periods, hair EVERYWHERE in the bathrooms (we had two – but it didn’t help much), out of control estrogen attacks (aka. mood swings), etc.  What a nightmare. 

It made for an interesting (sorta) 3 years at UVA.  But I made some really good friends in the process. 

May is the month of 4747 (my UVA address for 3 years was 4747 Lambeth) roommate visits.  Get excited. 

This weekend, Emily and Melissa are coming.  On very rare occassions do I see one without the other.  And very rarely do I say “Melissa and Emily” – it just doesn’t flow.  It’s Emily and Melissa.  They’re cool and they’re coming to Astoria to see my smiling face.  

The last time all of us, including Linh and Jihye, were in NYC was back in 2003.  We were on our way to Lake George after completing our first year at UVA.  Of course, we stopped in NYC to visit Jihye’s family – but the visit was so short, it was kinda hard to have a good time.  It was hot, directions were confusing, and no one was happy.

Anyway, it’s time to enjoy NYC… 6 years later.  Unfortunately, Linh and Jihye won’t be joining us, but maybe one day. It will still be a good time.  

Two weeks after Emily and Melissa stop in, I’m flying to Miami to visit Linh.  Hooray for a short vacation :)  It’ll be my first trip to Miami, and apparently we’re already making plans to take a day cruise to the Bahamas!  Obviously, lots of fun will be had.   

Hooray for good times with (part of) the 4747 crew.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been friends for 7 years.  Now I feel old.

weekend recap.

I’ll start with the ending: It went REALLY well.  One of the smoothest weekends my organization has had in several years. 

And now, the beginning.  Don’t worry, I’ll give the reader’s digest version:

Thursday, April 30th.  Astonishingly, all 29 finalists made their way to NYC without problems.  This made me happy because I booked everyone’s travel.  

Go me.  Point for Deva. 

Around 6pm, one of our most important events of the year began: Finalist Night (click here for my cousin’s recap of the event).  Overall, it was a hit.  The food was good, the drinks were flowing, and there was a lot of mixing, mingling and whatever else happens at cocktail parties.  And, most importantly, people were really excited about our finalists. 

Another point for me, and a point for everyone else on staff who made the entire night a success. 

Friday, May 1st.  The day was full of interviews, so I don’t have much to report on – EXCEPT the fact that we started and ended the day long interview fest 100% on time.  In case you don’t know, my organization is NO-torious for running late in almost everything.  I work with very chatty folks.  I’m not sure how it happened, but my team was very excited about ending on time, because we all (finalists, staff and judges) had a very lovely dinner planned at Dos Caminos that night.  

And finally, Saturday, May 2nd.  It was mass hysteria in the morning for about 15 minutes.  Judges were running late (or didn’t show up at all), finalists didn’t know where to go for their interviews, there were several room changes, our catered breakfast didn’t arrive on time… and little ol’ me had to manage all of that ridiculousness.  After being pulled in 529 different directions, things eventually calmed down.  Interviews ended at 12:30pm, then the finalists went to lunch.  Sadly, I didn’t go – I had the privilege of watching the judges, and later the senior staff, deliberate until 9pm. 

Then my weekend was over.  I got home, ate some food, then passed out.

All in all, it was a success.  My very first big event :) I can’t wait to add that to my resume.