Posts Tagged ‘panda’

Anniv3rsary

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , ,
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Today is my “official” three-year anniversary with Panda! We kind of set an arbitrary date since it’s hard to say when exactly we got together. So, we go off our first real date, which was the Friday of Zero Week at UCLA. The great thing about that is our anniversary is always on a Friday!

Tonight we celebrated by going to Itacho Izakaya for dinner, then getting free dessert at Milk, right across the street! Milk is offering free ice cream sandwiches via ScoutMob. I got a Red Velvet and Panda got a Grasshopper (mint chocolate). Yum!

a delicious red velvet ice cream sandwich from milk
There was some sort of filming going on nearby. They blocked off the street and put up all kinds of holiday lighting to make it very festive and they had quite a crowd. Definitely not a low-budget film! Maybe we’ll recognize this scene in a movie we watch someday.

movie scene being filmed on beverly blvd

Impatient

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , ,
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Ever get impatient with life? Sometimes I just want to get on to the next stage and get that MBA, finally live with Panda, and be married. I look forward to the future a lot and I’ve been anticipating it for years! At the same time, I know that life as it is now has its own perks and I shouldn’t lose sight of all that I have now. While I kind of want a fast-forward button to press, I still value all that I get to live out today.

Still, sometimes it’s nice to think about all these great future plans, isn’t it? This seems especially true as I start to see more and more of my peers moving on to the next stages of their lives, getting more education, settling down, and starting a family. Every now and then I can’t wait to go to business school and then move in with Panda and start our little family, kids, cats, and all. But I guess life comes as we’re easy and I’m definitely not ready to get marked or have kids yet, much as I look forward to when that part of my life comes.

For now I’ll try to take better advantage of the things I can do more easily now – explore my passions, travel some more, and maybe even move somewhere new!

Road trippin’

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Wow, it has been two tiring days on the road!  Philosopher and I set out on Thursday, ready for a coastal trip up to Northern California.  We made pit stops at the Getty Villa, Ojai, Santa Barbara, and Solvang before finding a campground in Santa Maria to settle in for the night.  The sleep was sporadic and interrupted by cars driving by, brisk air (it was in the low-mid 50s all night), and of course the uncomfortably firm ground.  Every time I tried to stretch out straight, I would find my blanket was covering my feet and it was way too to have them out.  So, reluctantly, I would pull them back in and curl up in a ball under my body pillow.

When getting things out of the car, I had accidentally locked my keys in the trunk (first time that happened to me!), so in the morning I called up AAA to break into my car for me.  It was really interesting to see their method, using an inflatable balloon pouch and a thick metal rod.  I didn’t quite imagine it being that way based on descriptions I’ve heard using clothes hangers, but hey, whatever works!  With access to all our stuff again, Philosopher and I were able to prepare for the long day ahead.

Day two consisted of a lot of winding roads, driving up and down mountains, and in and out of cloud/marine layer coverage.  I feel at once windblown and sunshone (yeah, yeah, not a term but what would you say?).  This time went from Santa Maria to Pismo Beach to San Luis Obispo, then out to the coast again to drive along the 1.  We took some time at Carmel-by-the-Sea to enjoy the town and beach, then continued on to Santa Cruz and finally San Jose.  While waiting for dinner at BJ’s and looking for another campground, we decided to go for more traditional lodging.  After all, we weren’t having much luck finding a place and it’s been a long two days without proper rest, so I don’t mind rewarding myself with a nice bed and shower.

Luckily, I was able to find the Larkspur Landing Hotel in Campbell, which was offering a really reasonable rate.  There’s free wifi, breakfast, cookies, and a business center, fitness center, and laundry room.  What’s most valuable is a warm and cozy bed, as well as a hot shower!  There’s no need to suffer and doing the whole camping thing another night was turning out to be too much trouble.  I can finally charge up my phone again and start tomorrow afresh.  By dinnertime, we will be meeting up with Panda and I’m really excited for that.  🙂

Cat adoption, dating style

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , ,
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One more day stands in the way between me and the long-awaited cat adoption!  I can’t wait.  I’ve tried not to overthink things this week, since many of the cats I saw last weekend looked like they were on the fast train to adoption.  The kittens in particular were very popular, of course, but I was happy to see that some of the more grown cats were getting a good amount of attention too.  I’m totally ready to spend all morning Saturday petting all the cats and also pairing them up to make sure they can get along with each other.

At first when my mom talked about getting an older one and younger one, I was thinking a baby and an older cat, but my mom is skeptical of the little ones since they are so small they could easily get hurt or lost under/in something.  While I really like them, I do know that they get adopted very easily, and part of the point of our adoption is to take ones that might get put down if not adopted soon enough.  I figure I can always go for a young little one when Panda and I start our own household, so I definitely want to pay more attention to the 1- and 2-year-olds.

I have a feeling both cats will probably be black or at least part black, since it seems those are the ones that aren’t as popular.  Is it a superstitious thing?  Are Americans really that prejudiced against black cats?  Or maybe there is some sort of personality trait that tends to do with those types of cats that makes them less friendly?  I did notice that my red tabby (orange stripey cat) was the friendliest of the ones we’ve had, and the black ones were more aloof and/or quirky.  But hey, quirky is still loveable!  And there were definitely plenty of cats who liked being pet, which is what I love to do.

Haha, I’ve been watching Millionaire Matchmaker and I just realized that the way I’m thinking about cats is very logical, with plenty of reasoning weighing into my decision, which is kind of like what the matchmaker does for her clients.  They come in with grandiose ideas of what type of person they can land, and she gives them a dollop of reality to whip them into shape and make them realize what is realistic and what is not.  I am open to giving up the kitten idea because it makes more sense of someone living my lifestyle and at my stage of life to focus on the more grown cats.  I don’t have time to baby a little creature, but I will have that opportunity in the future!

Rather than go for the “hottie pa-tottie” as they call them (aka the kittens), I will focus more towards the good fit.  I need cats that can take care of themselves, but enjoy my company when I am able to see them.  I just hope I don’t fall in love with a teeny little thing that looks at me adorably and fits into my hands so comfortably!  But hey, even if that happens, the good thing is we’ll still get a mature cat who can help with the duty of teaching the young one.

Fireworks extravaganza

laelene Posted in video blog,Tags: , ,
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Panda and I enjoyed some great fireworks in our nation’s capitol back on Independence Day.

Aww, cute heart-shaped ones.

heart fireworks from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

The planes taking off had to veer to the left pretty hard to make sure they stayed far away from the explosions.

fireworks and airplane from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Panda time

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags:
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Panda’s in town for a few precious days so I’ve been spending my time outside of work with him. It has been pretty tiring since we don’t get around to dinner until 8 or so, do by the time we eat and drive back, it’s nearly 10 and there isn’t that much time left in the night.

He’s leaving tomorrow morning and then I just need to get through one more day of work before I can rest! This week has gone by fast, but a lot has gone on and I’m drained. I can’t wait for the weekend to recover!

Plasma chamber, cheeky message

laelene Posted in photo blog,Tags: , , ,
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Panda and I went on a little tour of Engineering IV at UCLA for UCLA Day 2011. They showed us this plasma chamber, the smallest of the ones in the room, which had an amusing (cautionary) sign posted next to it.

plasma chamber in ucla engineering building iv

Haha, click on the image for full size and zoom in on the paper lined in red!

Kung Fu Panda

laelene Posted in photo blog,Tags: , , , ,
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billboard for kung fu panda movie painted on the wall of a building

In the time it took Panda and I to eat dinner, the workers were able to paint over nearly half of this billboard!

Back east, eventually

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , ,
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Today Panda and I finalized plans for me to go out to DC again and I’m really excited!  This time it will be a long weekend for the 4th of July and I’ve been told the fireworks at the National Mall are fantastic, so I definitely plan on going to check it out.  Ultimately I’m just really looking forward to having a little vacation and traveling a bit.  I miss the east coast and the weather out there, especially since LA has been brisk most days and we’ve barely had a summer day in the past two years.  I’ve almost forgotten what a 90+ degree day is like.

I’d actually like to have a thunderstorm during one of the days I’m there.  It’s been so long since there’s been a torrential downpour with lightning brightening the sky.  There’s something very comforting about staying inside, dry and warm, as the world outside  blows around and everything gets wet.  That’s my favorite time to curl up with a book, blanket, and hot drink.  It’s been so long since I’ve read a book!  I tried to get back into it awhile ago and borrowed one from the local library, but I ended up returning it a few weeks later after only getting through a few pages.  I don’t really have the patience for a lot of books now.  Perhaps I should get around to listening to the audiobooks I have that have yet to be completed.

But I digress.  As I was saying, I’m looking forward to returning to the eastern side of the country and I’m actually looking forward to living there again at some point.  I think that Panda’s long-term future will be there, even if in the short term he takes some opportunities to work elsewhere.  As much as LA has to offer, I’ve been here long enough that I’m ready for a change again.  For now the best I can do is little spurts of vacations out there, but in a few years I’d like to go to school out there for my MBA and then live there after graduating.  I may be the only one who enjoys humid, hot weather!  😛

Back to work

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , ,
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All too soon the holiday weekend is over and Panda and I are back to our lives so distanced from each other.  It was a nice long weekend though, and a welcome break from the hubbub of the daily grind.  Today we got to spend the day at the LA Zoo, exploring the various habitats and enjoying the beautiful day.  Tomorrow morning he’s off on a plane back to the East Coast and I’ll be in the office not long after.  It’s been a great 10 days having him around and I look forward to the next time he’s in town.

If only we had more 3-day weekends!  This one has been gloriously long and we got so much done it’s hard to believe it’s only been a few days and not an entire week.  I can’t wait for the next one in just over a month.  Hopefully I can fly out to see him again at that time and enjoy some more time out east with him.  I like the idea of us traveling back and forth to see each other while we’re living and working so far apart.  Hey, when you’re young, traveling is a fun perk!  I plan on taking advantage of it while I can.  Maybe even do a mini vacation to another city while we’re at it.

But for now, tomorrow is the start of a new work week and we have two new interns joining us, so that’ll be cool.  I always love a little bit of change and since I hear both are girls, that really helps the male to female ratio in the office.  We haven’t had that many women in the office since I’ve been around!  I’m looking forward to it.

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