Drunken Noodle: Garnjana Thai Restaurant

Daria loves Thai food, so when we wanted to stop over and eat (coming back from NC), there was no question that we would stop for some Thai.

I didn't know of a particular Thai place, but, having been shopping at Spotsylvania with Jamie, I knew there was one near the mall. Unfortunately, I took a premature exit off of 95 and ended in a very unfamiliar place. Just as I was about to make a U to get back on 95, Daria spotted a Thai restaurant:


Garnjana Thai. It was in a very... not so glamorous or commercial part of the city but, hey, maybe it's one of those hidden gem places...

Awhile back, Jamie brought up the good point that as long as I was eating at a lot of Thai places, I should be enjoying a lot of Thai tea. I was flabbergasted. I love Thai tea! I can't believe it never dawned on me to order them! Well, I made sure to order one this time.


It was kind of watery but bad Thai tea is still pretty good. I saw that they also had the coconut drink. It was tempting... but I held off.

Daria ordered a chicken curry potato thing. I, of course had the...


... drunken noodles.

It was the first I had that came with broccoli and bean sprouts. Not that I'm complaining, I like broccoli and bean sprouts. Over all it was... meh. It wasn't unpleasant, just kind of mediocre. It lacked that sweet, savory, oyster sauce-ish taste and wok hay.

Sometimes, I think I'm missing out by always ordering the same dish. Then, I remember how much I love drunk noodles. Oh drunken noodles... you and I are total BFFs.

Book Mark Clean Out!

So, you know how I was (kind of) skimping and saving during June because that month was filled with catastrophic cluster fuck of expenses, planned and unplanned. Now that June is (mentally) over, I over reacted to my temporary state of asceticism by splurging with three tops and 2 meals from the food court. Now, I'm feeling kind of guilty. The shirts were total impulse items, I might return one. I don't feel too bad about the shirt purchases (they were cheap), I feel horrible about the meals from the food court because it was bad, it was very bad... and I knew it was going to be bad 'cause it's the freaking food court! What was I thinking?! That's $14 spent on horrible food. $14 is like the same cost as... 10 of my usual lunches (a box of cereal plus $1.16 for a thing of milk from Nordstroms).

It's one thing to spend $14 at a restaurant that ended up sucking, hey, I didn't know and it's good to try something new, right? Knowingly throwing away money on food that I knew was going to suck, that's just stupid.

Oh well... at least I got my fix of greasy questionable meat fix out of the way for another year or so.

While I stare at my bank balance and bemoan the loss of my $14 bucks (and pay some bills while I'm at it), here are some posts you can read.

Watching the Recession in Walmart's Aisles- I love checking out what's inside other people's cart. Sometimes, Michael and I dine at the upper level of Wegmans, people watch the shoppers below, and try to guess their life situation by what's in their shopping cart. I always thought it would be fun to be a register monkey at a grocery store. It's a really good article but, what I found most riveting, was the fact that one of the biggest Walmarts in the company has a 28 year old female as their GM and she's on the fast track to become district manager soon! TWENTY EIGHT!!!! That freaking blows my mind. She must be like the wunderkind of retail. Do you have any idea how long it takes to be a GM of a big box retailer? Of course, they do open up a lot of new Walmarts on a regular basis so maybe it's not as hard as I think it is... Then again, it is Walmart, who were sued on many occasions for gender discrimination... maybe she's their token chick.

Baked Lemon Pasta- Ever since the lemon shrimp pasta thing I made, I am in love with lemon in pasta.

The Shipping Docks Are Crowded With Alien Vessels in Spring- I like pretty sci-fi pics.

Daily Wear 5.14- I like her outfit. Well, maybe not so much the hat.

Millionaires as Role Models- I think at least one of my uncles can be considered a millionaire. I'm pretty sure that, at one point, back when houses were super inflated, all three of them could've been considered millionaires (or pretty close). All three suck at personal finance, which is why they are in the stressful situation they are in right now. As for how to make a million... I'm pretty sure ripping off illegal immigrants and your own family member isn't proper role model behavior.

We Don't spend Our Money On That- Every once in awhile someone will be all, "OMG!!! I am so in love with my iphone!!! How did I exist without it!!! You should totally get one!!!" My response, "It's not in my budget". Then they look at me like, "Oh, you poor thing, you must be really poor." I'm not poor, I just want to be able to afford heat when I'm 70... that and my diet doesn't consist of energy drinks, cigarettes, and jam sandwich.

The Green Box- It's a cool idea.

No, You Should Not Launch an EECB Against Your Own Employer- This guy is kind of an idiot.

And You Thought Your Investments had Tanked- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Why You Need Luxury Loo Roll- Barnes and Nobel has plushy paper towels and I do love them for it.

Good Book- Note to self, buy this book. I saw the author on the Colbert Report awhile back and thought his books sounded like an enjoyable read. I've "read" (in some places, skimmed) the Bible, from front to back, and yeah... there are some um... interesting... things in there. I'm sure there are lots more that I just missed.

Moomins!- Moomins!!! Considering all the Fins (are they called Fins?) on Postcrossing, you'd think I would've gotten a Moomin postcard by now. No, sadly, the closest I've come is a Moomin stamp.

This Cat Has Way More Twitter Followers Than You- I had Michael follow him when he first signed up with Twitter. Michael, being a dog person, didn't get the humor but I found it hilarious.

Danger Mouse's Next Album Will Be a Blank CD-R- You can claim it was Radiohead, but I give credit to Trent Reznor for starting this whole alt release trend.

Everything Looks Like It Does On TV

You know what's cool? Popped collars.

No, seriously, popped collars used to be pretty cool. Done right, it looks very bad ass.


And, there is a purpose to popping one's collar, it keeps the back of your neck warm/dry.


Sadly, popped collar went from James Dean awesome to frat boy douche.


Back when I was a wee lad, no one popped their collars. The douche badge back then was an OBX sticker on your car:

Love 'em or hate 'em, there was just something about an OBX sticker that brought out a visceral reaction in people. Me, personally, I thought they were uber lame. OBX stands for the Outer Banks, a beach destination in North Carolina. What was the point, everyone and their mom vacationed in the Outer Banks.

Well, everyone except me and my mom. I've never been to the Outer Banks... until recently. Sadly, it was not a vacation, I had to drive down to pick Daria up from the Outer Banks and drive her back to NoVa so she could catch a plane to Portland from Dulles. The drive was long, but nice.

I got to drive through Norfolk for the first time ever. Norfolk is busy shipping harbor. Never having been around big bodies of water all that much, I was jaw dropping fascinated by the sites of all the boats and water and real life seagulls (they look just like they do on TV!!!)!


Taking pictures while driving is not smart. Thankfully I was stuck in a massive traffic jam leading into some under water tunnel.


Norfolk is also home to a Naval base. In NCIS they're always going from NCIS HQ (which, is located in DC, and the TV one looks exactly like the real one!) to Norfolk like it's half an hour away. It's a three hour drive without traffic (more like 4-5 hours with traffic). I love that show, but, being native of the plot location, the inconsistencies gets on my nerve.


If you click to enlarge, you can kind of make out some Navy ships in the picture.

I was to rendezvous with Daria at some farmers market in NC.


OMG! Real life corn! They look just like they do on TV!

My travel plans primarily revolve around food (Wisconsin for cheese and frozen custard, Boston for Boston baked beans and Boston cream pie, Philadelphia for Philly cheese steaks, etc.). Since I was in NC, I wanted to pick up some North Carolina BBQ but, sadly, we were behind schedule and I didn't have time.

I got there about 5 min. before Daria. While I was waiting, I checked out junk shop right next to the farmer's market.


The place was weird!


It's like part thrift, part souvenir, part vintage and part convenience store. The only cool thing they had were lots of black and white/sepia vintage photographs of random people- that and Smurf glasses.

So, since I finally managed to make my way to the Outer Banks, I thought about getting an OBX sticker and putting it on my car, you know, ironically. Sadly, none were to be found because, according to Daria, the place we met wasn't really the Outer Banks, more like the outer edge of the Outer Banks.

Oh well...

Money On My Mind

Last year I managed to save up quite a bit of money. This year is half over and I have managed to scrounge up a tiny fraction of last year's savings. It's very discouraging and frustrating. To be fair, there have been lots of unexpected and unplanned costs this year. June was particularly, brutally expensive and I'm surprised that I squeaked by without dipping into my savings.

I've also been allocating most of my "found" money towards paying my car off early. Still, even with all the extra money I'm throwing at my car, I'm not convinced that I can pay it off by my goal date (June of next year). We shall see.

Maybe I'll experiment with July and try to spend the absolute bare minimum to see how much extra money I can save. It probably won't be worth it. The amount of money I would save wouldn't be worth me eating off the Dollar Menu and ramen noodles for a month.

Lemon Shrimp Pasta

I have a new favorite pasta dish. I got the recipe from the May 2009 issue of Woman's Day magazine. I am very partial towards recipes from mom magazines. They're geared towards the busy, frugal moms so the recipes are usually cheap and easy. The magazine calls it "garlic shrimp with angel hair" but I think it's misleading so I'm calling it "Lemon Shrimp Pasta".



It has this great, sharp, lemon taste that's mellowed out the butter. It's quick, easy, and, even thought I used 4 Tbsp of butter, I would still like to think it's healthy. I'm not a fan of left overs but this dish actually tasted better the next day (all the flavor melding I suppose).

I did deviate a bit from the original recipe. I used 4 Tbsp of butter instead of 2.5, regular spaghetti instead of angel hair, and I threw in some spinach. As the shrimps were cooking I was inspire to add some vegetable. It was too late to saute any zucchini, and I didn't have any asparagus, so- spinach it is! Oh, and I threw in some capers.

So, here's the recipe. I highly suggest you try it. It's a great pasta dish for summer.

12 oz angel hair pasta (I used 16 oz of pasta because that's the standard package size)
2.5 Tbsp butter (I used 4)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 lb peeled, deveined large shrimp, thawed if frozen (I can't stress to you how important it is use thawed shrimp)
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp each salt and crushed red pepper (I used a bit more red pepper but, be careful, those things are potent)
1/2 cup lemon juice (one average sized lemon should give you all the zest and juice you need for this recipe)
1/3 cup chopped parsley

Bring the large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook as package directs, reserving about 1 cup of cooking water before draining.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp of butter and the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook over medium-low heat 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Add shrimp, lemon zest, salt and crushed red pepper, saute over medium heat 2 to 5 minutes or until shrimp is just cooked through (if you're using pre-cooked shrimp, just heat until warm).

Stir in lemon juice; remove from heat. Pour over drained pasta; add remaining 1/2 Tbsp of butter, the parsley and about 1/2 cut of the cooking water (more if desired). Toss to mix and coat.

Serves 4

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

A few days back, I was feeling a bit unhappy and decided to do something that I haven't done in a long time: splurge. So, on an impulse, I bought this:


Saffron- the most expensive spice in the world.

This little bottle only costs me $6 at Trader Joe. You get what you pay for and, after doing my research, it's not exactly high quality, too much style (see, I did my research), but a nice entry into the world of expensive spices that I'll probably never use and shouldn't buy but probably will any way 'cause they sound really cool. Besides, there's just something about a well stocked spice rack that makes me happy.

Seriously, I think I worked as an apothecary in my previous life, maybe a witch's assistant or something. There's just something about things inside neatly labeled drawers, jars, and vials that gets me excited.

Have you ever tried saffron? It has a very nice tea like taste. If I were to just snack on some spice for fun, this would be it. I'll have to look up some recipes with saffron as an ingredient, saffron rice would be the most obvious.

Speaking of spices, when I visited Jamie we went to a spice shop in Carry Town. I got:


White peppercorn. Alton Brown uses them for white, cream based soups and sauces, the black flakes being too visually obvious.


I used a lot of bay leaves during the winter. It's too hot to make any hearty stews and soup but it was too good of a deal to pass up. This bag was a lot cheaper than the ones at my grocery store and the leaves were bigger and greener than the ones I usually get.

Still searching for grains of paradise. Maybe one day I'll stop by Balducci's. I think Heidi said there's one in Tysons.

Like My Tag Line Says, I'm Normal

Thirty handbags, is that a lot for one girl to own? I ask because, at first, I thought, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I have so many!" But then, I started to think... I bet most girls' have about as many.


Okay, so maybe not most girls, but I don't think 30 puts me in the over board spectrum.


That's 30, not counting all my tote bags, weekend bags, work bags, messenger bags, etc. If I include all those, we're probably looking at like 45.


I probably should weed through and get rid of the more redundant bags. I mean, how many navy hand bags does one person need?


I've been passing up the more mundane looking vintage bags at thrift stores. After awhile, most frame bags starts to look the same. I think I'm going to stick with the more unique purses, you know, something that's not navy.

Three Thai Sushi

If you were to ask my sister, she will tell you that fusion restaurants are a complete waste of money. I don't necessarily agree with her but there is something to be said for the whole "jack of all trades, master of none" vibe that comes from most fusion places.

Wait, no, I do agree with her (for the most part). Every time I get an ad for a new place that opened, I'm always quick to dismiss them if they carry food from more than one, (maybe two) countries. I just think I disagree with her 'cause I like Pei Wei and she thinks they're an affront to Asian cuisine.

"You can't just throw ginger and soy sauce on everything and call it 'Asian'! It's insulting!"

Daria's in town, and she wanted sushi. Unfortunately, her favorite sushi place was closed so we drove around to the next shopping plaza to find another Japanese restaurant (they're a staple in most Northern Virginian strip malls). We found a place called Three Thai Sushi. The name alone should have been enough warning. Have you ever walked into a place and thought, "Oh shit, bad idea. The food's going to be horrible"? But, you know, by then, it's a bit too late to walk out 'cause the really nice owner has already greeted you with a big smile?

The place looked cute but smelled like rancid oil.

Their menu consisted of Japanese and Thai food. I, of course, ordered the drunken noodles.


It was the absolute worst drunken noodles ever. First off, there were more chicken then noodles. The few noodles that were there clumped together into a mushy, greasy mess. Oh, and the sauce! It tasted like the whole thing was cooked with just soy sauce- very salty and too soy sauce-ish. It came with a complimentary spring roll which, from taste, seemed like it consisted mostly of vermicelli rice noodles and way too much black pepper.

So yes. Fusion restaurants are pretty much evil... Unless it's Pei Wei... or Big Bowls.

Book Mark Clean Out!

I'm back!

I've been in a weird, off and on, funk for the past few weeks but I snapped out of it this weekend. I feel like my old self and I actually care about things again! As much as I enjoyed wasting hours on NCIS marathons (thank you Tivo!) it's nice to feel the urge to be productive. First thing on my to do list- clean my room. It is messy as hell. You can poo poo feung shui all you want, but there's something very calming and happy about a clean room. When my room's clean, my head feels clearer.

So, while I organize and vacuum, here are some articles you can read.

Boytaurs are Sex on Four, Maybe Six Legs- I really don't get it... at all.

Help a Reader: Repaying a HUGE Student Loan- 23 year old with $265K in student loan and a $12K credit card debt? Already unemployed from working as a state trooper 'cause he got hit by a drunk driver? OMG, I can't even imagine that kind of stress. If his school was $44K a year, it must've been a pretty good one. I say suck it up and make good use of that BBA.

Zucchini Pie- Oh my goodness, I LOVE zucchinis! Now that they're in season, I'm definitely going to have to give this a go.

Getting by on $400K a Year- I was all set to hate on them for "struggling" to "get by" on almost half a mil a year. However, after reading their situation (and watching the video), I... well... I'm not sympathetic but I am a bit more... I guess understanding.

Face Transplant Patient: "I'm Not a Monster"- I think I read that she recently passed away from complications.

Woman Dies in Walmart Parking Lot, Discovered Two Days Later- Daria was quite the road warrior back in the days. She said that when she needed to sleep, she would pull into a Walmart parking lot. It's well lit, It's usually 24 hours (so there's some human traffic for safety), and even the most rural exit has a Walmart nearby.

Seafood Lasagna- My very favorite casserole cookbook includes a recipe for seafood lasagna. I found the concept intriguing, yet kind of gross. Seafood and cheese? Yeah... I don't know about that. I think I once tried macaroni and cheese with tuna and kind of liked it, but the combination still scares me. The book warned that the lasagna was expensive to make, but well worth it. Good golly! A lot of the recipes in that book costs like $20-$30 to make and they didn't come with a price warning. How expensive is this lasagna?

Click to enlarge. It's truly amazing. It would be cool to live there (especially the houses carved into the mountain) if, you know, it had ample parking, wide roads, low crime rate, quiet neighbors, and AC.

Top 10 Reasons Your Chargeback Will Be Denied- Oh no! My credit card's a Master Card!

Where Aren't They Now: The 7 Strangest Post-Sitcom Careers- Darlene isn't looking too well.


The Now Smash of Style- Goth gets such a bad rep. To me, this is Goth, not the Marylin Manson fans with their Tripp pants and the stringy black hair. The second to last picture is the freakiest thing I've seen in awhile.

Crooked Lines, Careful Drivers?- We actually have one of these in Sterling!

Zachary Quinto's Fingers Glued Together for Spock's Salute in Star Trek- I'm like the few at work who can't do the Vulcan salute. It made me feel inadequate. Oh, and New Spock is still very hot.

Brian Dettmer: Adaptation- Talented people always amazes me.

Social Security and Medicare Will Be Insolvent Even Sooner Than Predicted- Oh shit.

Noku

So remember how I said I was going to try to not eat out so much to save money for presents? Yeah... about that...


In my defense, it was a special occasion and we were celebrating... the fact that um... I... uh... got an oil change? Well, my car got an oil change.

We ate at Noku Japanese Grill and Sushi in Landsdown. When a Japanese restaurant says "grill", it usually means hibachi- but there was no grill of any kind so... I don't understand what makes them a "grill". The food was very mediocre.


It's the first Japanese place I've been to where the miso soup isn't gratis. Oh, and that's a poor excuse for a salad. For my money's worth, Akira in Ashbrook has much better sushi at a slightly cheaper price.

Off topic: When did mediocre and average become the new fail? Are performances so over inflated that "okay" is now an insult? I mean, I get miffed if I'm rated a "meets" on my appraisals when I think I should've gotten an "exceeds" but that's 'cause I legitimately believe I deserve a higher rating in that area. I certainly don't expect an entire appraisal filled with "exceeds".

We had our inventory recently and before the RGIS (the counting monkeys) supervisor left he had me fill out a performance survey. I rated him an average in several categories. A few days later I got a call from a RGIS rep wanting me explain my "average" ratings.

"Well, they weren't bad, but they weren't good. They were average."

Really, what more needs to be said? Besides, anything that needed to be elaborated upon was done on that survey. If she read it enough to know what areas were rated "average" she should've read it enough to know why.

Looking Forward to the Wedding!

This is Una, Heidi's corgi. The picture was taken during Heidi's Bridal Shower.

The shower was a lot of fun and Heidi throws a good get together. I was nervous at first. Even though we remained friends since high school, we branched off during college. She has her friends, I have my friends, and I don't really know her friends. My mingling skills were a bit rusty so... I was kind of anxious.

There was no need to worry. All of Hedi's friends were really nice and I had a lot of fun. Since Heidi's such a good cook, the food was fantastic and the games were fun. I was under dressed... but that's a whole 'nother story.

Hybrid Loaf

I've started to get my appetite back but the thought of eating something heavy is still unappealing. Normally, I'm all about comfort food- dense, rich, heavy, yum! Right now though, I'm leaning more towards something light and slightly flavor neutral. Hence, I came up with the hybrid loaf:


It's about half vegetables (mushrooms, onions, zucchinis, bell peppers, and spinach), 30% ground turkey, and 20% ground beef. To make sure it still has some taste, I put in some extra Worcestershire sauce, used some extra savory herbs, and sprinkled in a healthy amount of red pepper flakes. Just take a traditional meat loaf recipe (I suggest this one), do the 30/20 thing with the turkey and beef, and just toss in a whole bunch of vegetables.

It's light, moist, and still flavorful! As an added bonus, I'm sure it's a lot healthier than traditional meat loaf. It may also be cheaper though, I don't know, produce can be pretty pricey.

This One's Not Hawking Any Cereals

One day, a random kiosk/display showed up at our mall selling these:


Okay, that's a horrible picture.

One day, a random kiosk/display showed up and our mall selling these:


They are Petaurus Breviceps, aka "Sugar Bears" or "Sugar Gliders". Cute, but $450 cute? Hmm... I don't know about that... Well, others must disagree since, in like two days, they sold out of their supply and moved up. The kiosk is no more. Goodbye cute in a slightly creepy way mini marsupials!

Banished from Wedding Pics?

My mom, too, was insistent that I keep the sleeve.

Really?


Still kind of doubtful but everyone can't be wrong.

She also convinced me to shorten the dress to ankle length (right now, it's longer than floor length on me). I thinks she has a point, the sleeve + shorter hem looks weird- like too much lace crammed into a too small space. I'm cool with keeping it long (knee issues!) but I'm afraid it'll be too... umm... bride maid-ish...


Is it too "fancy" for a day time wedding? Too costumey? Do I look like I wandered off from a 70's themed wedding? Should I shorten it anyway?

Oh, and Likkle totally called it, I definitely need a slip.

I Miss You Drunken Noodle!!!

I really like Thai food.

My quest for the best drunken noodle has been temporarily suspended due to um... Hmmm.... My renewed interest in fiscal responsibility... Yes! That sounds good. Truth is, even though it happens every year, I completely forgot that, in June, I have to pay for the following:

Brother in law's birthday present
Daria's birthday present
Brother's birthday present
Sister's birthday present
Father's day present

And, this year, on top of it all, I had to pay for Heidi's bridal shower gifts as well as her wedding gift. So yes, I'm pinching pennies where I can. Michael needs to save money to pay for classes so he's in no mood to eat out either- and that helps. But, you know, a girl's got to eat, and I can't exist on cereals alone. So, one day, we decided to splurge and eat out.

When you eat out sporadically, it's got to count. I can't waste my (imaginary) eating out fund on a new place- too much of a gamble. We went with a sure thing: My Thai Place in Brambleton VA. My Thai is the place with the best drunken noodle that I've had (so far). As much as I enjoyed their drunken noodle, I decided to try something new and got... something that I can't really remember... I think it was the Chicken Pad Khing Sod. What I wanted to get was the Kuay Tiew Koua but Michael claimed it first.


Wide rice noodles and sea food!

Even though we were pretty full, the food was so good, we wanted more- as in dessert. Again, penny pinching meant going with a sure thing. Actually, penny pinching would mean going without dessert, or stopping by the grocery store and picking up a pint of Ben and Jerry on sale for $3, but that's not as fun. No, that night, penny pinching meant going with a sure thing. I'm sure the strawberry mochi and and the mango with sticky rice are all very good, but who knows, maybe it isn't. You know what is guarnteed to be good? Never disappoints? Chocolate!

We stopped by Edible Incredible! Desserts. We just wanted to check it out but it was one of those situation where the store was empty and the owner was super nice. I would've felt like a jerk just walking out without buying anything. It was a bit more than what I would've like to have spent on dessert but it's my way of helping out the local economy, small business owners, etc. etc. etc (that's my rationalization, anyway). Plus my cookies and cream cupcake was really good.


Michael really enjoyed his dark chocolate cake/cheese cake thing.


So, the goal is, no more eating out for the rest of the month.

...

We'll see how that goes.

VA Bazaar

On my way back home from Richmond I stopped off at the Virginia Bazaar off exit 110 in Ashland (?) Virginia.

There is a very fine line between kitschy and tacky. The fine wares are the VA Bazaar are in no danger of crossing that line.


They are firmly planted on the tacky side.

Now, far be it for me to judge what's "tacky". I still think that velvet paintings would be cool (you know, in an ironic way...) and don't think that I don't mourn the loss of my Billy the Singing Bass- 'cause I do.



But yeah, even I'm going to have to say a firm "No!" to a lot of the stuff that's sold at this place.


They also had a Nascar version of this aisle... two or three as a matter of fact.

The VA Bazaar consists of outside vendors:


who seem to specialize in plastic wares and toys that one would find at the Dollar Tree.

Inside, the vendors specialize in all kinds of stuff from fairy light switch covers, wind catchers, antique furniture, lap tops from like 5 years ago, used books, old vinyls, etc.


So, you know, it wasn't the wonderland of unique goodness I was hoping for. Still, I have to give them credit, the place was really neat, clean, and the food court looked kind of appetizing.

There was a stall that did sell antique jewelry but no price tags were to be seen anywhere. I guess the premise was that I was suppose to ask the nice man how much something cost and he'd be all, "How much do you think it costs" and go from there. After graduating high school, my parents sent me to Korea for a month to visit family. We regularly went shopping at bazaars- OMG, the sites, the sound, the rush- so exciting! Being a bargain hound, I loved that the prices were flexible. Even if there was a price sign (rare), the understanding was that it wasn't a set price. I haggled, haggled, haggled, and enjoyed the whole process. Now... meh, not so much. If you can't be bothered to write down a price, then I can't be bothered to ask you how much it cost.

While I was inside, an announcer came on and said:

Attention! Owner of a white blah blah blah truck with a South Carolina license plate blah blah blah blah blah, please report to your truck! I repeat, white blah blah blah truck with a South Carolina license plate blah blah blah, please report to your truck! Your dog is in distress! I repeat, your dog is in distress! It is hot outside! You do not leave your dog inside your truck when it is hot outside!

I waited for him to add, "...you dumb ass!" but he didn't. The announcer dude was pissed, understandably so. Seriously, you shouldn't leave your dog in your car.

Richmond

Michael Did you get that shirt from a thrift store?
Me: Yeah.
Michael: I can tell, it looks... old.
Me: Awwww... Thank you!

I got this shirt from a Goodwill in Richmond and I really love it. I feel like I should be on the cover of a Beatle's album- awesome!

Okay, so I wrap my show and tell with pictures of all the stuff I got in Richmond!

Richmond is the capital of Virginia. It kind of reminds me of Northern VA in that you have the old areas, the new areas, the poor areas, and the rich areas. And, much like NoVa, the nice areas are very nice and the ghetto areas are kind of scary. Overall, it is older, more established, than NoVa, which is probably why it has better thrift stores and antique malls.

Jamie lives in a very rural suburb of Richmond. She's surrounded by a lot of trees, the houses are far apart, and it's the kind of neighborhood that makes me feel sorry for the little kids. Going trick or treating must be pain in the ass. So, strangely enough, in this sparsely populated rural neighborhood, there's this cute little gift shop. We're talking like $30 jars of candles, $10 blocks of soap, $10 pads of stationary, $75 pajama sets, etc. I didn't think there were enough houses in the area to support such a niche business. Or, maybe it doesn't turn a profit but it's owned and operated by a bored rich person.


I really love old houses converted into shops. Obviously, no one lives in them anymore, but there's something slightly voyeuristic feeling about the whole experience, like I'm snooping around some one's living quarter.

Jamie took me to Cary Town, which is full of really eclectic shops.


It's the kind of place that's more fun to browse than shop, but the stores in that area are really cool.

We went inside this one antique store that specialized in antique jewelry. There, I saw some of the most gorgeous pieces ever! We're talking long, drapey, sparkly things. So pretty! So fucking expensive! The truly outstanding pieces were all in the hundred dollars and up range- way outside my budget.


Of course, I had to take a picture of the most boring case. It's a small shop and the shop owner kept glancing at my direction. I always feel self conscious taking pictures when the owner (or an employee) is looking.

Upstairs, in the attic, they had a cat!


I love orange cats!

Earlier that day, we stopped off at an antique mall in another part of town. They too had an orange cat just roaming around the store.


The cat's name is Baby. According to Jamie, he's a fat one but, I don't know... seems about right to me.

Back to Cary Town... There were 2 vintage clothing stores in that area. The first one was really cool. It had an art deco kind of vibe. it was very well organized, had beautiful pieces, and the prices were fair- that is, fair market value, which is still higher than my self imposed $10 limit. The other one was dark, dirty, messy, and very haphazard. They did, however, have a Coro earring for $2!


I'm trying to collect Coro and Trafari jewelry, but I don't want to pay more than $10 for any of the pieces. As stoked as I was to score some Coro for $2, I was bummed that they were clip ons. Clip ons hurt. Oh my. Sure, it was a good deal but, realistically, I will probably never wear them, way to painful. I'm going to stick with pierced and screw ons.

I also got a bag of bay leaves (sweet deal) and a small jar of white pepper corns at a spice shop. The spice shop didn't carry any grains of paradise and that was a bummer, but it was still a really cool place.

So yes, a pair of earrings and a few spice and herbs are all I got at Cary Town but I did get some more cool stuff in Richmond. I managed to find a pair of my very favorite bra (ever!) but I won't post pictures of it, even though I love that bra.

I also got a vintage necklace at an antique mall. They too had some really nice pieces and it made me sad knowing I would never own them. However, I found this:


for just $8!

At a Goodwill (not the one where I bought the tunic, a different one) I found a pair of brand new Minnetonkas for $4!


I had a pair, very similar, made of white leather. If I'm remembering correctly, my mom bought it for me at the Luray Caverns gift shop.

So, yes, my visit to Jamie's was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with an awesome person, got to eat some really good food, and came back with bags of stuff.

Awesome!

Book Mark Clean Out!

DAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I'm stressed.
I'm hungry.
I'm tired.
I'm depressed.

I think that if I were to eat something and get some sleep I would be better able to handle my stress- causing me to be not so bummed out. It sound easy but I can't sleep at night 'cause my mind won't shut up when I'm trying to sleep. When I do manage to fall asleep, I wake up a few hours later, as if my body's telling me that I have no right to sleep when there are all these things that needs to get fixed.

As for the eating thing, I eat when I'm hungry- sometimes that's conventional eating times, like afternoons and evenings, sometimes it's unconventional times, like 3pm and 9pm. Basically, I'm not used to thinking, "Oh, it's 6pm, I better eat". Lately, my body's been very bad about telling me when I'm hungry so I haven't really been eating. Except, of course, one can only go for so long without food. One moment I'm fine, tra-la-la-la-la, next moment I'm like, MUST. HAVE. SOME. FOOD. NOW!!! I feel like dry heaving, I'm so hungry, and I turn into an uber bitch 'cause... well, I'm hungry!

So yeah. I would like to think... no, I know that I'm adult enough to handle stress without turning into a gooey emo slob. I think the first step is to eat something. Food is good.

So, while I eat something, here're are some posts you can read.

Film Notebook- This is a really cool video.

Light Pollution: It's Not Pretty- My grandmother lived on a farm and we used to visit her for all the important family holidays. I remember looking up at the sky, seeing all the stars... amazing and so pretty.

Eternally Chic- I did not know that Burberry created the first trench coat.

3 Bad Reasons to Buy a Home- UGH! Maybe I don't want a house after all. The whole thing just seems scary and stressful.

The Secrets of Financial Freedom: An Interview with the Millionaire Next Door- It's stuff we've all heard, time and time again, but it's nice to hear it again.

A Greener Way to Flush the Toilet- A part of me asks, "Seriously? Why bother?" and another part of me feels ashamed at that part of me for taking water for granted. You know, what with so many % of the world population not having access to clean drinking water and what not.

Swine in Style- When I was young in Korea, face masks were de rigeur. We wore them, not to prevent inhaling germs, but to prevent expelling germs. Seoul was a crowded, crowded place, when you're wheezing and sneezing, it's jut the polite thing to make sure that you're not spraying germs everywhere, you know? I had one, that was blue with a teddy bear on it... or was it a bunny... something fuzzy and cute.


13 Super Cool Computer Keyboards- Wait... are they watching a T.A.T.U. video on that keyboard?! As cool as some of those keyboards seem, and they do seem very cool, I like the clickety click click noise of traditional keyboards.

Gathering Storm: Miss California Trying to Redefine Traditional Breast- Wait... the Miss California Organization paid for Prejean's fake boobs? They pay for boob jobs? I mean, it's not my money paying for her surgeries so I don't care but... really?

Let the Beat Build- It's nice to see talented, positive people perform. Oh, and it was done in one, continuous take? Damn.

Cat Parasites Affects Everything We Feel and Do- Huh... I have heard of the cat = schizo theory before. Hmmm... See, cats are brilliant, infecting us with parasites to become their docile servants. You don't see dogs pulling that kind of tricks.