The Early Days of My 30s....

So it's Day #34 of the 4th decade of my life (ages 0-9 count as decade #1). What's happened to me since Day #1? Hmm...where to start? What I will warn you about, though, is that what actually happened is far more exciting than the way it looks when written.

Of course, the topic turns to my hair again! I decided that I have evolved, and I wanted my look to reflect that, so I "went for it". I had my trustworthy hairdresser lop off about another foot (and about 5 lb) of hair on Day #9, and I had him touch up my red highlights to "as bold as I can go without looking like those girls who work at Hot Topic" (for my foreign reader[s]...really I can think of only one...hi, P!...Hot Topic is a chain store found in several American malls that caters to the Gothic punk population, which includes people who dye their hair all sorts of weird colors, including cherry red). So the photo above is the result of that. I knew it was much redder (is that even a word?) than before, but I had no idea how red it was until this photo (taken indoors, at night in a dark restaurant) was taken. It was taken at my 30th birthday dinner at The Stinking Rose, a popular Italian restaurant in LA (there's another location in San Francisco), inside the ladies' restroom. Currently, my hair has grown back to halfway down my back again (my hair grows like weeds!). For all you fashion plates out there, the dress is by Milly.

What else?

On Day #30, I decided to go to a party where I would risk knowing nobody all alone. It turned out that I knew 2 people, but I barely talked to them and actually met some nice single, successful guys. We'll see if anything pans out on that front.

Today, I went to lunch with some co-workers who helped me to have some good laughs and joked about how exciting my life is when I complained it's not...I guess they're actually right...all drama, all the time, with me. Oh, and...I finally wore my yellow Christian Louboutins that night! Too bad you can't seem them in the photo =(

It's HEEEEEEERE!!!

As of 9:46 am today, I am in my 30s.

As I actually spent the whole workday without seeing even one patient, I had a lot of time to sit at my desk, write, and THINK. Here's what the minutes before the big moment looked like:

9:42 am: 4 more minutes left of my 20s!
9:44 am: 2 more minutes!!
9:45 am: Getting out my cell phone to call my dad to share the big moment
9:46 am: The one patient I was scheduled to see barges into my office to announce that he can no longer keep his appointment. We talk for 1 minute, and I'm temporarily distracted.

After the big moment:
9:47 am: Called my dad at home. No answer. Called my older sister, S. No answer. Visited some coworkers to give them the big news...I have entered my 30s. "Happy Birthday" was sung by one. Another tells me it's all downhill from here.
10:03 am: Called my very good friend, M. No answer, so I left her a voicemail message. Texted another friend, T.
10:06 am: T. texts back. Then he calls. We talk.
12:00 pm: Go to lunch for chili dogs and fries with 3 coworkers. Thanks for lunch, J!

Sometime after this, as I'm sitting at my desk, a coworker brings his 2 adorable little daughters to visit me. I am mentally reminded that I am still childless, and as I watch the 1-year-old waddle, I am reminded of how much I want one of my own.

Went home, picked up a cool free gift at a store on the way.

Passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Ate delivered Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza (bad, bad!). Still have a whole bag and a half full of chocolate candies left. Please, kids, come to the door! Do not allow me to be tempted! Not after I've done so well with shedding 20 lb in the last year (which was extremely hard for me to do)!

After that, not much else happened.

Oh, yeah. Since today was Halloween, I did wear a costume. OK, not a "real" one, but I threw stuff of my own together, and I did buy a few things, but it's all stuff I'm gonna use after today. I was Little Red Riding Hood. I wore my red Rachel Pally dress, a pair of red Christian Louboutin slingback pumps, a red wool hooded sweater from Target, and brought a picnic basket that I picked up at Big Lots. I didn't think anyone would "get it", but pretty much everyone did. Already making a mental note of what to do next year...

OK, not exactly the most exciting 30th birthday celebration on the planet, but I'm grateful for what did happen, and I look forward to this next decade of my life, which I know will bring me great happiness.

Less Than 11 Hours to Go...

I'm now within my last 11 hours of my 20s...I'll now say goodbye to:

1) caring too much about what people who don't know me think (I"ll care even more deeply what people who do know me think)
2) not knowing if I've chosen the right career
3) foolish spending
4) pursuing relationships with "boys" (meaning men in their 30s who act like boys)
5) not knowing my self-worth
6) not taking care of myself financially, emotionally, spiritually, physically (I've now accepted that my metabolism ain't what she used to be)...
7) acting like an immature brat when things don't go my way
8) irresponsibility

I'm sure I'll think of more later on.

"On the Verge of Turning the Big 3-0..."

So...here it is...almost time to say good-bye to my 20s. It's bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm kind of sad. When Harper's Bazaar does their monthly "Trends at Every Age" (or whatever it's called) section, I no longer have Lindsay Lohan or Mischa Barton to emulate. Starting on the 31st of this month (yes, my birthday's on Halloween!), Harper's Bazaar says I should start thinking of Cameron Diaz and Cate Blanchett as my fashion idols. I can certainly see Cameron as someone I'd like to emulate 'cuz she does California casual so well (which is a very youthful style), but Cate Blanchett?! She's a great actress, but OMG...she seems far beyond 30s to me ! And now that I'm reaching the same decade as she, I'm supposed to start looking like her?! And for those of you who, like me, can't believe she's in her 30s, I just looked on imdb.com (which is considered a pretty reliable source on celebrity facts), and it says her DOB is 5/14/69, so that makes her 39 years old...so, for a few months, both she and I will be "in our 30s" at the same time.

So...what's gonna be the good part about turning 30?! Being wiser, I'd assume. I vowed to give up a large portion of my consumerism. No, I'm not going to stop spending or even buying designer items. I'll definitely do that, but I'm going to really think about what I'm buying. Having to completely clean out my closet a few months ago (due to some plumbing problem, which resulted in the plumbers having to break my closet wall open), I realized just how much crap I have. Stuff I've worn once, and some stuff I've never even worn! So I got rid of a lot of it, and now I just have some classic pieces that I plan to keep for a very long time, maybe well into my 90s or even to pass onto my daughters (if I have any...but I'd be very happy with a son as well...I just wanna be a mom so bad!...but that's another entry for another time). This includes some pretty cocktail dresses, a few pairs of Louboutins and Manolos, as well as a couple of Birkin bags. And in my 30s, I plan to make bigger, better investments...like buy a new car and my own house (I'd be so proud of myself if these actually happened!). But I'll start with investing in a classic piece that is sure to be a wise one...to be revealed on my actual birthday...

"He Who Does Not Know How to Look Back at Where He Came From Will Never Reach His Destination"

Who can guess the name of the person to whom the above quote is credited?

Haven't figured out the answer? If not, then you need to refer back to your Philippine history lessons...(major hint!...but if you still don't figure it out, it's OK...I'll eventually post the answer in the comments section)...

Anyway...I thought this quote was very suited to this entry for 2 reasons: 1) I am a proud Filipina-American and 2) Yesterday, I was involved with something that had to do with a big portion of my past. I spent 9 years of my life attending the same private parochial school, from the time I was in kindergarten until the 8th grade. It was literally down the street from my parents' house, and since my mom was very active with the school and church, I was there pretty much all the time as a kid. Since the school was celebrating its 50th anniversary yesterday with a special Mass, I was asked to give a speech at the beginning of the Mass, and I was asked to include a sentence about how attending that particular school helped me to go on to get my Master's degree and a (relatively) successful career. OK, so to do what I do, all the science behind it came from my graduate program, so, at first, I thought it was a bit of a stretch. However...there is the (major) component of dealing with people. That's something that I needed to learn long before I was even old enough to attend graduate school. Isn't the golden rule to treat others the way you want to be treated, and that even if other people are being jerks, you need to be the bigger person and let it go? That was definitely something I learned long before I earned my Master's, yet it's the most important part of my job...

...As a fun little thing to add, since I like to post pictures with blog entries, here's a little look back at my past (my kindergarten photo). My family says I look pretty much the same, which is quite flattering, since this photo was taken about 25 years ago!

Sigh...When Am I Going to Wear These Shoes?

I can't believe all the work that went into finding these dreamy shoes... made of canary yellow satin, tied in a bow at the front...with the trademark red soles...that 4" heel that almost (!) puts me in the supermodel height category (yeah, I'm short)...

Sometime in late December, I bought a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes from Barneys, and when I took them home, I found a small defect. A few days later, I received a belated Christmas present of a $25 American Express gift card from the mother of a former client. Very thoughtful present, but honestly, hardly any place accepts these. The only places I could think of that did were stores in which the only thing you can buy for $25 is a tube of mascara. So, I thought, why not go for broke (no pun intended) and go back to Barneys with it?

So I went back to Barneys to exchange the defective Blahnik shoes...and while I waited for the salesguy (at Barneys, all the salespeople in the women's shoe salon are male, save for 1 or 2...I wonder why that is?) to return with the non-defective pair, I found a gorgeous Christian Louboutin shoe in fuchsia satin. I asked the salesguy if I could try it on, so he went to the back to get a pair in my size. While he was in the back, I saw the same shoe on the floor in yellow satin. Even more gorgeous...and it had to be mine! I pictured all the dresses in my closet that I would wear with these shoes, and I got excited. The salesguy came back with the fuchsia shoes, and I immediately asked him if he had the shoes in yellow in my size. He said no. I decided to buy the fuchsia shoes, anyway (and yes, I did use the gift card...which, I almost shamefully admit, hardly made a dent in the total cost). I took the fuchsia shoes home, and I regretted my decision immediately. All I wanted was the yellow shoes. I think it wasn't even a week later that I went back to Barneys to return the fuchsia shoes. The salesguy who helped me with my return told me he would tell the guy who sold me the fuchsia shoes to find me a yellow pair from another store. I waited a day or 2 and never heard, so I decided to search for them myself (OK, at this point, I was just a little obsessed).

I looked up the phone numbers for every Barneys store and every other store in the US and Canada that sold Christian Louboutin shoes. So I called about 30 different stores and found that none of the stores, not even the Christian Louboutin boutiques, carried this shoe, other than the Barneys stores. Finally, I hit the jackpot with a very sweet salesgirl (I knew she'd understand!) at the Barneys store in Seattle. She told me that only 3 stores in the country got the shoe I wanted in the color I wanted: New York, Beverly Hills (I immediately told her I knew this store didn't have my size), and Las Vegas. She asked me to wait until the next day until she could contact her colleague at the New York store. The next day, she called with the horrid news that the New York store didn't have the shoes in my size...but cross my fingers, she would be at the Las Vegas store for the grand opening 2 weeks later, and she would snatch a pair for me! It was a grueling 2 weeks, and the day after the grand opening, I called the salesgirl to confirm I got them, and she did! I waited patiently for another week, and they never arrived. I called the Las Vegas store, and I find out that they had an invalid shipping address on file. They tried to call me, but they had the wrong phone number on file and couldn't get a hold of me! I finally gave them the right address.

3 days later (it was a Saturday), I was at home that morning, waiting for the FedEx delivery guy. Around 10:30 am, I heard the familiar roar of the FedEx delivery truck outside from my bedroom, and I ran downstairs and flung open the front door. The delivery guy is just walking up my driveway with my package and laughs, commenting that I must be psychic. I tell him that I've been waiting a long time for that box he's holding. I ripped open the box, and there they were! My gorgeous yellow shoes! I tried them on, and I squealed!

Now, more than 2 months later, they're sitting in my closet, in their trademark brown Christian Louboutin box, under the red cloth Christian Louboutin keeper bag. I haven't worn them, not even once. I just haven't had the chance to wear a dress pretty enough for the shoes within the last 2 months...so I think I need to throw a party!

Something I'll Bet You Didn't Know About Me

I think that when people see me or hear my soft, high-pitched voice, they would think that my answer to the question What's your favorite TV show? would be something like "Gossip Girl" or "Grey's Anatomy". I guess another reason for these answers would be that they are really popular. Now, I really do like "Gossip Girl", but I don't watch "Grey's Anatomy". In actuality, I don't watch much TV. I'd love to watch more, but I'm hardly home and just don't have the time.

So just answer the darn question...what is your favorite TV show? The answer to that right now would be...Nip/Tuck. Yup, that show about really perverted plastic surgeons and full of people who would do and say things people wouldn't do or say in real life. And if you really would expose yourself at a group job interview or tell your plastic surgeon that you want him to totally reconstruct your face so that you look like a real cat...

What is it about this show that I like so much? It's NOT the smutty sex scenes, let's just answer that right now. Yes, I think Julian McMahon has a great body, but I don't need to see his bare a-- in every single episode (let's take a bet on how many times it makes an appearance this season...I'll bet it's at least 50!). I love this show simply because it's about the darkest side of human nature. It's about fantasy, but not as we would normally think of it. "Cinderella" it's not, but don't you find yourself wanting to do something really dark and unthinkable sometimes? Don't you wonder what it'd be like if you just gave in, like Dr. Troy (Julian McMahon) always does? I'm not necessarily talking about what you might think I'm talking about...because there are plenty of things we have either given in to or thought about giving in to.

Here's a link to some information about this show, and I think you can see some clips, too:
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/niptuck_s5/
http://www.tv.com/nip-tuck/show/17095/videos.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;videos