homeward bound

After playing hostess for several days, I'm ready to head on home for homecooked food, boiled soup, quality time with family, bonding time with my dog and a long overdue extended family vacation!! YAY!! YVR for the summer!! :D

i hate moving

but i do like my new apartment. its small, but its good for one. it'll be interesting how it fairs for 2 this summer. and it'll be something to navigate around 3 bodies in about a week's time. for now, its decorating and organizing time!!! pics to come soon - i promise.

side note edit:
for the first time in a very long time, i've dyed my hair back to its natural colour - black.
home kit hair dye on sale = $6
saving money whilst a student = priceless

getting dolled up

Spring Gala 2008, Rosecliff Mansion, Newport, RI

its been topped.

i said it several posts before that i love weekends? well, i had no idea what i was in for. last weekend, J took me to Newport, Rhode Island for his school's annual Spring Gala event. It was held at the Rosecliff Mansion - a historically preserved mansion, one of many in Newport.

Newport is little New England seaside town, about 45mins from Providence and 1.5hours from Boston. Its a resort area, filled with summer homes and little restaurants & bars. I knew nothing about it, until I did my research. We booked our stay at Hotel Viking - another historic site in Newport. We got an awesome deal but our room had a great view, the hotel parking lot. Hahaha, that's what you get for priceline.com I guess.

We arrived on Friday night and ate our hearts out after a long bus ride. We found a cute little joint that had yummy specials in front - we ordered ourselves a feast: a pound of fresh shrimp cocktail, J had a fresh cold lobster, I had fish & chips and we also got stuffed calms as well and a round of beers. Man, did we overorder. But we rolled out satisfied and went to bed happy.

The next morning, I was in for a big surprise. I was unaware of any of J's plans. I got woken up before 9am - groggily i asked where we'd be going and if it involved animals, he chirped "Yes" and I skipped out of bed to get ready.

When we got into the taxi, at the mention of "Newport State Airport" I was wondering why there'd be animals there. Puzzled, I waited as J gleefully smiled. We arriv at the airport and step into the office and I suppose the look on my face was classic. I discovered, we were going sky diving.

Horrified, excited, happy, scared, anxious - I felt all these emotions at one time. J was having the time of his life with this surprise. As i anxiously waited my turn to suit up and listened to the instructor's instructions, my hands were sweating, butterflies were in my stomach and J stood next to me as we saw his peers descend from the sky in a rainbow parachute and ecstatic smiles on their faces.

We suited up and got into the smallest plane I've ever been into. It sat one - the pilot and 2 of us with 2 of our tandem instructors crammed into the back on the floor. Every safety precaution had been taken, suits were checked, goggles were cleaned, chutes were checked and we took off, up to 10,000 feet to prepare for our jump.

I can only say, it was the most amazing experience I've had and the best surprise I've had ever. It was both scary and awesome at the same time. And yes, of course I was nervous but it was very much worth it. After the fear and tension surpasses, you're met with such a wonderful, awe-inspiring feeling.


I for one, never thought I'd be able to jump out of a perfectly good plane. But I did. And I would never have done it, if not for J and his very cool surprise. He's jumped several times before and I'm only glad, we got to do it together.


That afternoon, we strolled the streets of Newport and the dock and went home for a nap before dolling up for the Spring Gala.

spotted:

leonardo dicaprio cycling with family or friends in battery park. apparently he lives there, in some new "green" condo.

i didn't note this earlier, but several months ago, i spotted woody harrelson in union square/gramercy area.

i love my weekends

Battery park and other NY moments:
its not very often you get to be a tourist in your own city. you're usually busy with school, work, life...i've never been to NY prior to moving here so i've never seen the sights of manhattan. J suggested we check out the Statue of Liberty but we were too late for the last ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island, so we hung around Battery Park and walked to Wall Street. when Summer's here: there'll be more tourists-in-your-own-city moments for sure.

i've found it!!!

after looking at several apartments that were too small, no laundry, no elevator, dirty, too far, too expensive...i met a realtor on the weekend and found my new home. i signed the lease and put down my deposit and my search has finally ended. its a restored historic building, built in 1907. its been completely gutted and renovated with new floors, appliances, finishings and complete with elevator and laundry room. its a secure building with a live-in super and the best part of it all, i didn't have to pay a broker fee and the landlord didn't require a gurantor despite me being out of state. i understand now, when people say, you just know when you've found the apartment. because its true, once you walk in, you know...it just hits you and all the stars are aligned and every bone in your body tells you "yes, this is the one". it sounds very much like falling in love, doesn't it? and so, guess what? its IKEA shopping time!!! along with mattress shopping time and cable & internet installing time, and packing & moving time... :P