| Daily Doses: |
|
| Currently Reading: |
|
| Good For My Eyes: |
Sydney Opera House |
| To Name A Few: |
|
|
| Blogs About Books: |
|
| Awesome Authors: |
|
| Good For My Ears: |
|
| When I Have Time: |
24 - Fox
Beauty and the Geek - CW
Lost - ABC
Family Guy - Fox
The Simpsons - Fox
I Love Lucy - Fox
|
|
| A worse crime than gas prices |
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 |
So I tried Pinkberry for the first time this month and have already been back about three more times in less than two weeks. Not because I love it, but because I seem to be hanging out with different people who have each suggested going there. If you're wondering what Pinkberry is-think trendy Golden Spoon that serves tart yogurt, in a store with bright colored plastic chairs and modern decor, and shelves of useless asian household items that look like toys. For inexplicable reasons, I am drawn to this place, and it's driving me nuts that I'm contributing to the growing success of this chain, when I can think of several reasons why this place is sorta lame.
Let me start off by saying that I actually like the yogurt. It's a unique taste- sorta tart, but cool and refreshing. Or if you wanna go by the description on their website... it's "soft swirls of chilly bliss with a distinct pouty peak." It's also light for a dessert (half a cup is about 70 calories). You can eat a large and not feel like you've just consumed a double fudge chocolate cheesecake. Plus the toppings are pleasing to the eye- kiwis, strawberries, bananas, etc. They make it look fresh, but who knows, they can be out of a frozen bag. You can also put captain crunch, granola, fruity pebbles, and almonds. And it's simple- three flavors of yogurt to choose from: original, coffee, and green tea. But here's where it starts to score negative points. You'd think coffee flavored yogurt would taste like it sounds right? Not at Pinkberry. It's still tart. Wtf? Tart coffee? I'm sorry, but that just goes against nature.
Try some coffee Pinkberry. I'm telling you, it's fun. It's like at first you reject it because the concept is so freakin nasty. Then you keep tasting it, as if you want to reconfirm your original assessment, that yes it's freakin nasty. By the third lick, you're half laughing half cringing because the taste is so freakin nasty but not as bad anymore.
Anyway, let's talk about the price. How much does a cup of "chilly bliss" served by a smart-mouthed teenager cost you? I'd say $5/$6 easily. Here's why. A small size is (off the top of my head) $2.50, but each topping is $0.95. Jump to a medium and it's $3.50. The best deal would be the $4.95 medium size which includes three toppings. I went there after lunch today with two coworkers, and we spent $16. Isn't that sad? When I was given the total I did my normal Daphne thing and joked to the cashier saying they were criminals. "Yet people like you keep coming back all the time and we keep growing." Umm okay, apparently homie didn't want to reciprocate the humor in that. I can't believe I got owned by a Pinkberry loser.
My staff is already suggesting we repeat today's Pinkberry adventure tomorrow. He's so obsessed that he even looked 'em up to see if they are franchising. In case you're wondering, no they're not. But I've been thinking.... is this just another fad? Like boba? I think boba died around the time that it was no longer just an "asian thing to do." And remember Krispy Kreme? I swear, once that was brought over to Southern California, we just butchered it. Leave it to Southern Californians to make foods like smoothies (Jamba Juice), donuts (Krispy Kreme), and yogurt trendy. Oh and FYI, Pinkberry is currently only in California and New York. Again, two trendy locations, where you not only have to be trendy in what clothes you wear, car you drive, or music you listen to, but also food. Because God forbid you're caught walking around the shopping district drinking a Juice it Up instead of Jamba Juice.Labels: coffee talk, Penny for your thoughts?, pWn3d |
posted by Daphne @ 10:53 PM   |
|
|
|
| Fake excitement |
| Wednesday, February 20, 2008 |
My brother's gf Janice told me some big news yesterday. She and my brother Doug have decided to get married in August 2009.
Notice I didn't put an exclamation point there.
Janice then asked me for two favors 1) that I not say anything to my parents until she and Doug tell them in August (so that by then they can say they've officially known each other for two years); 2) I be one of her bridesmaids.
Now of course this was all told to me via online chat, since those two never call me just to chitty chit chat. So when I said "Congratulations!" what I really felt was... no way, are you kidding me?! And that bothers me. What is wrong with me? This is supposed to be exciting news, and I know I should be happy for him if this is what makes Doug happy. But honestly, my first thought was How can you afford a wedding when you can't even pay me back the rest of the $472 you owe me for that dang TV?
If you ask me, I think they need to be a little more stable first before they can commit to something like this.
Or does it not matter since they already live together anyway? It wouldn't really change things much except that they'll be husband and wife, and she'll be my sister-in-law. So here I am scratching my head and trying to sort out the conflicting emotions I'm having. I guess I can't pinpoint the 'disappointment' or whatever you want to call it to one single thing.
I initially blame it on their financial status, saying they can't afford it. But like I said, it's no different than them living together now. So does that mean I don't like Janice? Possibly. I've said it before, I like her as a person, but I sometimes don't like them together. Or maybe it's because she'll be taking away the last link my brother and I have. Alright, I'm not saying I'm a psycho sister that needs to be numero uno in her brother's life; really I'm not. But I will admit that ever since they've been together I've felt he's placed all priorities on her. Would I feel this way even if I wasn't the single one now and I was still in a relationship? Honestly? Yes.
And then here's the last part I wanted to share, and please correct me if I'm totally being a snob.... but I asked her how he proposed and this is what she said: Basically he didn't really propose they just talked about it and she said don't bother with a proposal since he had already once proposed to her when he was drunk. Okay, I'm sorry but to me, that's just wrong. Call me old fashioned, cliched, whatever. I want my future husband to propose to me.... and that's after he's spoken to both his parents and mine for their blessings.
So there you have it. I guess I need to pencil in August 2009 on my calendar now. She's already starting to ask me questions on how to go about planning the wedding. As if I have time. Great, just great. And since I'm a freakin pushover, you know I'm going to help.Labels: Doug, Family, Penny for your thoughts? |
| posted by Daphne @ 9:04 AM |
|
|
|
| Read Along? |
| Thursday, November 08, 2007 |
There's a fairly new shopping plaza near my office that I absolutely love because there's a new Borders inside. I stopped by after work today, with my 20% off coupon in hand. As I entered the sliding doors, I noticed the clearance section out front had some hardback Beverly Cleary books on sale. (::Side note:: I was pleasantly surprised, considering most of the clearance books on display are lame, like How to Make A Friendship Bracelet book that comes with real string. ::End side note::) Now, if you don't know who Beverly Cleary is, she's the author of the famous Ramona series for children.
The book shown here is one of my absolute favorites. Better yet, the book on sale for $7.99 was a hardback Special Edition. I couldn't find a picture of the Special Edition version I saw on the clearance rack, but it basically had the words "Read-Along Edition" on the cover.
Read-along edition? What the crap does that mean? Can someone please tell me what the difference between a RAEdition and the original version of the book is? Isn't that what we're doing with any book... reading along? I know the Ramona books are read out loud by teachers in many classrooms. So is this what RAE is implying? I still don't get it. I opened the book to see some cute illustrations and HUGE print. It was almost blinding. Guess that's what happens when you're so used to reading tiny font on a laptop the size of a sheet of paper.
I guess the RAE means that the font is larger so that children can see the words better and read along side you? Well then, why didn't they just call it Large Print Edition? That makes more sense to me. Am I the only one who has never seen the phrase RAE or thinks it's weird? I don't even know why it boggled my mind so much that I had to go home and blog about it.Labels: Books, Penny for your thoughts? |
| posted by Daphne @ 11:12 PM |
|
|
|
| O Brother, Where Art Thou? |
| Wednesday, September 19, 2007 |
So Doug's (my brother) birthday is coming up in October. I was originally going to get us Rascal Flatts concert tickets since we had a blast going last year, but unfortunately I was in Atlanta last week when they had their concert. I got an evite the other day from a coworker of mine, inviting a bunch of work people to the USC vs Stanford football game on October 6th. It would cost roughly $60 a person, including ticket, donation for the tailgate food, and parking.
I figured this would make a great birthday present for Doug, since he's always wanted to go to a USC game. His college unfortunately didn't have a football team, so he's never experienced the joys of college football-get-wasted-at-the-tailgate-before-the-game fun. Neither of us have been to a pro football game either, since LA doesn't have a pro team. So I left Doug a message telling him to keep Oct. 6th clear on his calendar because I was taking him to the game for his birthday.
Well, he just messaged me:
Doug: "Hey so are you just buying those tickets just for us?"
Me: "Well, I'm getting them through a coworker who is organizing a big tailgate and has a block of about 50 tickets."
Doug: "Oh. Well I was wondering if I can bring my girlfriend."
Yah, okay. Honestly, I'm upset. I mean, ever since Doug moved out 2 months ago with his gf, I haven't had any brother sister time with him. He hasn't even invited me over to see his new place! That is so wrong. I really just wanted this to be me and him. I know for a FACT that his gf doesn't like football, and she could probably care less about USC. I'm starting to wonder if he would've invited her to the Rascal Flatts concert too, even though I know she has no idea who they are.
So me of course, being the chicken that I am, said "Well, I don't mind if she goes, but I'm sorta buying these tickets as your birthday present, so would you mind paying for her then?" He said fine.
Okay, so much for that. I was hoping he'd say Oh nevermind then. Wishful thinking on my part. Seriously though, is it too much to ask that I get to hang out with my brother once in awhile? Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her, but I do dislike them together sometimes. For one thing they're too PDA, and I just don't like that she's become the center of his universe. Not cool man, not cool.
Do you think I'm just being selfish? I probably am. I mean, it's HIS birthday not mine, and if he wants her there, then I should understand right? Yah, I guess it's one thing to say it but another to really mean it. Which I don't. LOL
Labels: Doug, Family, Penny for your thoughts?, rants |
| posted by Daphne @ 3:16 PM |
|
|
|
| Read much? |
| Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
The gals at Book Binge asked a great question: Do you have friends/family who read as much as you do? Or are you the only person you know who has a serious reading habit?
Funny they should ask, because I was just thinking about this at work today. I've been nagging one of my coworkers to read SM's Twilight for some time now. She said she will, but it's going to be awhile before she finishes, since the book is so thick. Then my boss said something like "Well how long did it take you to finish Daph?" I said, "Me? I dunno, two days? But that's only because I was so into it and couldn't put it down. I don't normally read that fast when I'm busy with work, I think I only read about 50 books this year."
After that comment, the rest of my coworkers stared at me as if I just said I won a hot dog eating contest. They all chimed "No you didn't, that's impossible." Ummm, NO, it's not. The consensus around the room was that most of the staff read an average of 1 book a year, and the higher executives read maybe 4? Pretty sad if you ask me.
Now don't get me wrong, I'd be lying if I said I was always a book lover. It came in phases. As a child, I loved reading Ramona Quimby, Roald Dahl books, Babysitters Club, and Nancy Drew, to name a few. Then in junior high/high school I stopped reading for fun, probably because I was too swamped with other homework and frustrated with required reading that I just didn't have an interest to read for pleasure. This pretty much lasted throughout college, and finally I discovered romance books about two years ago. That's a different story, for another blog post (I'm now wondering why I never blogged about it).
So I guess other than my "book friends," (you know who you are) I really don't have friends who read as much as I do. Most girls my age read a ton of magazines. One of my clients had an accounting manager that subscribed to every girly and celebrity gossip magazine out there. People, Cosmo, USWeekly, etc. That's not really my cup of tea. The only times I read those are when I'm at the dentist office or someone else's house and there's nothing else to read on their coffee table. My parents read quite often, but mostly religious stuff. My brother reads more than the average person. Before he got together with his recent girlfriend, he used to do the weekly Borders trips with me. Ah, I miss those days.Labels: Book Binge, Books, Friends, Penny for your thoughts? |
| posted by Daphne @ 10:13 PM |
|
|
|
| I'm a hypocrite today... |
| Wednesday, June 06, 2007 |
I am being a major hypocrite today. Here's why...
A week or two ago, I randomly received a message from my boss, asking if I wanted to go to the baseball game that night. Being that it was already 4pm, I figured someone bailed at the last minute, and he was trying to find a replacement. I had reservations about going, only because I was actually going to a baseball game the following evening. Two days in a row seems like I'm taking too much time off work. So the first thing I replied was "Well, who else is going?" My boss replied, "Ohhhh you're one of THOSE people. Isn't it good enough that I am going and I invited you?" I know he was joking around, but today I realize why he made that comment...
I'm throwing a BBQ for my birthday next weekend. I sent out an evite on Monday (4 days ago) and so far I have several responses, about a 2 to 1 ratio of yes vs. no. I didn't realize when you send out an evite you can actually see when the invitees open it. So here I am browsing through the list of "hasn't responded" and sure enough... almost everyone opened the invitation already. So here I am thinking "Well if they opened it, why haven't they responded yet?" Most of the invitees are my coworkers, some sitting next to me at this very moment. I turn to the girl next to me just now saying "Hey did you get my evite? Even if you can't go or don't know, can you please respond soon?" She said "I dunno yet. I wanna see who is going first."
Ah hah! There it is, the infamous phrase/question. I admit, I felt a tad annoyed by that. I shouldn't be, which is why I feel like such a hypocrite. I did give everyone until next Thursday to reply, so what's my problem? I dunno. I just think it's interesting that people do this. I do it, you probably do too. Why? Who knows. Maybe we're afraid to show up to social gatherings and not know anyone else? Maybe we just all procrastinate and don't want to give a final answer until the last minute? Or maybe no one really wants to come to my BBQ, hah!Labels: Penny for your thoughts? |
| posted by Daphne @ 4:01 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
