Mammoth Pictures

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Mammoth was amazing-- it was my first time up there and the town looks like a postcard-- the views are amazing! I also went ice skating in an outdoor rink...so much fun!

Below are some pictures from the trip.

Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone! I'm back from Mammoth and will post pictures next week. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...may 2010 bring us all great things, and may we remember the true reason for the season!

I leave you with a cute picture one of my friends sent me; it's her dog dressed as a reindeer...too cute, though the dog doesn't seem to think so from her expression, ha.

Snow bunny I be

THE GOOD

• I am DONE with my first quarter of grad school and finals! What a relief...I have looked forward to this day since I started. Only 6 more quarters to go!
• I will be away this weekend at Mammoth...I've never gone and I'm quite excited. I bought plenty of snow gear today. Can I just say, snow gear is ridiculously expensive! Thank goodness for Christmas sales.

THE BAD

• I have yet to do any Christmas shopping, apart from one gift which I purchased online (thank you Amazon).
• I have yet to write and mail out any Christmas cards.
• I have yet to make my yearly Christmas fudge to give to friends and family.

THE UGLY

• I can't remember the last time I saw a gym or worked out. Can you say hello automatic 5 lb Christmas/grad-school/stress/no sleep weight gain? So not fun! Thank goodness I will be hitting the gym ala Rocky Balboa in January.
• It's 20 degrees right now in Mammoth...this California girl is going to freeeeeeeeeeeeeze. I foresee lots of hot coco over the course of the weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Is there no originality left?

Has anyone else noticed the sudden sprout of anything and everything vampire-related? It's quite annoying. This, I'm sure, stems from the popularity of the Twilight book series and movies.

Granted, there's nothing wrong with a book series, but now everywhere I look, there's something vampire-related: Vampire Diaries, HBO's True Blood, some Cirque de Soleil vampire movie, various books, and who knows what else will pop up next.

My point is, there's a limit for everything...and the vampire obsession is getting a bit old. It's time to move on, Hollywood.

The most wonderful time of year

I love this time of year for so many reasons! Today I got to experience two of them:

Lovely snow-covered mountains on the way to work this morning:


Yummy gingerbread cookies from Panera Bread:
This little dude is so cute that I almost didn't want to eat him, but the m&m buttons were taunting me and my sweet tooth got the best of me. Even sweeter: a portion of the proceeds from purchasing a gingerbread man goes towards charity.



On another note, I have yet to do any Christmas shopping or buy appropriate winter wear for my upcoming snow trip. Online Christmas shopping is starting to look really tempting since my life has been consumed with finals. I officially finish my first quarter of grad school on Monday night! :)

Darling December

Oh my goodness, how is it DECEMBER already? That means 22 days left until Christmas. The year has flown! Other random thoughts:

*I finish my 1st quarter of grad school in 13 days! Whoo hoo! My sanity has survived.

*The Josh Groban Christmas CD 'Noel' is amazing. Go buy it pronto!

*Christmas-time means limited coffee drinks at certain places-- my favorite during this time of year is Coffee Bean's peppermint mocha ice blended.

*I just finished reading Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open. I highly recommend it for tennis fans and non-tennis fans alike. It's one of the best autobiographies I've read in a long time, and reinforced how public perception of a sports' star is rarely ever accurate.

*I'm going to Mammoth in a couple of weeks-- anyone have any suggestions of where I can find cute snow boots? They must be waterproof and lined. All the ones I've seen are "snow boots" only in the fashion sense.

*I have 21 days of work left until a week-and-a-half long Christmas break, where I plan to do nothing but exercise, sleep, and sleep some more.

And last but not least:

*Tiger Woods, sadly, is now just another Kobe and Jeter. How is it that fidelity and honor no longer have a place in the world for athletes?

'Dancing' Disappointment

Is anyone else disappointed that Donny Osmond won tonight's 'Dancing with the Stars' finale over singer Mya? Don't get me wrong-- Donny was a great performer, but Mya looked like she was born to dance.

Many times when I'd watch her, I couldn't even tell who the pro was and who the amateur was.

Till next season, I suppose.

American Music Awards

Every year, there is one award show that has the weirdest fashion. I believe the AMAs easily win that "honor" this year, where Bobby Trendy should have won for the category of "I don't have a mirror at home, but even if I did, it wouldn't make a difference."

And for those wondering (because I was as well), yes, Bobby Trendy is a man.

Something Lost, Nothing Gained

For some reason, I seem to lose earrings at work. The annoying thing is that instead of losing both, I lose 1 and am left with the other, not knowing what to do with it. I suppose my long hair is to blame; my earrings get tangled in it and when I brush it back, my earrings must go with it too.

Today I was wearing hoop earrings to work, and I didn't even notice that one fell out. The result: I walked around all day like a fool and no one even told me! This makes me question what would happen if I ever walked around with toilet paper on my shoe.

Upon realizing that my earring was missing (in front of a coworker), he remarked that he thought I was making a fashion statement with one earring.

Um, no one really WANTS to make such a statement, especially when I looked like Jessica Alba below:



And then I realized so many celebs actually wear one earring on purpose. This trend needs to die.

It's never too early...

...for Christmas music in November! I popped in Josh Groban's 'Noel' CD today while driving to work and happily sang screeched along to the music. I love Christmas music-- it reminds me of baking Christmas cookies as a child and having family fly in for Christmas Eve. And Christmas music is even BETTER when Josh Groban is singing...he is quite amazing. I think he could probably sing about a trash can and it would still sound amazing.

What are your favorite Christmas CDs? Any recommendations I should sample?

In other news, thank you to the lovely Shannon at Team Edwards for my blog award:



Here are the official rules:

-Accept the award and post it on your blog. Make sure to link back to the person who awarded you.

-Pass on the award to 15 other blogs you find worthy and make sure to let them know they have been awarded.

Since I have a biostats midterm due tomorrow and don't have time to pass this award onto 15 lovely blogs, I will award it to 5 instead (go and check out these lovely blogs):

Simone Loves Books (who also happens to be my good friend)

French Kiss

Silent Echo

These Little Moments

Can I Just Say

The results are in!

For those wondering, the results are in for this little beauty product that I bought a few weeks ago and tried: Origins GinZing Eye Cream.



The good: The cream leaves a nice, tingly feeling under the eyes and wakes you up a bit. I did notice that it reduces puffiness too, but not in a dramatic way. I think nothing beats a good night of sleep.

The bad: I thought the cream left my entire eye area way too dry overall. I didn't feel like the cream hydrated the under-eye area at all, so I had to use my regular eye cream on top of this one to do the trick.

Verdict: Buy this product if you're looking for a good de-puffer in the morning. While it won't give you that 10-hours-of-sleep look, it does perk up eyes. If you're looking for an eye cream that moisturizers and hydrates, skip this product.

What's your definition of duet?

Happy Sunday! I am back from San Diego and had a lovely time celebrating with my girlfriends...we danced up a storm! :)

A friend sent me this video below (since my name is Jasmin). Make sure you watch it in its entirety...this guy takes "talented" to a whole new level!

San Diego Bound

I am SAN DIEGO bound this weekend for a girl friend's wedding!



I'm super excited--a bunch of my friends from high school will be there, which guarantees a good time. Luckily I am feeling better...thank goodness for antibiotics.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Icky

I'm home sick for the week. :( Luckily, it's not H1N1...it's just a throat infection. Please pray I get better...I have a wedding to go to this Saturday!

In other news, Starbucks has their holiday cups already! Is it just me or do the holiday festivities start earlier every year? It's not even Thanksgiving yet!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all of you across the blogsphere! Wishing you a safe and fun evening. I will be heading to a party tonight for some good food, great music, and awesome friends. Maybe I'll even win an award for Most Uncreative Costume.

I leave you with a picture I find appropriate.

I blame school for my lack of creativity

I bought my Halloween costume today...or I should say, it choose for me, being that there were no other decent costumes left. Since when did everything involving Halloween become all about how LITTLE material you can wear? It's annoying! I ended up buying cat ears and a tail...yes, a totally uncreative and boring costume, but at least I'll be warm, comfy, and covered up. Besides, I have grad school all weekend and don't have much time to hunt for a more creative costume. What are y'all going as?

I also thought I'd share a little on the true origins of Halloween below, courtesy of this website. Enjoy!

Halloween is far from being a pagan religious event and is actually a Christian celebration that's almost 1,300 years old.

"Halloween" is a name that means nothing by itself. It is a contraction of "All Hallows Eve," and it designates the vigil of All Hallows Day, more commonly known as All Saints Day. ("Hallow" as a noun is an old English word for saint). Saints Day, November 1, is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church, and both the feast and the vigil have been celebrated since the early eighth century, when they were instituted by Pope Gregory III in Rome.

Despite rumors about the "pagan origins" of Halloween, there really are none. The first attempts to show some connection between the vigil of All Saints and the Celtic harvest festival of Samhain came over a thousand years after All Saints Day became a universal feast, and there's no evidence whatsoever that Gregory III was even aware of Samhain.

In Celtic peasant culture, however, elements of the harvest festival survived, even among Christians, just as the Christmas tree owes its origins to pre-Christian Germanic traditions without being a pagan ritual.

The Celtic elements included lighting bonfires, carving turnips (and, in America, pumpkins), and going from house to house, collecting treats, as carolers do at Christmas. But the "occult" aspects of Halloween--ghosts and demons--actually have their roots in Catholic belief. Christians believed that, at certain times of the year (Christmas is another), the veil separating earth from Purgatory, heaven, and even hell becomes more thin, and the souls in Purgatory (ghosts) and demons can be more readily seen. Thus the tradition of Halloween costumes owes as much, if not more, to Christian belief as to Celtic tradition.

What's wrong with this picture?

I have to read about 25 health-related journal articles and complete my biostats problem sets in about 24 hours (between working, mind you), and instead I'm blogging. It's funny how grad school changes your previous tendencies. If I was an undergrad student right now, I'd be panicking and trying to get it all done, while stressing over the fact that I'm panicking and trying to get it all done so late. Instead, I'm avoiding doing all work since at this point there's no way I'm completing it all.

I hope this doesn't mean I'm burnt out already...it's only been a month, and I have another year-and-a-half to go. :\

On another note, I need some quick (and easy) Halloween costume ideas...preferably something I can slip on and off pretty easily. Last year I went as a cat, which was pretty easy to pull off...any suggestions? I don't have time to make a costume either, so something store bought is best.

LBD Love

So remember that brilliant idea I had a few days ago? So NOT happening this week...I am working extra hours instead since I am out for grad school later this week so every second I could be spending at the gym is instead spent at work. Next week, perhaps?

The good news is that I tried on the dress I'm wearing to the wedding I have next month in San Diego and...it fits! Hip hip hooray, it fits fine after all. I guess work and school stress do have some positive effects after all, huh?

There is nothing worse than wearing a dress to an event that is so tight that you can't eat anything bigger than a carrot stick the entire evening. Luckily, the one I'm wearing is comfy AND has breathing room. Below is the dress (Donna Ricco) that I'm wearing. I found it a few months ago at Nordstrom and it was the LAST one on the rack and fit perfectly! I guess that means it was meant to be. :)

Velvety goodness

Is it just me, or are cupcakes the new "in" thing? Here in L.A. there is Sprinkles, while in N.Y.C. Crumbs is the hip cupcakery. And both are equally good, I might add.

Yesterday at work, in honor of all the October birthdays, we had Halloween decorated cupcakes, so I was happily hyper the rest of the afternoon from the sugar rush. My favorite cupcake flavor is red velvet with creme cheese frosting, which is just what I had! I think my wedding cake (when the time comes) will be red velvet. :D

Eye scream for eye cream

I NEVER buy a new product before trying a wee little sample of it beforehand, but this weekend I caved and bought Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream, which promises to be "like a shot of espresso for tired eyes" by creating a brighter appearance instantly and reducing puffiness around and underneath the eye area.



I admit, the "shot of espresso" advertising tag-line caught my attention, but the fact that I also have dark circles added to my curiosity. Even though my dark circles are genetic, I am all for something that will depuff my eye area in the morning and make me look more alert, especially on days where I wake up at 5 am.

Per Origins, 86% saw a brighter appearance instantly, and 80% reported a reduction in puffiness. However, being that I am a biostats nerd this semester, I've learned that such statistics as reported in magazines are rarely accurate due to many reasons.

So, I will use this product starting tomorrow for 10 days and report back my results. Let the depuffing and the brightening begin! Dark circles, beware...you are quite possibly about to meet your match.

Luck be a Lady tonight!

I saw the musical "Guys and Dolls" over the weekend, and it was amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing! I went into the show not knowing anything about it and was pleasantly surprised-- awesome music and really funny characters throughout. My favorite character was Adelaide...she is a woman with quite a lot of sass and spunk. I think I loved the play even more because the last time I saw one, it was dull, drab, and boring.

PLUS, our seats were in the very front row (a first for me), so I was able to sneak-a-peek over the banister to look at the orchestra playing in the pit below. They probably thought I was a weirdo for sticking my head in there a few times too many.

Have a great week everyone!

Random Wednesday Happenings

As I was leaving work super late this evening, I saw THREE deer cross the parking lot. It was such a surprise! And then about a minute later, one little lone baby deer trotted by, frantically looking for the rest of the crew. It was so cute! I wish I had snapped a picture with my camera phone but it happened too quickly.

I then went and played doubles tennis for about two hours with ALL MEN...and I survived! I'm happy to report I did ok amidst all the guys and even held my own...and the best part--I didn't get pegged with any 100 mph male-infused testosterone serves. Sometimes the more crucial part of a game is escaping without any ball welts, and not winning the actual match. ;)

Fat cells, beware!

Today I had a truly crazy idea (or so those who know me would say so): to wake up at 6 am weekdays to hit the gym for an hour, and then shower and head to work from there. Why? Because I'm working such long days that by the time I get home, finding an excuse to NOT workout is just too easy, and then I spend the rest of the night on my bum studying away. I think this will be a good thing, especially since I have wedding coming up in November..

I'm going to attempt this gym experiment next week...I'll post how it goes. I have a feeling it might not go so well...I am NOT a morning person in any sense. If I ruled the world, the work day would begin at noon at the earliest. My idea of torture (third only to eating sushi and being in the presence of creepy crawly things) is waking up early. It's like oil and water: waking up early and Jasmin don't mix well. And if there's no alarm clock to wake me up, stuff like this happens.

At least I'll have a valid excuse to consume more coffee. ;)

Anything with truffles is good

I'm at Starbucks right now studying and I must tell you all...you MUST try Starbucks' Espresso Truffle drink. It's SO GOOD. I think it's going to become my new study companion.



Happy Sunday!

For love of gym

I am so excited to spend my Saturday night going to the gym...is that weird? I haven't had a consistent workout schedule since grad school began so I'm super excited. Plus on weekends, the weights' area is not crazy crowded.

Happy weekend everyone!

ICKY

Dear Pesky Little Pincher Bug Who Crawled Across My Dashboard While Driving:

I do NOT appreciate how you crawl across my dashboard while I'm driving home from the gym. Not only does your disgusting sight make me scream like a little girl, but trying to keep you far away from me while trying to drive at the same time is extremely dangerous. If I catch you crawling across my windshield again, I will be forced to pull over, gulp down a tablespoon of bravery, and squash you like the dead bug you should be.

Sincerely,

Jasmin, aka frazzled driver

P.S. You are ugly.