what a snow storm gave me

it's been a whirlwind of airports and subways and taxis lately. i'm strangely mentally at ease, though physically worn. but lots of good things have happened in the last few weeks.

1. had a fun lil girls' v-day party at our place this year. made lasagna, a coffee table of cute men and cried our hearts out while watching the notebook. i love being a woman.

2. mentioned it before, but felt a big accomplishment making a traditional chinese new year meal with my cousins this year. keepin it real and celebrating family. that's what it's about.

3. flew to cape town for about 10 days to visit my bf. can we say AWESOME? it'd been two months since we'd seen each other - i'm really proud that we're pulling through this with fairly minimal scratches along the way. my visit included seeing Nelson Mandela's prison cell, a euro/techno club, penguins, baboons, rhinos, the beach, a class lecture on the notion of race during post-apartheid and wineries. btw, did i mention that he lives in a beach house in sunny, 80 degree weather in a beautiful, developed town with water, land and sun all around him? yeah. one word: jealous.

4. a few days after i got back, flew to LA for a surprise retirement party for my dad that my sis and i threw for him. i think he was sincerely happy and surprised. there was much crab, mango cake, balloons and old friends and family to be had. he said "i'm proud of you guys" as though us throwing a party for him was any comparison to the sacrifices he made for us during his career for the last 35 years. that's parental love, dude.

5. after a day at home, i flew to boston for our bi-monthly leadership series where the residents from my program across the country come together. i love these sessions because they rejuvenate me in every way - personally, professionally. our last day, we usually focus on more "fuzzy" topics since people are worn out from the long days before. this time, it was on the myers briggs personalities - less about ourselves and more about what type our coworkers might be or our partners in life and how we can think about how to work better with them as a result of the analysis. i'm an enfj. what are you?

6. now, i'm stuck in boston a little longer than planned due to a snow storm, but ya know, i'm starting not to mind so much. it gives me some good down time - away from home and all the things i need to do there so i can just read, listen to music, write a blog entry, look at friends' photos. you know, forget about that $250 moving violation ticket. the work emails since i've been gone. now where is that cup of hot chocolate i just made?

Busy Busy

it's been a while since I last posted. i don't know what happens and how time passes so quickly except that i seem to just get caught up in...life. it makes me sad. there are a list of people that i would love to have dinner with and friends i need to call and family i want to visit. things i want to do, restaurants i want to try and rooms i need to clean.

can't wait til life stabilizes a bit. but then again, i feel like i've been waiting for that for a long time coming. ah well, talk to me again in april. maybe things will be less crazy and i will be more zen. i am literally traveling every weekend from now til mid april and i haven't gotten more than 6 hours of sleep in a really long time (and you might ask why i'm writing blog submissions at 2 in the morning - please keep reading).

my boyfriend said if i truly wanted to be less busy, i would not have gone to business school, taken the type of job that requires real responsibilities, made more friends or chosen to join boards, volunteer, etc. and that if that was truly in my nature, i wouldn't be the person i am. perhaps he's right. but i'm still struggling to find the right balance. this is not sustainable. seriously.

on another note, had an awesome chinese new year weekend. my cousins and i cooked a little traditional feast for my aunts and uncles - first time ever.

i'm also leaving in two days to visit my boyfriend in south africa, for about 9 days. he's studying abroad there for three months. i'm so excited to see him after two months, excited that i'm taking such a long time off work after such a busy season (tho that in and of itself makes me stressed), and that i'm going to get to explore cape town!

finally, i have long procrastinated on the leave the name thing, so here are my answers folks. :)