since i've been back...

just a few tidbits from the past month...

- trying to finish up and graduate. right now, i think i'm on track to finish this summer, but it just depends on scheduling my final defense...one of the profs on my committee travels a lot in the summer, so depending on him, i could finish as early as the end of june or as late as september. we'll see...

- also trying to send out some resumes and figure out my next step...some of the opportunities i'm looking at seem really interesting, so i'm kinda excited about what lies ahead. this is tempered, however, with some insecurities about whether or not i'm qualified for some of these positions. i don't have 5-10 years of international/management/etc. experience...but i'm a fast learner! does that count?

- planning on going to bali this summer with mosaic. it still seems far off, but we met as a team for the first time this past sunday, so it's starting to hit me. and when i'm excited to travel somewhere, i start packing early...so the trip's in august, and i'm having to stop myself from getting my suitcase out already. yeah...i'll try to hold out until june, at least. ;p

- my cuz is staying with me a few nights out of the week to cut down her commute to west la. we roomed together our freshman year in the dorms, so it's like we're roommates again...it's been really fun having our late night talks and watching poker tournaments on tv.

- went to my first lakers game courtesy of s and a (for a's birthday a few weeks ago)...9th row seats in the staples center! very cool..saw the back of jack's head, saw too much of the laker girls (ummm, 6 costume changes?), and saw some great athleticism. my only regret? not getting a hot dog wrapped in bacon from those sidewalk vendors on the way out.

- when i went to europe, s suggested that i go to la duree for macaroons, and i was lucky to stumble upon one of their locations while in paris. of course i had to bring some back...they survived the plane ride and were awesome...soo yummy! since then, we've been on a mission to find good macaroons here in la, and we think we've found 'em. there are two places, but the better one, boule, is within walking distance from my place! ...mmm, soo good.

- we decided this year to go to fancy restaurants for our birthdays, so...we've been eating really well and our wallets are a little lighter. it's been really, really fun though...good food, good wine, good conversation.

at la boheme this past weekend: