I live on one end of the 94 (downtown), and my parents live at the other end (Spring Valley). The 94 is littered with casino and dispensary billboards, with the exception of the occasional personal injury lawyer billboard sprinkled in. Only during Lent does Mcdonald’s advertise their Filet-O-Fish sandwich, right next to the Boll Weevil (!) sign that’s still up in Lemon Grove, even though it closed years ago during Covid.
We first saw Muse nearly 20 years ago at Street Scene in 2007. They were AMAZING, and it’s such a core memory for us when they dropped the huge eyeball balloons during their set, and something we looked forward to at every show we went to on that tour. We saw them several times after that, and they never disappoint.
In the 13 years I lived in LA, I never once went to KROQ’S Almost Acoustic Christmas, but we went in 2007 bc we were still amp’d from seeing Muse at Street Scene that year.
I last saw Muse at The Kia Forum in LA with Nori and her sister, who’s also a huge fan.
So stoked to see them in SD again with Pammie! Any excuse to relive my youth 😜
Also, I still call the venue by its original name ‘Coors Amphitheatre’ even though the sponsor has changed several times over the years – Cricket Wireless, Sleep Train, Mattress Firm, and now North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. When I saw Muse was having a show at NICU, I was like, ‘Dafuq is NICU?!’
Does anyone else have a stage 5 clinger who cries when you’re taking a shower and tries to lick all the water droplets off your body when you get out? 😅
I’ve been at Uniqlo Field Dodger Stadium when Shohei Ohtani’s walk-up song plays – Michael Bublé’s Feeling Good LOL – and it just doesn’t hit as hard as Mason Miller’s!
I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and all my numbers were down – blood glucose, sodium, cholesterol, potassium… Except my kidney function went down, too. My PCP says it’s most likely due to dehydration, and I’m not drinking enough water. She says it’s possible that when I had my stroke, it turned off the part of my brain that tells me I’m thirsty. I was always thirsty before the stroke. I was peeing all the time bc I drank so much water, and the bestie would make sure she had bottled waters stocked when I would come over. And I always had to drink ice cold water. And if a bottled water was sitting there for a while, I wouldn’t drink it even if I knew it was mine. After I had the stroke, I def stopped drinking so much water. When we would travel internationally and be out the whole day, I could go the entire day without needing to use the bathroom. When we went out to lunch for Jessie’s birthday, Christine had to go pee 4 different times 😳 and I didn’t go once. We would think she was pregnant if she didn’t get her tubes tied after the twins 😅 Now I don’t even need the water to be ice cold to drink it, and I’ll drink from a bottle of water that’s been sitting there (as long as I know it’s mine).
I have been walking a lot more since I got Milo, but I haven’t been hydrating more. I did wake up with a charley horse earlier this month, too, and I haven’t had a charley horse in years! This wasn’t the last time I had one, but the most memorable – it was after a Hoobastank (!) show at the now defunct Canes Bar & Grill. I went too hard, jumping around the entire show, and on the way back to my then-boyfriend’s car, I got a charley horse in both my legs. He massaged my stems as I cried like a baby 😅
Anyway, she said I should drink at least 100 oz of water daily, so I brought my old Hydro Flask out from retirement and Amazon Primed these electrolytes my sister uses for good measure. The Hydro only holds 20 oz of water, but I’d rather drink 5 of those than haul a whole ass gallon of water on my walks with Milo. Pammie gave us all personalized micro Hydros last Christmas. It only holds one tongue-dip of water, but how stinkin’ cute is it?!
Milo barely drinks water, too, so I got him a water fountain. Chel bought some for her cats, and it’s totally helped them drink more! I ordered mine off Instagram, and it’s coming from fucking China, so results are TBD 😅
I walk Milo to Petco Park on the regular – it’s a solid mile roundtrip from my apartment and a relatively safe route, so I still walk him there even when the gates are closed to the public bc of special events or baseball games. The patios surrounding the park have mostly been empty during the offseason, but now that baseball’s back, the patios are full as fuck – Bub’s at the Ballpark, Villains Brewing, Nick the Greek, Tom’s Watch Bar, Knotty Barrel…
I usually just throw my hair in a top knot, put on my sunglasses, and wear my over-the-ear headphones so no one talks to me while I’m walking Milo downtown – the riff-raff who hang out in front of Park Blvd Express Chinese Food To Go, the kid who tries to sell me a ‘free’ cell phone in front of the Grocery Outlet on Market and calls me ‘queen’ LOL, the drug dealers who not so discreetly deal drugs between 10th and 11th on G, and any unhoused people along the way.
Do I dress up when I take him out? No. But do I at least look cute? Still no LOL. Unless you think leggings and my ‘Future Corpse’ shirt is a cute look. I haven’t had any ‘meet cutes’ since I got Milo, but I also try to look as unapproachable as possible when I’m out with him 😅 Do I have to start looking decent now that it’s baseball season???
Welp. Shit def took a turn and the Padres ending up losing again. At least Jess & Abe ran into former Chargers player, Donnie Edwards, in the club lounge and I was able to spot them on TV ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you’re driving downtown on G Street, my apartment is the only one with the Padres flag between 13th and 14th (next to the balcony with the Christmas Stitch inflatable that’s been up since the holidays – it’s damn near April!).
My apartment’s only half a mile away from Petco Park, but I got the best seat in the house right here.
…Okay, the second best seat – Jessie & Abe have tickets behind home plate this weekend!
A similar thing happened to me at a Popeye’s in LA 😅
Pre-covid, before I used to doordash all my food, I would go to Popeye’s maybe once a month. I’d always order the same thing – 2 popcorn shrimps to go. I was minding my own business, standing in line with maybe 5 people ahead of me. The cashier sees me and yells over the 5 people in front of me, ‘2 popcorn shrimps?! ✌🏼’ And everyone turns around to look at me 😳 First of all, lower your voice. Second of all, yes, of course I’d like 2 orders of popcorn shrimp – drop that shit in the deep fryer!
A few months later, I was getting a haircut in Manhattan Beach, and the receptionist and I recognized each other, but couldn’t place where we knew each other from. Then she asks me, ‘Did you used to go to Popeye’s?’
I play mahjong with my family with a set of plastic tiles that look and smell like they pre-date World War II – they probably do, bc my grandparents used to play with the same set.
My mom and her sisters play mahjong every Friday, so I gave them these mugs last Christmas bc they love to drink coffee and chisme when they get together.
If your family doesn’t gamble, are you even Asian???
I first had it nearly 15 years ago at their flagship store in SF when I went there for Outside Lands Music Festival. Since then, they’ve expanded and I’ve eaten at one in SD, OC, Tempe, LA… The one in LA was conveniently up the street from my apartment.
We once went to the one in Hillcrest not realizing it was Pride weekend, and came for sandwiches, but stayed for the parade 😆🏳️🌈
But I digress. The Hillcrest location is within doordashing distance to my apartment! But the sandwich I always order is $17 😅 It’s called the ‘Going Home for Thanksgiving’ (but called the ‘Tony Gwynn’ in SD), and it has turkey, cranberry sauce, cheddar, and sriracha, all on their famous Dutch Crunch bread. Boar’s Head ham used to be my deli meat of choice (as my special relationship with the Sammie’s Hammie at Rinaldi’s used to suggest), but since I’ve gone porkless, I’ve had to pivot LOL.
When I doordashed Ike’s last weekend, I saw you can buy a bag of the Dutch Crunch bread separately, so I did! I instacarted all the accoutrements I needed to recreate the sandwich at home and the result was *chef’s kiss* 😋 My first job was at Subway, so I know a thing or two about making sandwiches 😜
It was hot as fuck outside, but luckily our seats were in the shade, bc white people were def getting sunburned out there 😅
Jess and I wore matching shirts that we Amazon Primed two days ago. A Man-nana (Savannah Bananas male cheerleader) was in our section giving out yellow roses, and Jess told me to take my shirt off 🤣 We couldn’t find the carajillos, so I was much too sober to flash my tits for flowers!
There’s always guest stars at Banana Ball games, usually a sports legend or a musical artist with ties to the city the game is in. Today, they brought out former Padres pitcher and Hall of Famer, Jake Peavy. I was hoping it’d be a musical guest (50 Cent guest starred at their Houston game LOL) – there’s so many from San Diego – Blink-182, P.O.D., Slightly Stoopid, Switchfoot, Jason Mraz… Also, the bestie ran into a member of early 2000s boy band O-Town once at a 7-Eleven in East County bc he apparently lives in Santee 🤣 You guys, I wouldn’t be able to identify a single O-Town member if they were in a police lineup.
The cutest Padres fan 🥰
Jess & Abe are going to the Padres game against the Diamondbacks in Mexico City next month. Abe’s sister is going – she was born and raised in SD, but lives in Phoenix now – so I asked if she’s going for the Padres or the Diamondbacks, and he said Padres, ofc! 💛🤎 Once a Padres fan, always a Padres fan…
The Banana Ball game was a bit too loud for little man. Jess forgot his headphones, which he usually wears at Padres games (Jess and Abe are season ticket holders). It was like 100x louder than a regular ball game. They don’t have walk-on songs, but they blast music and have dance breaks throughout the entire game. Lots of Taylor Swift and country songs I’ve never heard before 😅 So we left a little early, which was totally fine by me! We decided that, while a fun experience, Banana Ball is a young woman’s game LOL, and we probably wouldn’t do it again 😅 I’ll just keep following @thesavbanannas on insta, where I can watch their videos in the comfort of my own home at preferred volume levels 👵🏻
When I lived in LA, I would easily spend $300+/month on gas alone – driving to SD, driving in LA traffic, driving to any concert venue in LA… During covid, gas prices near my apartment reached $6+/gallon in Manhattan Beach:
Now that I’m back in SD and working from home, I hardly ever drive. I walk anywhere I can downtown, doordash my food, instacart my groceries. I even have to take a picture of where I parked my car in my apartment building’s sub-garage, bc a whole week could go by where I don’t drive my car, and I forget where I parked.
At my apartment in LA, I had a free assigned parking spot in a one-level parking garage in a building that was only three stories. Here in SD, I live in a six-story building, and the garage is multiple levels. It’s $40/month for an unassigned parking spot and $240/month (!) for an assigned spot. There’s always plenty of unassigned parking spots, plus I have a permanent handicap placard from when I had the stroke. I never have trouble finding parking, I just have trouble finding my car sometimes 😅
It’s normally $15 for a day pass for visitors to park in my garage, but I just got one for Jess and it was $30! Not sure if it’s doubled bc there’s a special event nearby tomorrow, or if the price went up since I got a pass for Alicia last month. Ahh, the cost of living downtown ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe people should have to pay to see me LOL, so I’ll always park in a spot outside for you when I can and let you use my handi – the placard allows you to park in metered street parking at no cost (literally the only benefit of having a stroke, otherwise 0/10 would not recommend).
Jess and I are going to the Banana Ball game tomorrow, and we’re already planning what we’re gonna eat and drink ⚾🍌🥃 We don’t fuck around when it comes to ballpark concessions, especially when Petco Park offers San Diego’s finest! 💛
My obsession with Love Is Blind was short-lived, bc these people were so cringe to watch! Shi recapped the reunion show for me, and all my predictions came true – the one couple who got married got divorced months later (she was WAY out of his league!), and the other couples aren’t together anymore. I questioned why they would make it all the way to the altar in a wedding dress with all their friends and family there if they already knew they weren’t gonna go through with it, and Shi said that they do it for more screen-time and they get paid more for more episodes. Bc the people who didn’t find love in the pods weren’t in the last half of the episodes. This is exactly why I hate reality TV. She said I should watch the first season, when people were still in it for the love and not for the screen-time. Like this guy who she thinks is my type, who found love on the first season of Love Is Blind, and is still married with kids to the same woman after 10 seasons. I’m a masochist, so I’ll probably watch it 🤪
If you’re Filipino, you’re no stranger to canned meat LOL.
I haven’t had Spam Musubi since I gave up pork after visiting the mini pig cafe in Japan. We used to eat these everyday when vacationing in Hawaii, but I haven’t been there since before I gave up pork. Sprouts sells a plant-based Spam dupe that I actually started eating after the stroke bc regular Spam is super unhealthy – it’s high in sodium, fat and calories. The dupe only comes with 5 pre-sliced pieces for $8, though, so def pricier than a regular can of Spam. But I don’t mind paying extra, I’m only feeding myself, after all.
Anyway, I followed this recipe and swapped the Spam with plant-based Spam, and it was *chef’s kiss*. I was transported back to Hawaii with that cool island breeze instead of here in SoCal, where we’re having a record-breaking heat wave 🥵
Michael B. Jordan celebrated his well-deserved Best Actor Oscar win last night at the In-N-Out in Hollywood.
In the 13 years I lived in LA, I rarely ever ran into celebrities. The only thing I’ve seen worth taking a picture of at In-N-Out was a cup full of pickles – I thought I knew everything on their secret menu 😅
The pot was $69K, but there were 1,731 eligible players and less than 350 people dropped out. I won $46.69, but the buy-in was $40, so really I just won $6.69 😅 I spent more than that at one stop at Starbucks before Petco Park! There was a side bet for $125 if you completed 7 Power days in the final week (instead of the required 2 per week), which I did, but I didn’t win that, either!
Oh, well. I guess the real prize is my health. All this exercise bodes well for the bloodwork I have to do later this week for my upcoming doctor’s appointment 😅
Unappreciative husbands (I had nothing to contribute to this convo)
Fraud investigations (my sister’s the head of internal audit at her work and she has seen some shady shit)
Love you, BB – Also contrary to popular belief, I don’t call Jessie ‘BB’ for ‘baby’ (although she is the baby of our group), I call her ‘BB’ bc she’s loved Boo Berry cereal since we were kids 👻
Soaking up the last days of Spring before baseball season starts (@ Petco Park)
I walk Milo to Petco Park on the regular – even on days they’re closed to the public. It’s a solid mile roundtrip from my apartment, so I still walk him there to get our steps in.
I’ve always wanted to go to a Bark At The Park game, even before I had a dog, bc I love dogs so much 🥹 Milo would be perfect to bring bc he’s already familiar with the park and he’s not reactive to other dogs. There are six Bark At The Park games this season, so we’ll def go to one!
Sidenote: The temporary pickleball courts are still up for a couple more weeks. I’ve seen girls playing with other girls, girls playing with guys, but never guys playing with guys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Literally me last weekend in the produce department.
My sister’s gonna turn into a sweet potato – She eats them every day and has tried the whole gamut – American, Japanese, Korean… I didn’t even know there were so many different kinds.
She has decided that Korean sweet potatoes are far superior to the other varieties, so there we were at H Mart on a Sunday afternoon. They sell them raw – She slow-roasts them at home, then refrigerates them and eats them cold – she says they taste sweeter that way. She eats them for dessert – I had 2 scoops of ice cream after dinner tonight (leftover from the 4-scoop sampler I doordashed last night) – Our versions of ‘dessert’ differ a bit. They also sell them hot and roasted in paper bags, which she also bought. When we were in Japan, I noticed they sold them like this everywhere we went. I was like, ‘Who even eats roasted sweet potatoes?’ Apparently, my sister does, you guys.
Anyway, while we were in the produce department, this song was playing over the speakers. I was like, ‘Why do I know every lyric to this song? Also, why am I crying?’ 😅 They were playing the original version of the song – Jealous by Labrinth – but the version I know and love is an a cappella cover by the Melodores out of Vanderbilt University in Nashville that I came across on Spotify bc they also did a beautiful rendition of my favorite Yebba song, Evergreen. They were led, oddly enough, by a Korean singer. Koreans just be knowing what they’re doing, huh? 😆 Back in the day when my friend was on Tinder, she swiped right on this guy whose bio said, ‘If you like Koreans, raise your glass. If you don’t like Koreans, raise your standards.’ 😂
It’s hard for me to say, I’m jealous of the way You’re happy without me
Oh I can’t see The forest for the trees
So, will you wait for me? Will you wait for me? Will you wait for me? My evergreen
The author of Crying in H Mart is also the lead singer of indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. Is there anything Koreans can’t do???
I woke up at the ass crack of dawn today to be at the hospital for the bestie’s last breast cancer treatment. It has been a long, arduous fight through chemo, radiation and immunotherapy, and I couldn’t be more proud of her 🥹
Three of my close friends have had breast cancer (and beat it!) in the past five years, I had two strokes, some of us are diabetic, have high blood pressure, or Hashimoto’s… We’re at the age where our bodies start falling apart, y’all. Please take care of yourselves and get the proper screenings.
Meanwhile, in the group chat…
Names have been redacted for obvious reasons 😅 (to protect the identities of my friends’ husbands whose wives haven’t swallowed in a decade).
Just a friendly reminder to screen for colon cancer if you’re 45, and to change the traffic pattern if your butt hurts around the entrance at any age 😅
Free Ozempic and self tanner? Tell me you live in LA without telling me you live in LA.
I’m never on the Nextdoor app, so I haven’t updated my address since I moved out of LA. I don’t want to miss gems like these, so I’ll keep it as is for now 😆
Brittany, babe, this is not the flex you think it is. This is the bare 👏🏼 minimum 👏🏼
This is like when I was doing laundry, and my sister was all, ‘Where are the clothes that were in the washer?’ And I opened the dryer door bc I already put the clothes in the dryer, and was like, ‘Ta-da!’ And she was like, ‘That’s nothing to ‘ta-da’ about’ 😅
Sidenote: We were watching the 76ers/Celtics game on TV last weekend, and I saw the Celtics’ stadium was called ‘TD Garden’. I was like, ‘What does ‘TD’ stand for? ‘Ta-Da?’ We were dying bc I brought up the laundry incident. I can laugh about it now 😆
Happiest birthday to the coolest 2-year-old I know!
His dad and I have the same birthday, Isaac has fair skin like me (both Jess and Abe have tan skin), we were both born with a full head of hair and we both like not wearing pants 😆
I put all my crystals out to harness all that good good. I also put my Crystal Water Bottle out to collect blood moon water for my plants bc it’s also a total lunar eclipse tonight LOL. Just let me.
If your love for moon phases don’t run as deep as mine, here’s a cute short from Angry Birds about the love between a bird and its worm 🤪
Partly bc we had time to kill before Milo’s grooming appointment nearby this morning on Park Blvd, but mostly bc today’s a Power Day in my Stepbet challenge, I walked Milo to get iced coffee and canelés at Rikka Fika, then to Petco Park.
I walk him to the ball park whenever it’s open to the public, and the schedule said it was fully open today, but didn’t mention the free Pokémon GO event happening.
Milo wondering why there’s so many nerds here today what in the Pokémon GO is going on (@ Petco Park)
Also, tell me you live downtown without telling me you live downtown.
Does anyone else have a stage 5 clinger who cries when you’re taking a shower and tries to lick all the water droplets off your body when you get out? 😅
