Bottled Sky

Last Monday I turned 24. It was my first birthday in Singapore, my first birthday at work, my first birthday away from home, and most importantly, my first birthday with two cakes (although I only got to eat one of them).

The first cake came from my coworkers, who threw me a surprise lunch at the office. I went to work expecting nothing, so I was caught completely off guard when they all started singing “Happy Birthday” at noon. Aside from cake we had pizza and a yummy salad that Haydee, one of my coworkers, made herself. They also gave me a large card that they had all signed.

While I can definitely report that my first cake tasted delicious, I can only say that my second cake looked delicious, because I was merely able to enjoy it—and the rest of the birthday dinner my family had prepared for me—over Skype. I chatted with them after I got home from work and “blew” out my birthday candles via web cam. Even our dog Biscuit joined the chat. Check out this picture and tell me she doesn’t look smart:

I swear that dog is a genius! She had her front paws on the keyboard, and somehow she managed to shut down the computer in the middle of the chat by pressing ctrl-alt-del TWICE. Next thing you know she’ll have her own blog, “Biscuit, PhD: The Secret Life of a Canine Genius,” where she’ll write about the digestive repercussions of snacking on dirt and share the best yoga techniques to make gnawing at that hard-to-reach itchy spot at the base of the tail a breeze.

This is an excerpt from an online chat I had with my friend Chrissa recently. It should give you an idea of the depth and quality of our friendship

Me: I had the weirdest dream last night.
Chrissa: Oooh! Was it naughty?
Me: Unfortunately not.
Me: I dreamt there was a competition, kind of like the Amazing Race, except the end goal was to reach an old, abandoned mansion and capture a mouse living in one of the rooms.
Me: I joined, but instead of teaming up with other people, I decided to team up with — get this — a chihuahua and a rat!
Chrissa: Uh huh… a chihuahua, a rat and a human looking for a mouse?
Me: We were running all over the place. We got a bit lost and got separated from the other teams, but we ended up finding a shortcut and made it to the house first.
Me: The rat was the one who captured the mouse, because of course he knew where to find it. We won!
Me: So… what exactly is my subconscious trying to tell me? I am at a loss.
Chrissa: Well, a chihuahua is sort of a rodent but only it’s canine…
Me: I know!
Chrissa: So you’re with a rat, a canine-rodent hybrid, and you’re looking for a mouse…
Me: I’m thinking Ratatouille had something to do with it.
Chrissa: Ah, I dreamt of mice, too, after watching Ratatouille!
Me: OMG, Pixar is going to take over the world, and they’re starting with people’s dreams! CONSPIRACY!
Chrissa: Ratatouille must have had some subliminal messages embedded in the film.
Me: Ooh, that would explain everything!
Me: I’m also suddenly hungry…
Me: The film was more powerful than we ever expected.
Chrissa: I am now scared of Pixar.
Me: Pixar is evil.
Chrissa: Next you’ll think that your toys are really alive.
Chrissa: And that bugs are intelligent beings!
Chrissa: And that there are monsters inside your closet!
Me: And that cars have sex lives!
Chrissa: And that super-heroes everywhere are getting busy and making little baby super-heroes!
Me: Condoms are no match for super-sperm!
Chrissa: Eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Me: Hehehe.

I learned from Meggan yesterday that Bottled Sky was included in Smashing Magazine‘s 45 Excellent Blog Designs article. That was a nice surprise for me, as I haven’t been checking my stats lately. Or reading any of my regular blogs. Or responding to comments. That’s what happens when real life gets in the way.

I went on several job interviews this month. I was especially nervous on one occasion, because it was my second interview with that particular company. I knew they would either hire me that day or not. I also knew nerves would definitely not help, so every time I felt the tiniest bit of anxiety on the way to their office I lightened myself up by thinking of the fact that underneath my conservative business attire I was wearing a thong decorated with a cartoon cow. Nothing like funny underwear to shoo away stomach butterflies, I always say. Try it sometime. It worked for me—I got the job.

A few days after landing my first day job I assembled my first piece of IKEA furniture. The process involved a lot of screwing, screaming and cursing and left me exhausted yet satisfied afterwards—kind of like sex, except less… sexy.

Then the day after my IKEA devirginization I was evangelized into the Cult of Mac! Years of dealing with evil viruses and hard drive crashes made me more than ready to finally ditch PCs and make the switch. I’ve had my MacBook Pro for about two weeks now, and I can honestly say that it is the hands-down best thing I have ever owned. Yup, even better than my anxiety-busting cow thong.

Last Friday I had dinner with Aggie and Chrissa, my closest friends from high school. Chrissa and I hang out pretty often, but we get together with Aggie so rarely that we were quite excited to see her. I also met Aggie’s boyfriend, Art, for the first time, and he shot what would become my new favorite photo of us:

We talked until the mall closed, but it still wasn’t enough. It’s crazy how much we’ve all changed since high school, from the way we look and dress to how we think and approach life. Elaborating would probably make this a long-winded and mind-numbingly boring post, so I’ll just say that the last seven years has brought a lot of positive changes to our lives.

Speaking of changes, I asked Chrissa to adopt Boo, because I won’t be able to take her with me when I move to Singapore. She seemed anxious on the drive over to Chrissa’s house, like she “sensed something big was about to happen” as Chrissa put it. However, she quickly adjusted as soon as we got there and excitedly explored every nook and cranny of her new home.

Anxious Boo turned into Happy Boo.

I, on the other hand, am not adjusting as well. I miss her so much — and it’s only been three days. The house feels kind of empty without Boo lying around belly-up, waiting for someone to scratch her tummy. I know it’s for the best, though, because Chrissa and her family are already in love with the little sweetheart. I just know they’ll spoil her rotten.

In other news, I finally got to see Transformers last Sunday! Since everyone has already blogged about how awesome it was, I’ll make this super quick: Shia LeBeouf was hot (he’s the newest addition to my “To Do” list), Megan Fox was hot (if only I looked like that), the robots were hot (I want a Bumblebee of my own). The end.

My sneaky friends gave me the sweetest, cheesiest surprise last Saturday. There I was at our favorite pizza place thinking we were all there only because it was Kathy‘s birthday, when suddenly they whipped out a video camera and proceeded to almost make me cry! I’ll be leaving for Singapore soon, so they decided to send me off with a few speeches and a box full of fond memories. Each gave me two gifts — one that reminds them of me and one that’s supposed to remind me of them — which they put in a lovely box that the uber-talented Phin made. I don’t think I’ve ever been more surprised or more touched. I wub them *squishes friends*

Group photo from Kathy’s camera

From Kathy I got something floppy and something squishy: a Stitch (my favorite cartoon character) pen that flops about as you write and a koala-shaped, gel-filled wrist supporter to remind me that — major cheese alert! — she’ll always be there to support me. (You can click on the thumbnails for a full view.)

Continue reading A Sneaky Surprise »