Blog #26: Call my sister out on Facebook.

On Saturday I get a phone call from Mother dearest frantically asking me if I've heard or talked to my beautiful little sister, Thuan.  I said no.

So my Mother tells me that she has tried calling and texting my beautiful little sister for 3 days straight.

Uh-o. You know what that means...that means that UNTIL she can get in touch with my little sister, she WILL be bothering both me and my brother until she gets an answer.  When your problem becomes my problem, then Operation Call My Sister Out will take place.Yes, I was worried, but then...I checked facebook.

Oh FACEBOOK.  What do I see as her status update?

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES (HEART!) updated 5 hours ago.

Oh, hell no! Mom's been trying to text/call you in 3 days, and you haven't responded while eating your yummy Girl Scout Cookies and now I'm getting phone calls and texts from Mom and my bro?! Oh hell no.

Of course, what do I do? I know she see's her status update and the comments...so I proceeded to write her a note - I hope she got it.

I'm guilty too, I know..that's why Mommy dearest got Text Messaging and had her young coworkers show her how to use it. What's next if she finds out of this thing called Facebook or Twitter?! Will she get her own account and follow us?

NOOOO.

Blog #25: Larry the Cable Guy

Thanks to Esme, I had a chance to go and see the Blue Collar Comedy that came to Houston today.  Here are some of my takeaway:

• There were TONS of rednecks there (duh, obviously), and Esme and I were the only ethnics sitting in our section...which had about a thousand people or so.
• Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy are pretty hilarious.
• Larry the Cable Guy..not so much.

Larry the Cable Guy
I don't know what his appeal is...I really don't.  His voice is really high pitched, and there were a few jokes that I giggled at, but at the end of the night, I was laughing only when Bill or Jeff were performing.  All of Larry's jokes were fairly unbelievable to me.  For the most part, many comedians tend to take some of the truths in their lives and stretch it a bit for comedy...but this, this Larry guy, was just frontin.

I guess if you like WWE, you will like Larry the Cable Guy - everything is pretty made up. But then again, who knows, he could actually be telling the damn truth.

In 2009, Forbes listed Larry the Cable Guy to making approximately $13 MILLION and that was only last year.  When he was really big in 2005, he was raking in a lot more dough.  Larry doesn't live in a trailer, he lives in a huge ass house and probably have multiple assistants helping him run his business of trying to look like the average Joe.

Blog #24: I'm not riding bitch seat!

I know, it's not fair, but I ALWAYS get bitch seat.  It never fails. So this time around, I wanted to take matters into my own hands.  As we were heading out to the lounge/bar last night, Allan volunteered to drive and be the  Designated Driver (thanks!).. Fine, that's perfect! 

Esme, the shortest person (she's 5'2"), goes for the front passenger seat aka Shot Gun. Then there was me, Matt, and Cabby left.  Now Cabby was inside the house rounding folks out, it's his birthday and he's getting a bit tipsy, so I get in the car and sat behind the passenger seat and scooted as far over to the door seat...hence leaving Matt to sit somewhat in the center (it's Cabby's birthday, so either way, he won't be getting bitch seat).  Anyway, Allan decided to do a curbside pickup for Cabby since it was his birthday which left me in a bad position since curbside was on the passenger side.  Only two things could happen...

A) I have to scoot over and get the bitch seat.

or

B) I tell Cabby to get in the other side...leaving Matt to be in the bitch seat.

So I opted for B, saving me from being flanked.  I rolled down my window and told him to get on the other side. =). Thus, leaving the tallest guy in the car to get bitch seat.

Sorry Matt, it was too easy. LOL.

Blog #23: Dear Lil Mama - You're so Deep

I was inspired to write this piece after watching the first episode of Season 5 of ABDC (aka America's Best Dance Crew on MTV).

I've always had something I wanted to say to one of the judges, Lil Mama, since viewing Season 1. So here it goes...

Dear Lil Mama,




The most recognizable song/rap that you have done is Lip Gloss, G-Slide...and maybe Shawty Get Loose.  I thought "Lip Gloss" was cute since  you were still in your early teens at that time, and I really didn't want you to end up like Vanessa Hudgens (naked pictures of yourself), Miley Cyrus (you took Lindsay Lohan off the radar in 2009), or the other Disney folks who turned into...well little hostess' hohos.  And thank goodness you didn't. 


But do tell me something, for someone who has only had 3 songs make it somewhere on the charts (by the way, you never made it to Platinum record), you sure are wise beyond your 20 years of existence.  I know what you're thinking Lil Mama, I know you don't care what I think because in the end, you're the one laughing to the bank, not me. But as wise as you are, why Lil Mama, did you interrupt Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performance - a bit immature.  I know you're from Brooklyn, I saw you cry...but man, you're interupping THE Jay-Z and THE Alicia Keys.


By the way, half the ish you say while you're a judge doesn't make sense to me.  I'm just saying...


Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how I felt - I guess it's better to pretend to know what you're talking about when you obviously don't versus being a hoho.


Thanks.

Vlog #22: I don't like Shakira's singing + Velcro

Ok, Shakira fans, please don't kill me, I beg you.  But there's something about Shakira's voice that I don't find...well, talented.  Take a look at my video. This took place as I was listening to Mega 101. Yes, the Spanish Pop Station.








I made a nice purchase today. Velcro.

Yes, folks! I bought velcro, and I stuck one side to my camera, and the other one on the speedometer dash thingy ma bobber. If I get lazy again, I can always do my vlogs via my car since I'm always in there.  As you can see from my mileage, I drive a lot...my car's only 2 years old.

Vlog #21: I will sport my Fanny Pack

Yes, folks..that's right...it's Vlog...not Blog for today.  I need to get in bed early...so here is my Vlog.

Blog #20: Uhh, I'm not Catholic, but she is!

My brother and his fiance invited me and my roommate Esme to their Church's (St. Michael) Fish Fry today.  The food was absolutely delicious, and I got to meet a family belonging to the church.

If anyone knows me, I do not really consider myself religious per say, rather I consider myself to be fairly spiritual.  Anyway, so this really nice older lady who has been going to St. Michael since the 1950s started asking me questions. And of course, the question that I feared she would ask is whether or not I am Catholic.

So dun dun dun...the question was asked. NO!!!

Lady: And what church or parish do you belong to...? Or...are you even Catholic?

Me: Um..yea, I don't go to church and I'm not Catholic. [at this point, I'm getting uneasy...so of course I had to think fast and I said..], but...my roommate Esme is Catholic!  [as I pointed to my roommate who was sitting next to me at the table.]

I know, SO wrong of me - I passed on the moment of being in the hot seat to another victim.  It so happened to be Esme lol.

Lady: And what parish do you belong to?

Esme: Um..um...I haven't been to church in a while.

Lady: Oh, so which churches in Houston have you gone to...?

Esme: Um..., I haven't really been to any.

Me:We're actually from Austin! [although, we've both been here for more than a year, I think at this point, I have realized what I done...so I try to make a last save...pretty fruitless I might say]. We just moved here!...a year ago...

Lady: Which church did you go to over there?

Esme: ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

And that ended the conversation.

LOL AWKWARD!!!! 

Negative: We are NOT good kids!
Positive: I didn't curse at all! And Esme found a little 1 year old boy who looked similar to her dog. LOL.



So now for shameless promotion since I have about 60 of you reading my blog on any given day...thanks!
Kollaboration Houston is looking for people to audition!!! You MUST register to Audition by going to www.kollaborationhouson.org.

Check out where auditions will be at!

Blog #19: Me and the New Orleans Saints' Owner Tom Benson. Super Bowl.

Tom Benson and Me at the Texan's Suite

That's right folks. During the pre-season, I had the opportunity to speak with the one and only Tom Benson (owner of the New Orlean Saints), and you know what I told him.

I looked dead straight into Mr. Benson's eyes and said,"Mr. Tom Benson, the Saints are going to make it to the Super Bowl  this year...it's year 44, and my birthday is 4/4. This is your year."

And guess what, they made it to the Super Bowl after tonite's game. WORD!!

Ok, fine, I didn't say that exactly...but I still believe that I made a good call.

Blog #18: Ma'am, you're vibrating and Sneaker Night

Went to Chuy's today because I had a huge craving for Jalapeno Ranch Dressing and Chips, and as me and my roomie were waiting for our table, the hostess gave us the common table buzzer.  Y'all know what it is, it's that thing that buzzes and let's you know when you're table is ready.

Anyhoo, we were sitting in the lobby and my buzzer starting buzzin, but I didn't hear/feel it going off because I stuck it in my purse.  So the lady from the bachelorette group turned around and said in a loud voice, "Ma'am, you're vibrating."  

And of course, everyone started laughing.  Good one, lady, I'll give you that!

Was at the Soundbox Grand Opening day today, and also ran across this video of Vanessa Hudgen's Sneaker Night.  YES, us girls need to have one!!

Blog #17: The Jersey Shore on MTV - so what if I like it.

Don't hate. That's all I have to say. We all have our own guilty pleasures, and one of mine is watching the Jersey Shore on MTV. And what?  It's entertaining, drama filled, and who can't say that they don't have a friend who resembles one of the characters. Seriously.

And according to MTV's ratings, the Jersey Shore obviously hits a lot of viewers - so they must be doing something right when the Jersey Shore beats out The Hills/The City.  I think when you get to filming characters who are out of touch with the mass majority, you will soon tune them out as well because that's not the social norms for the majority of folks.

I like what I like, but it's nice to know that a LOT of folks including my friends, clients and even a head honcho at a leading tv station do as well (somewhat justifies my pop culture indulgence haha). Between work, volunteering, organization volunteering, and other business venture, I like to chill and have a viewing party.

No, I don't quietly sit by the tv every week to watch it when it's scheduled.  What's great about cable is that they re-run things over and over and over, so when I have time on the weekend or when I'm having a have-a-nice-meal at home day, I watch it.  Some people like TMZ, I like reality shows. Don't hate.  Tons of people follow American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc. and I follow funny reality shows.

So there you have it folks, my second confession in two days.

And if y'all know, I adore Snooki - she is absolutely cute! So here is my attempt for her bump it like hairstyle.  Much love.

(yes, this was on my Twitter a while back, noticed how I did the East Coast pursing lips and the usage of my phone. hahahaha)

I guess that's it folks.  That's blog #17.

Blog #16: Pancakes and Having Hair in my Food Confession

I am having breakfast for dinner.  Actually, the reason why I'm having breakfast for dinner is because I'm trying to finish all of my leftovers before it goes bad. I know, I know, I can eat it in the morning, but I just don't have time - I like to get up, get ready, and head out the door. Yup.

Also, I think those restaurants who made Breakfast Served All Day Long are freakin geniuses. You're on my A list all the time.

Now this takes me to my next topic. Finding a piece of hair on my food.  I can't fake it any longer, I'm not that disgusted when I see hair in my food!  I acted like that for years in public because I thought it was the social norm, but seriously, I can cut around it.  I really can. Whew, there was my confession. Sigh, yes folks:

My name is Tawn, and I'm not disgusted with hair in my food.

Don't get me wrong, please don't start giving me your food entree that you found hair in - I don't accept that kind of donation. I'm simply saying that it's not such a big deal.  Just return the food, and get another plate, or remove the hair, cut around it, and eat it.

That's all man. No need to be dramatic.

Blog #15: Metro Fight Club - Training with Tito Ortiz's Instructor

Yesterday I met a girl who was talking about how she does kickboxing at this place called Metro Fight Club where they train MMA fighters and all that jazz.  So I figured, eh, might as well, it's a trial class, it's free, I have nothing to lose except for maybe a tooth or so. Ok, fine, I guess I should rename my title because it's a bit misleading.  Technically the class was instructed by Saul (the instructor guy for Tito), but it's not like 1 on 1. So no, I am not the next Million Dollar Baby.  My mind doesn't work that way, I complain about everything that physically exhausts me.  Mentally, I think I can hang, but once my arms starts aching or my foot starts cramping, I'll whimper away. Hence, that is why I'm a much better sprinter than I am a long distance runner.  I have NO stamina.

Anyway, I showed up to this place and found out that the head instructor there also instructs Tito Ortiz. Yea, freaking crazy...it left me wanting to flee.  I don't want to work so hard where I'm going to collapse damnit, I just need to work out!  If anyone knows my background, then you'll understand why I'm utterly afraid of classes like this.

They also have a real cage in there too. When she told me there was a cage there, I thought she was joking...no there's a real cage there that you fight in. Trust me, I won't be going in there any time soon.

Yea, that's Tito.

Anyhoo, the class wasn't too bad. I didn't get yelled at the way I thought I would, and I think I might pay to go there.  HOWEVER... because I didn't have my own boxing gloves, I had to borrow theirs.  And DAMN, my hands smell like rotten eggs + boys sweat (yes, boys sweat stinks whereas girls do not).

PS: My Mother texted me for the first time today...LOL. It is hilarious.  I got threat texts from my bro and sis because I gave my Mom another opportunity to reach us.

So my Dad knows how to write emails.  My Mother knows how to text. HAHA...that's for tomorrow's blog.

Blog #14 Elevator Etiquette and MLK Day

Ok, people.  Here's one thing that REALLY irks me at work, elevator etiquette. C'mon, I don't ask for much, I really don't I promise, but there is one elevator etiquette that really piss me off: Look both ways before you enter.

Yes, simple as it sounds, people don't do it!


Step 1: When you're about to enter into an elevator, look to see if there are folks exiting. If they are, step out of their way and let them exit.

Step 2: Once that is done, you enter.

Dude, it's a TWO STEP PROCESS.

When you work on the 22nd floor (or however high you work) you need to maximize your efficiency and elevator etiquette will really help out. DUH.


Now onto other news. Today marks MLK Day.   What really pisses me off is that most companies do not provide you a day off for it.  Thank goodness, the company I work for does. =)  Not really brown nosing here, but I do REALLY appreciate it.

Hello people, Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most recognizable person when it comes to the civil rights movement.  Seriously, if this didn't happen, most of us wouldn't be able to go to college or have the rights that we do now.  This movement spawned others to take place.  As a woman and a "minority" (yes, I hate that term), I am where I am because of folks like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez, Yuri Kochiyama, and more that I've obviously missed.

Anyhoo, for that, I want to take this day in observance of how far we've come, and how far we have to go.  To this I light a candle for the struggles that came before me, and the struggles that will come afterwards. I thank all my sorors and friends for always opening up the dialogue, and to my friends who are always  putting in their 2 cents from their perspective.  Thank you.

Blog #13: Judging with Fox 26 and Chronicle. Fun!

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of joining Ruben Dominguez from Houston's Fox 26 and Anna-Megan Raley with Houston Chronicle Sports to judge the first round of Houston Idol.

All I can say is that all 3 of us had a great time at the Sam Houston Race Park and we had some really funny things to say - and no, none of us crushed any little girl's dream of becoming the next big thing.  Now, I would have to say that stage parents did not get any advantage when they were trying to brown nose.

Parents or future parents, brown nosing with judges does NOT get you brownie points. If anything, it makes us feel bad for your kids...

Check out our Coca Cola Products...lol. So close to taking Ellen's place..so close!!!

To find out more about my co-judges go to the following pages:

Ruben Dominguez: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/about_us/Ruben_Dominguez
Anna-Megan Raley's Chronicle Sports blog: http://blogs.chron.com/fanzone/texans/

Blog #12: Forbes Top 10 Earning Celebrities. Look at the Gap.

So Forbes recently released their list of some of the highest earning power couples in Hollywood.  Pretty interesting - watch for the huge gap.

1. Jay-Z and Beyonce- $122 million
2. Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart - $69 million
3. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie -$55 million
4. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith - $48 million
5. David and Victoria Beckham - $46 million
6. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi - $36 million
7. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson - $35.5 million
8. Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy - $34 million
9. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - $33.5 million
10. Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow - $33 million

(picture taken from Forbes.com)

So as you can clearly see there is a HUGE gap between #1 and #2.  These two are literally laughing to the bank. And I need to become Beyonce's assistant.  I can hold her coffee, I'm cool with that job.  Sign me up!!!

It's also nice to see Ellen and Portia up there as well! LBGTQ Woo!

So where are my Latinos and Asian Ams at? Wah wah...

Blog #11: Me and George Lopez.

I got home today and watched George Lopez on Nick at Nite while eating some Duck and rice, and eggrolls.  While I was munching away, it dawned on me that I never told people the story of me crying in front of George Lopez a year or so ago.

I think there's only a select few (like 3?) people who knew that I did this...yes...cry...and in front of anyone, I had to do it while I shook Mr. Lopez's hand.

So cyber universe, here's your lucky day.

First, it did involve alcohol. (Yea, that pretty much sums up everything that happened next). Secondly, this took place in Austin, Texas when he held a show at the Erwin Center.

Anyway, we had a suite at the Erwin Center filled with food and booze, and of course being that I was in the presence of my friends, I drank. Maybe a tad more than I usually drink, but it was the weekend and I had plenty of time to recover before the work week started again. I know, I'm responsible like that!

So we all kept going, and a drunk Tawn will bring out the following characters (it's sad, that I give each character a name and they are in no particular order):

1. America's Next Best Dance Crew Tawn
2. The world is so sad Tawn
   
3. Happy Tawn
   
4. Bitch Tawn
5. Fighting Tawn
6. Comedic Tawn
7. Philosophical/Preacher Tawn 

Sorry, now to continue on with my story.

The end of the show is wrapping up and I received a backstage pass to go meet Mr. Lopez.  And as I walked backstage into the locker room area where he was meeting and greeting folks, I got in line and patiently waited until it was my turn.  Sort of. I had a friend keep my spot while I sat down because my heels were hurting my feet.

So out of all the places I end up sitting, I chose to sit in an open shower bench next to this older women.  She's Latina for sure, but I didn't know where she was from.  As I was sitting down, I introduced myself happily (Happy Tawn) and talked about how wonderful the show was while in fact, I was drinking, talking, and showing off my fighting skills (or lack thereof)  the whole time during the show and probably caught 15 minutes of it.  By the way, whoever has that footage of me fighting, please delete it, SO embarrassing because I got schooled...twice.  Anyway, for some reason, I started to talk about Mexican American history.

WHY?! WHY?!

So I continued talking, and then she shared her brief history with me as a 2 generation. And what do I do? I freakin' CRIED. Little ole me was crying on a locker room shower bench! Hello, "The  World is so Sad" Tawn.

And as I wailed and talked about indigenous people (again, I do not know WHY and to be honest I forget all of my thought connections then) and the history of Mexican American, I realized that it was almost my turn to shake Mr Lopez's hand.  I stood up and left.

Of course I gave her a hug.

Then the time came. I am standing in front of George Lopez. YES, GEORGE LOPEZ. And what do I say? The first thing that came out of my mouth to George Lopez was, "Did you know Texas used to be Mexico?."  And I proceeded with other facts or, at this point in my stupor, it could've been fiction.

Ladies and gentlemen, I meet someone really great and all I could do was spit out history facts and how fucked up our country is?!

Yup...that's me, yours truly.

So after what seemed like an hour later, I concluded with, "It was GREAT meeting you!" with a huge smile on my face after I wiped my tears.

And that, my friend is my story with George Lopez.

That's all folks, I could talk about my next RALLY experience in Downtown Houston when I thought I was Martin Luther King Jr. But I'll save that for another day.

Blog #10: My Cold

Sigh.

Blog #9: Being Asian Am, 2 Degrees of Separation, and Facebook.

Of course we all know the theory that everyone is within 6 degrees of separation.  If you don't know what that means, then I'll go ahead and paste Wikipedia's definition of it.  And if you know me, I use Wikipedia as if it's my Bible; plus, I'm too lazy to write.

Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth. -Wikipedia (look I'm sourcing!)

So now on to 2 degrees of separation.  I REALLY believe that Asian Americans are all connected.  All you have to do is spit out like a name, and I'm SURE someone can find some commonalities with you.  Ok, maybe TWO names.

Which brings me to my next point...

Facebook.

The obvious course of action is that if someone Friends you on Facebook, the right thing to do is either Confirm them because you know them or have met them at least once in your life, or you can just choose to Ignore them.  Now here is where it gets a bit tricky...

What if you look at their profile and notice that the person Friend-ing you has about 2 Mutual Friends? What do you do now?! For me, I look at the friends they have in common with me and hope that this can be the moment that jogs my memory.  But what if it doesn't? Eugh!

So then I take a look at their pictures...and hopefully some of it is at least publicize so maybe if I can see them in their natural habitat, I can kind of see the type of group they belong to...and THEN perhaps I can remember them.

But what if that is another failed attempt? What do you do then because you might have met them before and didn't remember, and of course no one wants to be rude...

So then depending on the number of mutual friends, I press Confirm...

or...I just let the Friend Requests pile up and hope that one day I can remember.

Someone really needs to right an etiquette book on this one...I'm having trouble with all this Social Media stuff.

This 2 Degrees of separation is really just difficult.

PS: I REALLY apologize for those who I let sit for a while because I'm really trying to figure out who you are. Maybe if you can drop me a line, that would be GREAT. This whole Facebook thing is getting complicated.

Blog #8: Lazy and Ridiculous Inventions

I seriously think that we are getting lazier and lazier, and people are coming up with some really weird inventions.  For example, let's take exhibit A...

The Ice Cream Spinner:
First off, this just looks dirty, but what you do is stick a scoop or two of your favorite ice cream, and then push a button and stick out your tongue while it spins automatically.  I know some really sex crazed person is going to think of something gross to do with this. Yuck.

...and then there's Exhibit B...

Shake Weight:
This item looks innocent enough on picture, but wait til you see the Youtube on this. This infomercial was playing late night on MTV last Friday as I watched the Jersey Shore marathon.  And once again, I think some crazy dude, is wacking off to this. So sad.

Here's the Youtube Video>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S3C4AC908w

Blog #7: Texas

Texas
all the way, every day
I'm proud to have my degrees from UT.
I'm proud to be a Texan.

PS (Alabama's flag is a huge red X rumored to resemble the Confederate Flag)
tsk, tsk.
I'm just saying...

Blog #6: Doing the #2 at Work

Ok, it's no lie.  There are times when you're at work (or for some at school) and you are literally prairie dogging, just ate a bad lunch, or whatever the case may be and you're now stuck in a situation where you  need to run to the restroom.  Waiting til afterwork or going home just isn't an option.

What do you do?

Here are some plan of actions:

• They always say you need to know where your Emergency Exits are. Whether that be on an airplane, movie theatre, on the trading floor, etc., it is ALWAYS advised by professionals that you need to have a plan.  The same thing can be applied to RESTROOM EMERGENCY. KNOW WHERE THEY ARE. Which leads me to the next point...
  
• For most people at work, that means going to another floor - usually the floor belonging to another company...or simply, a place where your coworkers/bosses aren't around and be up in your business. It's already weird enough to speak to someone while you pee. So find that floor! And make sure when the next time it happens, you can run there.
• Or...you can just purchase a Go Girl and have that in your purse.  It's a female urination device - I'm sure it can be converted into a device for #2s as well.  http://www.go-girl.com/ 

• 
  

Blog #5: What's wrong with this picture? The Blackberry Prayer

So this picture is VERY typical at any breakfast/lunch/dinner.  If this was a business meeting, everyone's phones would be underneath the table - the blackberry prayer as we call it.

Why people?! What did we have to do before phones...? I mean, is this the new equivalent of doodling?

Phrases I can come up with (hey, I'm guilty too):

• My phone is better than yours.
• F you, I'd rather play with my phone than engage in useless conversation.
• You're not worth my time.
• As long as I don't do this in front of strangers, I can do in front of my friends.
• Uhhh...awkward, let me bust out my phone.
• I'm a super multi-tasker.
• Oh no he didn't!!! (grabs their own phone to engage in the same activity).
• Text WIN to 45450.
• Oh shit, oh shit...if I don't look busy, than they'll think I have no life.
• Eye contact is so 2009.
  

Blog #4 America's Happy Hour

Wow, this blogging daily is so damn hard so I guess I'll make this post about seeing one of my sorors back in town yesterday.


Monday's Happy Hour was planned so that I could see my Treyci before she left to NYC again for work - I decided on America's for the following reasons:

• It's next to work.
• Its Happy Hour is from 3p-10p.  YES, that's right 3p-10p! Can be BAD NEWS.
• And no one really shows up - especially on a Monday after the long holiday break - and that means I don't have to fight folks.
  

It was great seeing Treyci again and being together with sorors Priyanka and Dimple, and also getting to meet all of Treyci's friends.  So of course, we obviously stayed past 7p and I think I got home around 9p.  So I decided to just rest my eyes a bit and sleep on the floor.  Who knew that nap would be extended to the wee hours in the morning.  I failed. This was what I was looking at as I woke up. Glad to know that I'm good at vacuuming my room.


What did I learn from this?

• Happy Hour is called SOCIAL Hour there (we being a bit bourgeois aren't we?)
• Not only should I drink...I should EAT.
• The Filipino community is REALLY small - I can name 4 names, and someone will always find a connection.  It really is 2 degrees of separation...

Blog #3 - I was Riding Dirty and lost $14,000 in cash

Definition: Riding Dirty
Referenced to driving a vehicle with any form of illegality 
urbandictionary.com



All I can say is that the ending is funny and that no one was hurt during this incident. The San Antonio Police Department was easy to work with and we cooperated.  Definitely kicked off the new decade in a very unconventional way for me, but I can sit here right now and laugh.

I rang in the New Year in Houston with my girls Jenny, Jova, and Natalie this year, and, unfortunately, with my 2 radio gigs on both New Years Eve and New Years Day, I was unable to spend it with the 219 girls in San Antonio. 

So after feeling really guilty that I couldn't spend it with Grace, fortune (or is this misfortune?) had it that a friend of mine would be able to drive me down, and another friend who could drive me back to Houston later on. 

For the sake of  keeping this person's identity hidden, I will name the person who gave me the ride to San Antonio, Busted.

Now with a little bit of background laid out for y'all, I will start my story.

Before Busted and I took off to San Antonio (SA), Busted said that we needed to stop by Best Buy in Houston to purchase a 60" Elite Plasma TV, apparently this is a badass when it comes to the kind of TV money can buy.  And as I was sitting in the car en route to Best Buy, Busted handed me over a box and told me to open it up and pull a stash.  So I'm staring at an undergarment box thinking that this is some sick joke.  Busted reassured me it wasn't what I was thinking, and sure enough it wasn't.

As I pulled stuff out of it, I discovered over $14,000 in cash.  All meticulously wrapped in increments of $2,000.  Can you imagine what I was thinking?!  DAMN. I'm thinking this could pay all of my car note, Credit Cards, and even some of my student loans. 

Anyhoo, I pulled out the approximate amount that Busted wanted, placed the rest of the money back into the box, and Busted purchased the tv.

Fast forward to 3 hours later as I'm about to get dropped off at the place Grace and friends were staying.  We see a police car pull us over and I really didn't think any of it except that Busted must have been speeding right?  So I laughed.  And then Busted turned to me slyly and was like, "I have a few warrants out."

FUCK.

We parked the car and the officer came over and here is how the conversation went.


Police#1: Drivers License and insurance.

Busted: Could you tell me why I am being pulled over.

Police #1: I will tell you after you give me your drivers license.

I look in the mirror and now I see TWO cop cars behind us. Not ONE, BUT TWO!!! 

Me: DUDE, what did you do?!


Busted: I forgot to pay for 6 speeding tickets.

Me: Great.

Police #1: Please get out of the car and put your hands behind your back.  Ma'am, you stay in the car.

Police #2 (he happend to be Vietnamese, DAMN, there's like no Popo who's Vietnamese there and I get the one who is): Ma'am, may I see your drivers license.

Me: Handed the drivers license.

Police #2: Oh! You're Vietnamese?

Me: (thinking) no shit dipshit. The name says it all.



Police #1: [Busted] will you allow this lady the responsibility to take your car.


Busted: Yes. (turns to me) Tawn can you make sure you call Gator (idenitity hidden) and explain that I will call them in a few hours.  Also, can you call Twitter and let them know which jail I'm in.  You know where my money is, give that to Twitter.  Take my wallet and my phones and make sure you call Gator.

[I also later found out that Busted was driving with a suspended license] Great.




And with that, I followed Grace into the complex.  I grabbed all of my stuff and the undergarment box and opened it up just to make sure the money in it was there, and it WASN'T.  I, the only person who held it, lost $14,000. So to try and calm down, I asked Grace to carry everything in the car into the apartment.  As I walked in I said out loud..."I can't believe I LOST $10,000!!!"

I turned my head to the living room, and there was about 10 people, many who I didn't know, staring at me none of them were smiling.  And of course, Grace being the comedic relief said, "And that my friend is Tawn."  I looked like an f-in stickup kid.

Anyway, moral of the story, is don't be stupid like Busted and NOT pay your fines because in the end, you'll get caught.  I found the stash hidden underneath the chair, and Busted told me he told me he left it there...who knew.  We left Busted in jail for a few hours, and Twitter picked Busted up the next morning.  We were advised by a fellow police cops that registering Busted and doing all the paperwork on New Years was going to take hours and that he recommended us to chillax.

So to recap this New Year's "week":

• Pay your fines.
• I saw my friend Busted get arrested.
• We had 2 cop cars pulling us over.
• I held $14,000 in hard cash in my hands. 
• First impressions should not define who you are =) lol. Thugs.
• Topic of Sleep Number Beds came up a lot of times this weekend.
• I got to see my sorority sisters and homegirls (minus Esme).
  

Day 2 Blog 2: Tired

I am tired. That is all.

Went to Panera Bread with my sorority sisters and baby Aaron with his tiny Nike Jordans.  Great conversation and always uplifting.

Day 1 of 100 Days of Blogging

Hey folks, my good friend Ferrell and I will be blogging for 100 days straight.

Today my friend is day 1. I will go into details later on this week but all I have time for is this:

I'm in San Antonio.

We got pulled over by multiple cops.

Cold hard cash missing.