question.

is it normal to put "closer to ikea" in the pro column on a pro/con list?

decision time.

i got accepted to pharmacy school.

honestly, i had a feeling i would after the interview. so it was the only outcome i'd been visualizing. then a few days ago, i started realizing that it wasn't a guarantee. maybe i'd completely misread the day and my interview experience. i wasn't too sure how i would feel if i didn't get accepted... probably not too good though! haha.

my dad has told me a few times about how he only applied to one medical school. he chose it because the application was simple and straightforward. he never really thought he was supposed to apply to more than one school or have a backup school or anything like that. and he never really thought he wouldn't get accepted. then a couple weeks after he started medical school, he realized that everyone else had applied to a bunch of schools. no one else in his class had applied to only one. so he started panicking about the fact that he might not have gotten accepted and thinking how it was a bad decision to only have applied to one school. we always get a good laugh about him panicking after the fact. :]

anyway. after i saw the email i couldn't really react. part of me knew i should jump for joy or something similar, but i didn't. i just felt confused. it's such a big decision. and i'm so confused. i know i want to be a pharmacist. nothing to be confused about there. i just wish i'd fallen in love with the school. maybe that's unrealistic though. my friend mike told me that i'm probably not going to fall in love with a school... he seemed to think i was crazy for thinking i would. so anyway. a few minutes after my initial reaction, i just kind of kept shaking my head in a sort of flabbergasted manner. like i just witnessed something i couldn't believe i'd seen. and also like "what the heck am i going to do."

then i had to think about who to tell first. i decided to send my dad a text message, but all i could write was "happy birthday, poppy!" haha. [it's his 60th birthday today!] i decided to call james. he didn't answer. so i just decided to let things happen as they happen, and tell people as i encounter them. i checked my email, and i had a facebook reply from my friend yenh [who was instrumental in my decision to apply to pharmacy school] asking if i'd heard any good news yet. so i wrote back "i got the good news today." then james called me. so i'm pretty sure james was still the first to know. i think he was taken back by the fact that i wasn't exuding pure joy and excitement. but i felt shy about telling him. it was his dream first. but it's happening for me first. definitely not ideal. he told me i had to go and was confused by my confusion and insistence that it's a big decision. i think to him, it's a no brainer. i started crying just as we were getting off the phone, but i'm pretty sure he didn't know. i think one of the hardest things is knowing that if i go, i'm going alone. no one to lean on when things get intense and seem too hard for me. james won't be there to make me study with him like he did all through undergrad. sigh.

so that's the news for now. i'm happy that i'll be heading to vegas in a few days to spend time with my family. hopefully by the end of the trip, i'll have made my decision. it's really hard to imagine not accepting the offer. but i just want to be 100% sure that i'm doing the right thing. if you have any thoughts, i'd love to hear what you think. :]

lush review.

i made a little shopping stop while i was traveling to my interview, and i happened upon a lush in a new-to-me part of the galleria in roseville. you may remember me mentioning my love for lush here before. i even have some older photos to re-share. i first fell in love when deepa and i stopped into the store on our trip to san francisco. i also spent some time at a lush counter in macy's when i was in chicago. and of course, i've revisited the store in san fransicso several times during subsequent trips.

[i should make a note here, that i'm partially writing this for myself, so that i can keep a record of products i have tried and whether or not i liked them. you might get totally bored and/or not even want to read this unless you happen to be a lush fan and/or a bath fan. also... it's raining and i can't sleep, so i needed something to pass some time.]

now it's time for a little confession... as much as i love the products and love spending money in the store... i'm pretty lame when it comes to actually using them. so i've built up a bit of a lush stash. i decided when i saw the lush at the galleria, that i would not allow myself to go crazy buying more bath products since i haven't used what i already own. instead, i came away with an amazing scrub called ocean salt. i've been using it on my hands because they are insanely dry, and the helpful & fun salesgirl in the store pointed out that as much as i might try to moisturize my hands, if there is a layer of flaky skin on top... lotion isn't going to help very much. so she let me try the product in the store, and i couldn't resist purchasing it.

i'm happy to report that first, i have not just been hoarding my ocean salt. i've actually been using it. [this is a big step for me.] and second, i love it. i can really tell a difference with the softness of my hands. i don't use it daily, but probably every three days. it's actually listed on the website as a face scrub. on the label, it says face and body scrub. so i decided to try it on my face the other night because i was getting a bit dry and flaky. i really liked how it worked on my face as well. all in all, i think this is a product that i will continue to purchase in the future.

i also took home a sample of the helping hands lotion, which is what i was originally looking at when the salesgirl approached me. i didn't fall in love with the lotion when i tired it in the store, but upon using it at home, i'm really liking it. i want to give the smitten hand cream a try before making a decision to purchase, but the helping hands lotion is getting good marks from me for now.

ok. i couldn't leave without getting a little something for a bath. :] i picked the think pink bath bomb because i don't have a lot of bath bombs already... i have mostly bubble bars. when james left for hangtown, i decided that a bath + book = a good plan. so i tested out the think pink bath bomb. it was really fun. as it fizzed away, little paper hearts came floating out of it, and it left a light pink tint to the water. i loved the surprise of the little hearts. it's a smaller bath bomb, so it didn't fizz for very long, but i didn't really mind that very much. i also don't remember the smell being very strong, but i think i prefer it that way. i bought two of these, so i have one more to use. i'm looking forward to it.

since then, i've been on a bit of a bath kick. last week, i decided to break out the frosty glitter bubble bar, which is actually from my very first lush purchase. clearly, it's the shiny pink one. :]
based on prior research, i knew that most people don't use a whole bubble bar. instead they usually break it in half or thirds. unfortunately, i had a really hard time attempting to break the bar apart. it was borderline hilarious, in fact. but i was able to get off a few small chunks, which provided plenty of bubbles for my bath. i didn't get much of a tint or scent, but that's probably because i didn't use very much at all. likewise with the glitter. it's only on the outside of the bar, so it's effect was minimal. i think i would try other bubble bars before purchasing this one again, but i haven't ruled it out for future shopping.

as for a few of the other products in the photo... that purple blob is a soap called the joy of jelly. it leaked all over the place during my travels, and i may or may not have gotten angry and thrown it away. that blue bar is solid shampoo called seanik. i've attempted to use it twice, and didn't fall in love. but i am going to try it again one of these days. probably when my current shampoo runs out, and i'm desperate because i forgot to buy more. :] i also tried the jungle conditioner, which is also solid and is the paper wrapped item below the tin, at the same time as the seanik. i could not get the hang of how to use it. it's really super solid and you're supposed to mash it up in your hands or something. i didn't have much luck with that. ditto to trying it again, as mentioned above.

i guess it's time for another confession. i just usually put the lush bags in the cabinet under my bathroom sink. so while i have a rough idea of things i think i've purchased... i'm not entirely sure what i have. tonight, i found a bag with two bubble bars that i don't even remotely remember buying. :| eek. maybe if i'd taken more photos like the one above, it might help. anyway, i decided to try the comforter. this might sound strange, but i took a kitchen knife with me this time to chop the bar into pieces. :] it worked like a charm. the comforter is a large bubble bar, so i think i can get two or three more uses out of it. the smell seemed a little overwhelming when i was preparing the bar, but it was much softer in the bath. it also provided tons of bubbles and a nice pink tint to the water. i have quite a bit of this left, so i won't buy it again for a while since there are so many other fun products to try.

so that's all i have in the way of reviews for now. there is a lush store in vegas that i've not been to yet. i'm thinking that might change this coming week... you know... since i am starting to use some of my lush stash. :]

mini trip.

last wednesday, i went to carson with james for his dentist appointment. i stopped by the scrapbook store while he was at the dentist, then i somehow convinced him to stop at a fabric store with me after his appointment. my luck ran out on the way home because i couldn't convince him to stop here:ha. oh well. maybe next time.

anyway. i didn't have much shopping success at either store, but it was still a fun little trip. i like driving places with him because i feel like it's one of the rare occasions where we have good, uninterrupted time to just talk. :]
plus, his mom cooked us my favorite bul gogi dinner. and she made me a new special non-spicy side dish that i loved. i need to know what it was because it was so good, and i've been wanting to have it again.

on the way home, i tried to capture a photo of this one house that i find really intriguing.it's not the best photo, but you can kind of see it. i've always wanted to see the inside of that house. it just seems like it would be super neat inside. and i really love all of those windows.

james and i keep managing to travel without each other. i went to my interview alone, then he went to hangtown in sacramento this past weekend with the boys to watch cameron race, and i'm going to vegas next week without him. so i'm looking forward to our next trip together, whether it's miniature or [hopefully] a little longer. :]

wordless wednesday. favorite flowers edition.

weekend visitors.

paul, amanda, and victoria were here for the weekend. it was so nice to have some family time. on friday, we got the news that my dad's best friend, keith, had unexpectedly passed away. so i really found myself cherishing the time together even more. my dad is just really sad, so i think it was nice to have them here to at least brighten his spirits a bit. here are a bunch of photos of little miss victoria:
she loves to play with her doll and just stay busy at all times. she's constantly moving things around and changing the setup for her play. it's pretty fun, but exhausting at the same time.
i also can't believe how much hair she has now. for the longest time, she had so little hair, but now it's really growing. and those curls are adorable on her. they definitely remind me of how my hair was as a little one.
she really liked interacting with "the doggy" and kept wanting to go outside to see him. i showed her how to play a little game with him, and she was laughing SO hard... it was awesome. she will also say "cheese" if you ask her to let you take a photo, but she immediately requests to see the photo.
helix did a good job of being patient and letting her pet him. he's mellowed out a bit recently, which was beneficial for her because he was more willing to stay still.

before they had to leave, we had an early dinner at mi casa too. i'm not a big salsa person... in fact, usually i'll just eat tortilla chips plain. but i absolutely love the salsa from mi casa too. i've said on many occasions that i could drink it. and if i've planned in advance to make tacos at home, i will often go by and get some chips and salsa to go because they are just that good. amanda feels the same way, so we got a good laugh when victoria picked up the salsa dish and brought it to her mouth in preparation to drink it. hilarious.
then she proceeded to put the olives on her fingers, which is a favorite pastime of mine as well.

and finally, when amanda suggested that she use the spoon for better success in eating rice, she decided to just use both. she took a bite from the fork, then the spoon. :]

i know i'm probably very biased, but i just think she's incredible. i've said before here that it's so cool to see her little mind working. she just amazes me. i'm so thankful that i got to spend some time with her this past weekend.

yum.

i decided to try this cookie recipe last night.they are pretty awesome. the only thing is that i wish i'd used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but i found these chocolate peanut butter swirled chips at the store and decided to try them. umm. not good. never ever dump chips into your cookie batter before testing one. i didn't taste one until after i'd added them, and immediately i knew it was a mistake. the cookies are still good despite the not so good chips, but i can't wait to make these again with better chocolate chips. vanilla pudding is something i'd never heard of in my limited cookie baking history, but it's pretty much fabulous. :]

i'll be back with more soon.

my interview.

i'm anxious by nature, so it's understandable that i was quite stressed out about my interview. all in all, it was a pretty good day though. definitely not as stressful as i'd built it up to be.

there were nine of us interviewing that day. we started out with a brief introduction of the day's events by mr. davis. then we did a writing sample. we had 45 minutes and a choice between two topics. i wrote about whether or not i agreed that something earned is worth more than something received as a gift, and why. the other topic had something to do with being stranded on an island with a certain number of people and having a limited amount of resources [they were listed] and you had to tell how you would decide who got what. so neither of the topics were related to pharmacy in any way. they said our writing samples would be evaluated for spelling, grammar, and writing level/style/basic principles. i don't think they cared too much about content, as long as we wrote a well supported argument.

after that, we headed down to the lower campus and into this building. here we received a presentation from mr. goldsmith about the program, including statistics, an overview of the curriculum, and other basic information about the school. after that it was time for the interview. we were divided into two groups. mine was the group of four. based on general impressions and a round of questions from mr. goldsmith, there was one girl in particular who i knew i didn't want in my interview group. i got lucky because she wasn't. :] i got a little bit unlucky because my interviewers were pretty serious and stern, while the other group had laid back interviewers and kept commenting on how one of the faculty members was really funny. :/ so overall, it was hard for me to read how the interview went. it was an hour long, but it seemed much shorter. we only got through five questions. first, there was the basic "tell us about yourself/why pharmacy?" general question. next was the situational question, which was something to the effect of "you work as a pharmacist for a big retail chain, your boss wants you to increase productivity and volume, while also increasing your time with the customers... how do you go about this?" then there was the future of pharmacy question, followed by "what is your best characteristic/trait?" and you had to give some examples to back it up. and last, they told us that they are having a big problem with class attendance, especially when students have a quiz the following day. it was kind of a two sided question about what students should do to not miss class, and how could professors increase attendance. i think i did pretty well with my answers. there was nothing hard or unexpected, except maybe the last question, but i think i answered it well. there was one guy in my group who sounded way too rehearsed. then there was a girl who was so nervous she was shaking. i've been that nervous before, so i was glad that i remained relatively calm. :]

after the interview, we had a tour of the campus led by a student. overall, the campus is pretty, but not overly impressive. they have a lot of land, but not a lot of it is used. the school is actually on mare island, which used to be a naval shipyard. you can see some evidence of that here:many of the buildings on the campus are from that time and just sit vacant. apparently there is a 10 year plan to renovate them, so i'm sure that in time, the campus will become pretty nice. this next picture used to be the nurses quarters. i thought it was a pretty cool looking old building, but it just sits empty for now. all of these were taken with my iphone, and the sun was super bright so i kind of just pointed and hoped that i got something in the frame. :]there is a small library, but i guess it would be sufficient. then there are two large pharmacy classrooms, one for the first year classes and one for the second year classes. each of the classrooms has 10 breakout rooms that can be used for group activities during lectures or as study rooms after lecture. there's also a big auditorium/theater room that is used for ceremonies and other campus-wide activities. there is a DO program on this campus too, but i'm not sure how much the pharmacy students interact with the DO students. that's about it, aside from administrative/faculty buildings.
this building is where we first entered for the day. it's considered the upper campus. most of the building seems empty though. there is one room that seems like it used to be a restaurant or something, one room with a big stage... i don't know. it was kind of strange.

after the tour, we had sandwiches and a final talk from mr. davis. he told us that they get about 3000 applications, send out 1500 secondaries, get back 1200 secondaries, offer 450-500 interviews, and give 160-180 offers of admission to fill 104 spots. i thought that part was pretty interesting.

the main thing in my mind right now is that i didn't really fall in love with the school. i think it's a good school. they said that 26% of their students get accepted into residencies, while the national average is 17%. they have been winning quiz bowls against students from schools like UCSF. so i'm sure it would be a great program... i just left feeling a little bit underwhelmed. i'll find out my status by the end of the month, and i guess at that point i will know whether or not i have a big decision to make or not. :]

for now, i just can't believe that i have nothing to stress out over for a while! no school, no grading, no applications, no interview, nothing. hopefully that will mean that i spend my time making stuff!