Airline lounges

After three years of having first level status on two different airlines, I was tired of just having the equivalent of “silver” or “gold” status. I wanted platinum status on airlines. I was sick of always going to the airport and knowing I’d only get lounge access because of Chris’s Qantas club membership or because of his oneworld sapphire status. And then this past year, from both work and fun travel, I gained my own platinum status. And my platinum status card arrived in the mail today! I’d finally get into lounges in my own right!

Wrong. The pamphlet that accompanied my platinum card said I would get oneworld partner airline access — only if flying abroad on either American Airlines or partner airlines. And unfortunately, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and anywhere in the Caribbean do not count as “international” destinations. When I am flying my cross country flights from New York City to San Francisco, I will get no lounge access. When I take flights for work to Atlanta or Fort Lauderdale, no lounge access for me.

I called an AA Platinum representative and lectured her about how little logic there was in granting American Airlines platinum members access to partner lounges on international flights but no lounge access too American Airline platinum members on domestic flights. The domestic flights will be the majority of the flights I will be taking — I live in this country, and that’s why I’m loyal to this domestic airline! Why can’t you people understand this? She gave a sympathetic sigh and said there was nothing she could do since it also didn’t make much sense to her, but she couldn’t change or make the rules. And then she asked if I wanted to purchase lounge access for $450 this year (discounted from $500 for non-status members) or pay 65,000 miles.

They are getting no more of my money. They get enough as is.

Greasy

I’ve had a greasy head my whole life. If I don’t wash my hair for a day, the next day, anyone could tell that my hair was not clean because of that gross “wet” look it gets. I used to get away with it sometimes just by tying up my hair, but now that I work and oftentimes have to meet clients and other external contacts, that “look” isn’t really what I want to go for. And now, it doesn’t help that I go to the gym four days in a row each week. I can’t go to work with sweaty and greasy hair.

In an effort to be better to my hair and grow it out, I stopped blow drying it after every wash about six months ago. Now, I barely blow dry at all, even in the winter cold. I just let it air dry. It’s actually been a huge difference for me in texture as well as no split ends in sight. But then I thought about the hair washing, and I wondered how I could wash it less. My friend suggested that I just rinse my hair out at the gym after workouts and condition the ends. She insisted I try it just once to see if it worked. And I did. And it worked. I went two days in a row with no wash, and I wasn’t a grease ball at the end of it. I washed my hair on Saturday, then no wash on Sunday and Monday, and washed it today. It’s amazing how I was so resistant to trying this before, and I know I know it works.

Anti-grain flours

A friend gave me butternut squash, sweet potato, and apple flours (non-GMO-certified, of course) as a birthday gift. It was certainly a unique present, as I had no idea that fruit and vegetable “flours” were even being made. I’ve made my own almond flour, but fruit flour is so novel to me. Then again, I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised with all the crazy food movements for gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, paleo, etc.

I spent some time on anti-grain.com looking at recipes for my new flours. I found an interesting cheese bread, and even pastas. i can make my own sweet potato pasta noodles! It’s a new culinary area for me to explore. I love my regular wheat flour, but this will just add variety to my pantry and perhaps make me realize that a gluten-free diet really could be feasible (and tasty) in today’s world.

I’m still not giving up my wheat, though.

Makeover

Yesterday, I redeemed my Sephora coupon for a complimentary makeover. It was set to expire next month, and I had no idea when else I’d want to have my makeup professionally done. The makeup artist who was working on me asked what kind of look I was going for. I told her I was going out to celebrate my birthday last night, so I wanted a birthday look that maybe would play up my eyes. Can we go for the “smoky eye” look? And so she proceeded to spend the next 90 minutes working on my face. The request for “light” skin coverage apparently wasn’t heard or was just ignored.

When she was done and gave me the mirror, I looked at my reflection in complete shock. I could barely recognize myself. I think those are my eyes, and that’s my nose, but now my nose looks a bit distorted because of all the foundation. I looked like a vampy, exotic Asian, with eyes that were almost made to look slanted up. I had to ask her to tone that down, so she altered it slightly.

My friend told me last night that she thought I looked amazing, that the only reason I didn’t like it was because I just wasn’t used to seeing myself made up like this. Now I know what I do not want as a wedding look, or any look ever again.

My friends

I don’t have a large friend group. In fact, since the age of 15, I haven’t had a large friend group. Sometimes, this has bothered me, and I have moments or even days when I wish I had more friends with more varied interests, or a reliable local group of girlfriends who I could just hang out with from time to time who I could trust. Last year, I went to a number of Meetup groups to try to meet new friends, but there wasn’t much of any “click” that happened. The one girl I met who seemed fun ended up being really flaky, and that seems to be the common theme among people in New York. Everyone has a lot of options and doesn’t always want to choose you. In fact, they may never choose you.

When I was out in my group of six tonight, though, with Chris, I felt really happy. In these moments, when we are all sitting around a table, drinking good whiskey instead of taking stupid shots, and talking about the most random things, and friends from different areas of my life are all laughing about the same thing, I think, well, I have a lot to be happy about. My friends all fit my life in different ways, as they should, and they love me and want to spend time with me on my birthday, even when I don’t always want to celebrate it. It doesn’t matter that they may be five versus fifty. I have what I need right here.

Reminder

Tomorrow, I turn 29. That’s one year closer to 30 for me, and the first full year gone by of being 28 and without a living brother. I spent about half of age 27 with Ed, none of age 28, and none of any future year will be spent with him alive.

It’s a weird feeling, to think that every year I am getting older, but every year, he stays the same age. Yes, in my head, each year I celebrate his birthday. Last year, I wished him a happy 35th birthday. But we all know he’s not getting any older. His age will remain the same forever. Thirty-three years and about 11 months, just one month shy of turning a ripe old 34 is him. Each year, my face will change, my body will change, and my hair will change. In four years, I will be the age he was when he died. I already know I will feel sick. I will think, Hey, Ed! It’s me! We’re the same age now! Who would have ever thought this would happen?!

Well, no one. It’s not normal to reach the same age as your older brother. It’s a void that always resurfaces when we get to his birthday, his death date, Christmas, and my birthday. Sadly, my birthday is another reminder every year that Ed is no longer here, and he’s the one person I know for certain will not be reaching out to me to say “happy birthday” ever again.

Wedding songs

Since the engagement, I’ve been subscribing to different wedding websites and their daily/weekly updates. They’re supposed to be giving me ideas for what to do for my “big day.” While it has certainly done this, it’s also clogged my inbox full of a lot of ideas, thoughts, and sayings that really are either not helpful at all or are so obvious that I’d have to think that the majority of people who read this must be stupid to otherwise not know this stuff.

The latest “cool” email I’ve received is titled, “We’re calling the best wedding songs of 2015 now.” Why would anyone want to choose a wedding song that is supposed to be an “it” song of the year? I thought that the first dance wedding song was supposed to be a song that was special and meant something to that particular couple? If you have been together for at least two years, wouldn’t your song… be a bit older than the year you are getting married? Why would you want your wedding song to be something that is just “in” for the moment or the year? I’d hope it isn’t a reflection of your union..

“Hi.”

I was thinking about Ed yesterday during all this wedding venue research, wondering how we are going to incorporate him into our day. And then last night, as though he’s been hiding from all the wedding research nonsense, he came back again in my dreams.

I enter a bright room, seemingly the room that I’d be in to get ready for my wedding day. There were large windows that allowed a lot of bright light to stream through. As I enter the room, I notice it’s a large round room with lots of people sitting and standing along the circumference, talking, getting ready, and adjusting their necklaces and ties. Ed is sitting by the doorway on a chair, and he’s adjusting the collar of his white button-down shirt. He has a tie hanging from his neck, and it looks like he’s about to put it on. He notices I am standing there looking at him, and he looks up and smiles at me.

“Hi,” he says to me.

“Hi,” I respond, not knowing what to say. I am confused because he is sitting there, alive and bright and smiling, and I was not expecting him. “You’re here…” I bend down and pull him into my chest. He doesn’t say anything and just hugs me back.

Bi-lingual/ESL courses in New York high schools

I went to my first in-person session of a mentoring program I am doing for high school students tonight. The goal for this program is to get every single mentee into college. That may not seem like a big goal if you come from some privileged middle class background the way I did, but after I came here today, I realized why this goal would be so ambitious.

Every mentor is assigned with a mentee, and usually when you begin, you start with them when they are in the 9th grade and stay with them as a mentor through their 12th grade and final year. I knew my mentee’s English wasn’t amazing from the e-mail exchanges we’ve had, but when we spoke in person, I realized that she almost never speaks English. I asked her about her classes, and she said that every single class is taught in Spanish, as that’s her native language. How is this possible, I thought in my head. This is a public school in the U.S. How could every single one of her classes be taught in Spanish? “What about English class?” I asked her. “What language is that class taught in?” “Spanish,” she said. “English is taught in Spanish.”

So you get taught English in Spanish? I asked. “Yes,” she responded. “We mostly speak Spanish in English, but when we are reading text, we read in English.” No wonder her accent is so strong and she is so hesitant to speak in English. It’s because even in school, she doesn’t have any real place to just practice and speak in and be surrounded by English.

When I was learning French in high school, very little English was spoken in class. When we needed to figure out what a word meant, our French teacher spoke using French to explain what the word meant. In Chinese in college, especially in China, virtually no English was spoken. You learned Chinese by using Chinese and being forced to speak and listen to it.

I am so confused and sad now.

External caterers

Now I know why a lot of people just suck it up and pay the per person head count for the venue they choose. I just found out how painful it can be to source an external caterer.

One place I am looking at has a “preferred external caterer” list. If you do not use one of these preferred vendors, you will be charged an extra $1,000 AUD just for them to be vetted to ensure that they have their food license and follow proper sanitation and food guidelines.

Some of these caterers do not offer alcohol. Some offer just beer and wine. What does that mean — I have to source my own alcohol? Oh, and then some don’t offer dessert table spreads and just do plated desserts (of course, this usually costs more). And if you choose external catering, the actual venue just charges you an insanely high “venue hire” fee, and all they will do is literally give you the space, tables, and cutlery (and the paper towels in the bathroom… yes, it’s that explicit and noted in the “what’s included?” section of the form. They won’t cut your cake. They certainly won’t serve it. And they will charge you a per-hour fee for added security. I guess hiring an external caterer increases the chance of crime?!