umm, ok I have nothing to update about. I guess you never really know how boring your life is until you have to start blogging and discover that there is nothing remotely interesting going on in your life. I think Bangoo has a more exciting life than me. Who knows what kind of shenanigans she gets into while Im stuck in the office all day?! Today I came home and found her modeling a headdress. omg so cute!



Hmm, I wonder if she has a ferboy that she is trying to impress!?



I was reading FML today, and I swear this entry came from Carol!

"Today, my boyfriend told me that we would be living out one of his fantasies. When I showed up, ready to go, he began playing the theme song to Star Trek and asked me to call him Mr. Spock. FML"

Carol, do you have a secret boyfriend we don't know about!?

GARDEN STATE

Hello from America Carol! I hope you are having an awesome time in China and meeting lots of cute and nubile young college men. To teach of course!

I had to leave Bangoo for a bit so I asked Judy to watch her. Bangoo called me crying, she was so upset that you were not her babysitter!! She really misses you!!

Anyways, NJ is the. boringest. place. on. earth. I was hoping I would meet a cuter version of Zach Braff here so we could re-create our very own Garden State but no such luck. I guess I am not cute and quirky enough for the boys here. Oh well. Finding true love would be nice, but hanging out alone in my hotel room is a very close second.

Anyways, I miss you and I hope you are remembering what we talked and prayed about before you left! See you soon!

WHERE THERE IS CAKE, THERE IS LOVE

Just got back from dessert at La Duni! For some reason, our warm chocolate pudding cake didn't quite taste the same...I think it was sad because it knew Carol wasn't there.

I've actually never been to La Duni with Carol, but everytime I eat there, I think of her. Things that make me gain weight remind me of Carol. I must have really missed her tonight because the button on my jeans were seriously clinging on to dear life. They were about 2 bites away from exploding.

I think Im rubbing off on Bangoo. I came home to find her stuffing her face :(

Anyways, so my roommate is leaving me! Again! Which means I'm 0 for 2. Why do all my roommates leave me?? I'm a nice person, I swear! Someone come live with me!

Are you a girl? Do you love ferrets & think their poop is the cutest thing in the world? Do you love the sound of multiple alarms continuously going off for 30+ minutes at 7am every morning? If so, come live with me! I am the best roommate ever! I even have references!* No divas please. There can only be one diva in Apt 603, and her name is Bangoo.


*references may or may not be human

Yesterday Carol and I had a "Spock Worship Night" (sorry Jesus - her words, not mine) with little Missy. We saw Spock's brain get stolen by a group of beautiful women whose brains had atrophied to the point where they could only survive by stealing other people's brains to tell them what to do. Yes, that really was the plot. We were not impressed. We had to find other ways to entertain ourselves, like watch Missy play with ice.

So my incredibly smart friend from Wharton, who is staying with us for the summer while interning at Frito Lay, just gave me a bag of giant Cheetos, since apparently they shower their employees with chips everyday. I can't wait to eat it! I think I'll bring it to bible study because keeping all that cheesy goodness to myself would be too selfish. Unfortunately, they are not as big as this Cheeto. OMG... so jealous!



I'm totally just kidding. There is a limit to my gluttony and that limit is in the shape of a giant cheeto.

Oh, who am I kidding? I would totally eat it if it was in front of me :(

Ps. Carol, here's that guy you were drooling over last night:

I dragged Carol to see Star Trek with me this weekend for a 2nd time bc I could not get Captain Kirk out of my mind! She totally loved it and is now contemplating moving to the planet Vulcan to stalk Mr. Spock. I don't have the heart to tell her that the planet no longer exists...she will never be able to fulfill her dreams of having little Vulcan children :(



We also pigged out on fried food foods (as usual) and talked about saving the world (if only someone would hire us!)


Our dinner. Seriously, everything is fried!! We even had a basket of fries! I can always count on gaining a pound or two when we hang out. I really have to start limiting my dates with Carol - all this grease is not good for my heart!! But you know what is good for my heart...

FAREWELL BANGOO!

Sad news! I have to leave Bangoo for 4 whole days!! Carol was kind enough to agree to babysit and house-sit for me this weekend, though Im a little worried about what will happen between her and Bangoo. To Carol's credit, she's babysat Bangoo before, but that was while we were roommates! Maybe the fear of me extracting revenge on her in her sleep prevented her from torturing Bangoo then.

I fear only one of them will be alive when I return. Im not sure who I'm rooting for yet.

Bangoo begged me to take her along - she really loves to travel. She tried to stow away, but I am way too smart to fall for her tricks.

I know her plan! She wants to be the First Ferret!

What a jerk! Always trying to leave me :(

Speaking of things leaving me, its time to say goodbye to frivolous celebrity gossip! I received my last issue of Us Weekly this past weekend. Sad times.



Im off to DC!

Carol, take good care of Bangoo!!! Bangoo, don't kill Carol!!

TIME TO GET SERIOUS

I spent a good portion of today feeling sorry for myself but after reading FML and FAIL Blog (thanks XY!) for over an hour, I feel much better. Ok, my life sucks, but not as much as some people's. Its all about perspective. I think I moped so much today that even Jesus rolled his eyes at me.

One of the (many) great things about living with Carol is that I could always talk to her about my walk with God, and she was always there to encourage me and help strengthen my faith. One of my favorite memories of Carol was just a few weeks after we had moved in together. I had (stupidly) agreed to share my testimony, even though I hate hate hate speaking in public. The days leading up to it were so stressful. I mean, I love what God has done in my life, but sharing something so personal, along with all my insecurities about myself and my faith, was scary.

There were a lot of tears that night - talking about how God found me always makes me really emotional - but Carol really pulled through and stayed with me all night (until her 9:30pm bedtime, anyways) to make sure I was ok. The next day, I came home from work to flowers and a card at my door.

"You'll do great tonight. Remember - you're just a reflector - let God's glory shine! Be brave & strong. I know you can do it!
I appreciate you, Nataly."

I'm looking at the card right now :) Thank you Carol! I miss you!

Carol! I just got back from late night pigging out on chips, queso and cake and it really made me miss all our pig-out sessions :( I mean, miss you in a totally platonic and appropriate way, of course.

Since everyone thinks I'm creepy and in love with you :(

Im sorry, I have nothing else interesting to write about. My brain and tummy are full of cheese and chocolate.

Unlike Carol, my new roomie is not a vp of the i heart bangoo fan club. I mean, she doesn't even want to be a member!!



Poor thing - she just wants to play! Ever since Carol left, Bangoo has not been the same. All she does is sit around and drink. Im starting to worry about her! :((

Why is it that we can never fully appreciate what we have until its gone?

I took for granted Carol's tree-hugging, granola-loving ways while we lived together, and often made fun of her behind her back for being such a hippie. Two weeks after our separation, I now see that she was a gift sent from God, on a mission to save our world from a very inconvenient truth.

With Carol gone, the Stars and Us Weeklies just pile up, waiting to be recycled (I try to keep the Forbes around so people will think I'm smart when they come over). My usual 20 minute hot showers have somehow turn into 40 minute scalding hot showers. I looked at my desk this morning at work and realized I had 4 stryrofoam products on my desk!!

Carol's little heart would break if she knew.

In my defense, I needed them all for very different reasons! One cup had milk, one had water, one had coffee, and I needed a little styrofoam bowl for my cereal! Sigh. If only Carol was around to guilt-trip me into believing that I am single-handedly destroying the Earth with my excessive styofoam usage.

Which I probably am. Oh well! If the Earth dies tomorrow, then sorry guys!! At least you won't have to worry about global warming anymore!

REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD

After nearly two weeks of separation, Carol and I were reunited yesterday at her graduation!


It was a little awkward, kind of like running into an ex boyfriend after the break-up - like, OMG! how do I look?? Do I look fat? Does she look happier than me??

Well, she indeed looked very happy! Look how holy she looks! She should have a little halo on her head.




Bangoo was soo excited to attend graduation, since she doesn't get to attend public events very often. Even though she's a (very cute) weasel, people always mistake her for a R-A-T, which really hurts her feelings. She's strong, but the tears still come at night.

extreme close up of Bangoo in the audience. She spent sooo long making her banner!

THE GAMES WE PLAY

Today I am going to take a break from blogging about Carol and focus on another superbly awesome female in my life. Heartbreaking, I know. Today, I want to talk about...

wait for it...

Bangoo!!

So Bangoo and I have this little game we like to play - she steals my wallet and I steal it back from her. I've had a little black Coach wallet for the past 4 years and for some reason, she loves it! Every chance she gets, she will steal it and hide it from me. Once she hid it so well that I couldnt find it for 3 months! I even had to cancel all my cards and get a new driver's license! I later found out that she had hidden it under my bed, but inside my mattress! So smart, right? She takes after her mama (me, not Mrs. Bangoo).

Anyways, so we go back and forth, stealing and re-stealing. I'm usually pretty good about checking my bag to make sure my wallet is in there but I woke up so late for work today, I just ran out the door. foreshadow

So for lunch I wanted to try this new dumpling place that opened in downtown in the Republic Tower. So I make the 15-minute trek over there and was sooo excited with the menu!! I love dumplings!! I take forever to decide what to order and in the process, hold up the line behind me and aggravate everyone. I finally place my order and go up to pay when OH NO!!! I dont have my wallet! That darn Bangoo! So I had to cancel my order and give back my tea :( Saddest day ever.

The guy at the register felt sorry for me and told me to go ahead and keep my order and that it would be on the house, but I felt so bad that I insisted that I would just come back the next day. So now, I have to walk 15 minutes over there again tomorrow to prove to them that I'm not some vagrant living in downtown. Sigh.

And all the while, Bangoo was at home laughing at me.



Bangoo: 1
Me: 0
Carol: -154,500,000 (for leaving us)

you know, some shows are just not fun watching alone. I tried watching Ni Hao, Kai Lan the other day, and its just not the same without Carol guiding me. I mean, Kai Lan never waits for me!! How do I know if I'm saying it right? Some of us are not as smart as you Kai Lan! Geez.



I also watched How I Met Your Mother tonight (best show ever!) and I had no one to look over and scream OMGGGG with at the surprise ending! So, is she the mother??! Is she??? Somebody tell me!

When Carol lived here, she would always do pushups before bed, and sometimes she would encourage (i.e. threaten) me to join her. So today, I am going to do 10 push ups!! These push ups are dedicated to you Carol. You know how lazy and out of shape I am so you better appreciate it.

20 seconds later

omg that was torture. cant type. too tired. arms falling off. help

THE FIRST WEEKEND

I survived my first weekend without Carol! It was tough, but somehow, I got through it. Bangoo was soo encouraging! Her little paw wiped away all my tears.

So an anonymous friend, who I will call 중국 소녀, asked me this weekend if I would continue my blog now that our "end of an era" countdown was over. She then proceeded to wonder aloud what Carol was doing at the moment, with a dreamy, far-off look on her face, while lying in my bed. Ummm, creepy!! I need to watch out for that one - next thing I know, her and Carol will be roommates! Hmmpph!

Im sure all 2 of my loyal readers will be devasted if I stop blogging. Plus, now that Carol is SO far away, I can update her on my super awesome life! I just have to remember not to sound too creepy.

Carol! A new US Weekly came in this weekend and you weren't here to read it! You were also not here to read FML with me yesterday; its just not as funny reading it without you. I also made some brazilian cheese bread and you were not here to roll your eyes at me disapprovingly while glaring at my steadily-increasing waistline. I miss your tough love.

Oh yeah, Bangoo had something she wanted to say to you.

THE BIG WITHDRAWAL

I have good news and bad news.

Good News - I don't have swine flu! Woohoo! Came down with a sore throat and cough yesterday and I was so sure it was the flu. Luckily, it was just a cold.

Bad News - I had to work from home today and Carol wasn't here to play with me! SO SAD! Bangoo cried all morning!

Carol, we miss you! Come back!!!!

THE BIG DAY!

Today is Carol's last night in Dallas!! The time has finally come for us to part :( SAD!!!

Today, we celebrated an awesome four months roommate-hood by spending the whole (almost) day together. First up was Big Mama Chicken and Waffles. It was seriously everything I had hoped for in a drive thru fried chicken and waffle stand. Full of greasy deliciousness. Awesome rating = 6.5/10




Next up was a 10 minute grease-induced food coma for me, then off to Monsters vs Aliens in 3D on IMAX! Carol made me stop by a store so she could buy some tea to smuggle in the theater, and ended up having "an accident" in my car!! OMG! My luxury Honda Civic!!

Anyways, back to the movie - it was such a cute movie, even though somebody (who is not me) fell asleep!! Awesome rating = 7.5/10



Next up was an hour of Facbook for me, and an hour of Brickbreaker and WordMole for Carol. I know...LAME! Awesome rating = 3.75/10

Last stop of the day - No. 1 RISE Souffle in Dallas. I've always wanted to try this place and Carol was kind enough to be my date tonight. It was amazing. Seriously. I want to move in and live at RISE and eat there morning/noon/night. It was so good. Im sure the waitress thought I was straight from China because I spent the whole night taking pictures. Awesome rating = 9.25/10

bread guillotine

french onion soup

Carol's escargot souffle

my blue crab & boursin cheese souffle

Grand Marnier souffle

the beautful French interior

603 love

the impossibly cute lounge in the bathroom

Our day of fun is over and its so sad to think that Carol will be completely gone by the time I get home from work tomorrow!! But there is always a silver lining - we get to spend our last night together!! Woohoo! Time to snuggle!! Awesome rating 7,980,542/10

T MINUS 1 DAY

The time is almost here to say goodbye to the best roomie ever!!

I mean, how do I say goodbye to what we had? All the good times that made us laugh, outweigh the bad. I thought Carol and I would get to see forever but forever has gone away. Sigh. Its so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road is going to lead, all I know is where we've been and what we've been through. If we get to see tomorrow, I really hope its worth all the wait because its so hard to say goodbye. Ill take with me the memories; Carol will be my sunshine after the rain. Why is it so hard to say goodbye to yesterday??!

Anyways, I am taking some time off work tomorrow to have one last day to hang out before Carol moves a whole 25 miles out of Dallas and out of our lives. This feels like a bittersweet break-up, only we are not going to end up hating each other and trying to make each other jealous with our cool new roomies.

Well, maybe a little.

Hmm, actually, maybe a lot, after this video that Bangoo just showed me!!




She is so hurt :(



extreme close up of her pain. Somebody call the SPCA!!

T MINUS 2 DAYS

Carol doesn't know this, but I always sneak in her room at night to watch her sleep*. She just looks so peaceful and happy when she is sleeping, unlike her usual grumpy self.

I wonder what she's dreaming about??



me probably...


or is she dreaming of cuddling with Bangoo?? omg look at that adorable face (Bangoo not Carol!)



hmm actually, this is more like it...



Carol found a new job today. An AWESOME job, I might add. I think Im going to apply to be her apprentice. I want my own business card too.



*totally just kidding. I am not that creepy. I don't always watch her sleep, just once or twice a week**.




**jk

T MINUS 3 DAYS

Wow. there are so many boxes in the apartment. Thuy has started to move in and its freaking me out a little. I already have everything just the way i like it, but it looks like its all going to change. I am not in the mood to redecorate anymore!

This weekend I grilled for the first time in a loooong time! I forgot how fun it was! And how easy a gas grill is compared to a charcoal grill! If I didnt have to worry about my health and/or physical appearance, I would totally eat mexican kalbi every day for the rest of my life. It is SO good!



Only 3 more days until Carol leaves and she's hasn't even been home!! Sad!
The good thing about Carol leaving is that I can finally start my diet after she leaves! This extra layer of insulation around my waist is so not good for my love life (among other things). I need to put Bangoo on a diet too - shes having some trouble squeezing in her usual hideouts!

T MINUS 4 DAYS

Bea serenading Carol!

6:50pm - I am ferociously preparing for our fiesta tonight! woohoo!

Pirate Wang says hello!!

T MINUS 5 DAYS

ommggggg I am famous!! I can't believe someone dedicated a blog to me! This is seriously the best day ever. Now I know how Brangelina feels!

http://hinataly.blogspot.com/

I am so conflicted. I should be happy that today is Friday, but that also means that this will the my last Friday living with Carol! Bangoo is in mourning right now. She refuses to come out of her race car bed.

This weekend I want to go eat at Big Mama's Fried Chicken and Waffles - if I can convince Carol to come with me. She promised me she would, but she always backs out. Just like she promised to give me her Kitchen-Aid but took it home instead! Or that she promised that she would take care of Bangoo forever! Sigh. Carol - her name is Latin for Indian giver of promises and dreams... <3 Ngoc

l uo4 i!OI!OI 0uiosjg meanie!! 9&#487w <3 Bangoo

T MINUS 6.5 DAYS

One of our last dinners together in our bright yellow dining room. so sad.



On the menu I specially prepared for Carol was Thai shrimp curry soup, seafood salad on mini toasts, Brazilian cheese bread, lemon pesto tilapia on a bed of wilted spinach, garlic green beans and aged water. Awesome, right? I know, I am the coolest.


Since we decided earlier in the week to throw out our ridiculous detox plan (it was Carol's idea) and gorge ourselves for our last week together, we finished off the night with chocolate cake and ice cream. YUM! We are well on our way to becoming 2 BBW! Any takers???



Day 7 is almost over. My documentary-style countdown of Apt 603 continues tomorrow. <3 Ngoc

u4y %$#O$Y o ]or pir =993 <3 Bangoo

T MINUS 7 DAYS

Carol, don't leave!!!

I woke up this morning from a terrible nightmare that my awesome roommate was leaving me for her cloister. Thanking God that it was just a dream, I peeked in her room and remembered...sigh. Its true! Her empty room stared at me, mocking my tears.

In about 7 days, there will be a brand new person living in her room - a person who (though fabulous in her own right) is not Carol. Who will force me to do push-ups every night? Who will recycle all the usless paper and magazines we have? Who will I talk to when I've had a bad day? Who will I watch Ni Hao, Kai Lan with???

Carol, this blog is dedicated to you and the 4 short (but awesome) months we lived together! <3 Ngoc

khsg 587!!!? o &*$ klaekt;#EJ;39 njk <3 Bangoo