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I found a rather nice little food outlet today. Well just about 20 min ago. It's usually just a little food market/cafe type. They happen to have a Peet's there now. I'm very happy. I'll be happier if they would learn the proper ways to make a good cup of latte. Fresh espresso please. Please. I've discovered it's really an art to make a good cup of espresso fragrant and not bitter. It's easy really... just don't overcook the damn espresso. Those kids have a lot to learn. But still, I am happy there is such a place on campus.

Speaking of the campus, the place is pretty damn small. One big square. I think Poly was a little bigger. Which is weird because I've always considered that one small. Another reason may be because this is on flat land and not hilly. It's easy to get from one place to the other, it's just stairs that are killing me. haha. I'm so out of shape. I laid about in the house yesterday and did pretty much nothing at all. I felt sort of guilty about it I think. Wasn't the best way to spend my time. Especially when there really is so much to do. I did have a very good dinner last night thought. Went out with Minna. We never hang out anymore. The whole opposite schedule thing doesn't really help. She works weekdays and I have school weekdays plus work on weekends. Go figure. I can't really do anything anymore. Which is fine by me. Gets me on track. I had some pretty good sushi last night at Tsunami on Castro Street in Mountain View. I will probably stick with some variation of California Roll next time plus a few pieces of Nigiri. I think they put too much breading on anything they fry. So yeah, no Spider Roll or Amaebi next time. I liked the Nigiri part of the Amaebi, just not the fried. It was ok. I had a variation of the Kamakazi roll, which was decent, and a piece of the Submarine Roll (baked scallops on top of a California Roll), which was probably the best thing on the plate. I've been spoiled by going to Kitsuo so much =P At any rate, it was a good dinner, we even went for some Gelato and walked up and down the street for a bit. I don't do that enough, need to do more of that.

I had a couple of epiphanies last night.

First of all, I will never get anything done without a plan. I know I've talked about that before, but it's more clear to me now on how to rectify that situation. I need to plan out my day the night before. I need a clear set of goals I need to accomplished, and at least some sort of plan on how to accomplish them. For example, to have a list of all the school work I need to do is not enough. I have that on my laptop, and I never cracked it open. I need to have an action list where I specify on what I need to do for the day. Get up early, look at the list, get some homework done, go to the gym, etc, etc. It's all because I'm too damn lazy to plan my day when I wake up. So yeah I have to start that tonight. The only days where I don't really need to do that is when I have class, especially today. I barely have time to breath, much less screw around and do nothing.

Second, one of the best perks of saving money is that I can eat whatever the hell I want, on the financial basis. I had this big discussion with Minna last night about that. If I buy less useless random crap that are expensive, I save money. The money I save can get me good things to eat, which is the most satisfying thing for me. I'm all for instant gratification, but here's the thing. I can buy stuff on impulse, but I usually won't consume it right away. It's fun when I make the purchase, it's like, oh I can use that eventually. But with food, I order it, I eat it right away. What better then to look at the menu and order whatever the hell I feel like at that moment without considering the price (much). In the last three months I have been a lot more careful with my money. I have put a lot more back into my savings account and have not touched it. That still gave me room to spend. I have not purchased anything just because I think it would be cool to have and not use. I was able to hold off my impulse and wait until I go to the mall with my parents and have them purchase it (I'm bad like that). There are just so many things. To me, going to Target or Costco is a bit therapeutic. I would pick up a whole bunch of stuff, and the prices would force me to think of alternatives. For example, I went into Target to get a label printer the other day. The printer itself was 18 bucks and refills were 15. I stared at it for 2 min, put it down, and picked up a pack of sticky labels for $1.77. Hell I can hand write. I am on track on my rough savings goals I think. I am putting money into my savings. 20% of my paycheck goes into stock purchase. 5% of my check goes into my 401k, and there's 4% matching that is 100% vested. I don't have that much school left. I'm thinking at year and a half to two to finish. I'm hoping by the time I finish I would have enough money for a down payment for a house or a condo. I know I can borrow against my 401k for my first home, and I can always sell my stock, which pretty much has a guarantee gain. I actually have very good credit, so getting a loan shouldn't be a problem once I get a steady job. So here I am, investing on my financial future.

Third and most important, I have to reserve an hour and a half of my day for body care. I kid you not. And I'm not counting the hour I need for light exercise. So that makes it two and a half hours of taking good care of myself. I have found that it is a great thing to be self centered. I have been slacking on my exercise, I need to get to that. I have my daily/weekly goals set, and it is piling up. I need to really get around to knocking those goals down, double time. I was doing pretty well for a little while, and it's building back up again. Makes me a little sad, but hey I know for a fact that I can do it. That is motivation enough. I just need to be a bit more diligent about it. It's hard when I don't have a workout partner, but hey I have done it before without one. So I like taking a 20 min hot shower. Do the whole rinse repeat thing on my hair, because it gets oily as hell. I was going through my bin of body care products the other day, and I have so much body cream. There is really no excuse for me not to use it. Takes me a while, but it's needed. What does this all mean? I can't take showers in the morning anymore... haha.... I'm too lazy to wake up an hour and half earlier in the morning just to take a shower. Seriously. By the time I finish lotioning up my hair would be dry. I'm thinking about getting a hair cut sometime soon. I don't want to chop off too much, I do want to grow it out a bit. But I do need to get it trimmed. Eventually. I also did a little bit of research yesterday and I found a place to get a massage at Santana Row that sounds reasonable. I might book one in a couple of weeks. I've been wanting one for a long time. One good thing about that place, they don't take tips. Love it. We shall see.