Election Day Recap

On Tuesday we had our mini-election day party. There were 4 of us [me, G, Rob, and Chris] +Andy. It was crazy and hectic. Being on the West Coast meant many states were already being called by the time I got off work.

But first things first, after dropping Andy off at my mom's I headed up the street to vote. I waited almost an hour, but it went by fast. Took me all 2 minutes to vote since I had my sample ballot filled out. I then decided I was already pretty late to work so I stopped at Starbucks for my free tall coffee and some tea since I was getting sick.

At lunch I went to my mom's so that she, my brother, and sister could go vote and I would watch the kids. They only waited 5 minutes! Before heading back to work I went down to the democratic headquarters [which was crazy busy] to buy more t-shirts. They were all sold out. But I was able to get Andy I tee to match my own. Later G told me that since the official one's were sold out he would get a bootleg one from some guy at the gas station. Here's our official Election Day family portrait!


Isn't Andy cute! This kid is all smiles these days.

I was so tired by this point. After work I rushed to the grocery store to buy supplies for our party...last minute, I know. I then rushed home to get dinner started. The menu wasn't patriotic, but the main dish is worth mentioning. I made sausage meatloaf cupcakes with creamy potato frosting. They were so good! My brother really wanted me to try this recipe after seeing it in my Rachel Ray Everyday Magazine [October 2008]. They were super easy to make and were enjoyed by all.

So the plan was to take weak jello shots every time a state was called - a red shot for the red states and blue for the blue states, but that didn't happen. First, we were all too tired and it was a work night. Second, G made the strongest jello shots ever! Great for a real party, but not for our purpose of taking many in a few hours. I also never got around to making my drink of the night - I Can See White Russians From My House. I bought all the supplies but was too tired and my throat was really hurting by the end of the night. I felt too sick to drink.

All in all we had a good time flipping between CNN, NBC and ABC news. I got chills and a little teary when CNN called it for Obama. I just knew he had to win. I had an overwhelming feeling of confidence in Obama a week ago. That's when I knew he was meant to be President. Call me crazy...but I told G and my sister. They are my witnesses.

So here we are. A new time, a new beginning for our great country. Soon, Barack Obama will take office. The man that was able to inspire hope in billions of people throughout the world.

Yes We Can

October

I love October. It's my birthday month, it marks the start of fall, it's breast cancer awareness month, the menu changes and I want to bake more, and we have Halloween. Oh - and pumpkin pie....mmmmm...pie. I have a special place in my heart for pumpkin pie. This is my favorite time of year. It's this time of year that I wish I lived somewhere where I could actually experience the seasons. The changing color of leaves, the crisp air. No. I live in sunny ass California...where we have had record heat since October began. Apparently we got a "break" from the heat today, it only got up to 90 degrees. Whoop-de-doo Bazel. And it "might" rain Saturday...sprinkle is what it should say. Only enough to get the car even more dirty. But enough about that. Let's talk about the good stuff.

I love a good fall harvest. The new pie flavors, the warm stews. Flavors are so much more intense during this time, and I love it...being a Scorpio and all. I'm going to make sure to really enjoy this fall using all of my senses. Seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting. Love it.

27.5 days until my birthday! I'll be 27, young enough to still look forward to a birthday. Although I can't imagine dreading a birthday ever. I love celebrating another year. I love looking back and seeing how much I have grown since my last birthday. Age is just a number. I look forward to all I still have to learn and experience.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month. This August marked my mother's 6 year anniversary as a breast cancer survivor. After year 5 the chances of cancer returning drop. In honor of this, all my posts will be in pink. Next year, my mom, sister and I have vowed to do the Race for the Cure. We will get a team together and raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The race will take place on Sunday, March 15, 2009 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Keep it in mind because I'll be coming after you to join our team and donate! Click here for more info.

ACTUALLY - after typing that last sentence I decided to actually sign up for the race and start a team page! So it's official! I've been saying I'm gonna do this race for many years and never get around to signing up, so this time it's official. I will be sending out emails to ask to join the team and/or to donate. So keep an eye on your inbox! You can also click on the thermometer on the right to donate.

I'm so excited for this! I <3 October. :)

Mommy Movie Monday

Today I went to my first Mommy Movie Monday at the Krikorian Theater in Old Town Monrovia. The lights aren't completely turned off, the sounds is turned down just a notch, and babies and young toddlers are free to roam. Andy and I were joined by Diana and her sweet daughter Lara. The movie was at 10am and I was very sleep deprived, but after some coffee and just plain excitement of returning to the movies woke me up. The movie of the week was Ghost Town. It was very funny and touching. One of the few movies that has made me laugh out loud. Then it got sad, and I cried...thank gawd Diana was also on the verge of tears. Didn't feel so stupid.

Our kids were little angels. Even Lara, who Diana says usually has to be chased around, just sat close by and kept quiet for the most part. Andy woke up halfway thru and ate and starred at the giant people. He was so amused by the giant screen. I fear his love of television is growing.

After the movie we grabed lunch at a sushi restaurant near by named Mikomi. Really good sushi at a decent price [pricer than my fav spot Ichima].

Every time I hang out in Old Town Monrovia I love it more and more. It's so quaint and far from the over-crowded streets of Old Town Pasadena [my 1st home]. The best part is the free parking! 90 minutes on the street, and sections of 3 hour and 8 hour parking in the lots located on the side streets. My goal is to make it to the Monrovia Family Festival and Farmer's Market that happens every Friday from 5pm to 9pm. I have a wedding to attend this Friday, but hopefully next Friday will work.

It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again next week! Thanks Diana!

Happy 1st day of Fall

Caffeine Buzz

These two were made for each other. How I missed making espresso at home. I bought some illy espresso coffee at Fresh & Easy and it is the best! I have tried many different brands of espresso and this beats them all...of course...right? At almost $13 a can it is expensive, but oh so worth! I love sipping espresso from my little espresso cup & saucer set from Crate and Barrel. My sister loves it too and I can't wait for her to come over so we can enjoy it together.

Side note: I had 3 espresso cups....and....um...yeah....I thought my head might explode. It felt so weird. At least I'm not sleepy!

I mentioned Fresh and Easy. It a grocery store in our neighborhood. It reminds me of Trader Joe's and Costco put together. I love it! They sell their own brand food, but also normal stuff you would find at any grocery store [i.e. lunchables, Lays chips, Coke, Tide, Corona]. Prices are great. It's pretty small and there are only self check-out stands. I like them. It is not a one-stop shot for me, but it's on my way home when I take Foothill and it is defintiely worth the stop. I'll still be at TJ's [which is about 3 blocks from me] but I like being able to find national name brand items at a competitive price along with other specialty items.

Random Doings

I've been wanting to blog about The Peach Cafe in Monrovia. G and I had breakfast there on Sunday and it was sooooo good! We had to wait a while for a table [went during their Sunday rush hour] but it was so worth it. When we were paying the owner handed us a take-home menu and told us to call in before so that our table would be ready the next time. Assome!

It's a small place. They have a few tables outside which are nice on a non-hot humid morning. I don't have pictures because I can't find my camera and I was too hungry to think about my cell phone. But G had an omelet with a side of chocolate chip pancakes. Those pancakes were delicious! I had something off their weekend specials menu. It was the Peach Benedict - a giant waffle [smoked bacon, maple syrup, and cornmeal in the batter] topped with a huge piece of ham and 2 eggs covered in a cheese sauce [their version of hollandaise and so good]. I LOVED my dish. Wish they would have it on the menu permanantly. I guess it's better that they don't because then I wouldn't try any other menu items.

The Peach Cafe totally has that family-run feel. Everyone is very welcoming, especially the owner. They also found out we had just moved to the area and were gushing about how great the community was. I totally get that Sierra Madre vibe from this part of Monrovia. Love it.

If you're ever looking for a good place and are in the area - this is the place. I hear their panini's are great too!

In other news - This morning I'm taking the Rogue to get lojack and bluetooth installed. It's an all day job and they better have that rental car for me. West Covina is not my hood and I need to get shit done.

And speaking of the Rogue, it does get good gas mileage. We filled up today and it was at about 260 miles. Sticker says it gets 26 miles to the gallon highway and 21 street. This is pretty darn close to what my TC was doing. I think my TC was doing about 280 on avg. And as you can see, we've had the car for exactly one week and have driven a crap load! Times are busy trying to get things ready for baby G's arrival....which could be any day now [if he makes an early arrival].

Hopefully I'll get all of baby G's clothes and bedding washed today at my mom's [at least the stuff that is up to 6 months]. I'll be meeting up with Diana later. Can't wait! And then maybe a trip to Ikea when we pick up the car [since it's just across the way] to get the remaining furniture pieces needed.

4x4

After a long ass day registering for our baby showers, G was rewarded with this. A 4x4 from In n Out. He also had animal style fries. What was I rewarded with? Krispy Kreme donuts! I had been thinking about them since yesterday. It being national donut day today I figured it was the best day to get em. Plus, we were in Burbank at the new Babies R Us (which had its grand opening today).

We're now heading home to enjoy our donuts and watch "Sweeney Todd". Maybe we'll also watch "Charlie Wilson's War" if I don't pass out. And don't worry folks. I have Krispy Kreme once a year...if I'm lucky. I promise Baby G won't come out obese.
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Hot Cars

If you're in the Pasadena area, there is a Ferrari car show on Colorado Blvd in Old Town. The street is closed from Fair Oaks Ave to Pasadena Ave. I won't be there. No thanks. To damn hot and I hate fighting for parking. But if you go, make sure to grab some frozen yogurt at 21 Choices. Mmmmm. I could go for some right about now.
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YouTube Tuesday [and some...]

This video is long, but it's interesting!



Hope you made it thru that.

I also wanted to blog about yesterday. Me, G, my bro, and Chris went to see a taping of the Jay Leno show yesterday. The guests were Robert Downey Jr [who is assome! I love him. He is just as hilarious in person], Carlos Men-steal-ia [whom we all hate and I originally boo'd but got the evil eye from security. So instead we opted to not clap or laugh at his jokes], and the musical act was Rascal Flatts [not a fan, but they were cool]. Overall the show was alright. It was mostly interesting to see how the show works behind the scenes. We all agreed Jimmy Kimmel is better.

After the show we had dinner at Philly's Best in Burbank. One of the maybe I think producers on the show owns this franchise in Burbank. They kept talking about it before the show and it totally brought back my yet unsatisfied craving for a cheesesteak [ever since watching Bobby Flay's Cheesesteak Throwdown].

My brother and I had the Philly's Best which included grilled onions, mushrooms, peppers, and american cheese. This was bangin'! I've never been to Philly so I can't compare, but this was damn good. G had the Philly with Cheese Wiz [steak and cheese]. Also very good, but not as flavorful as ours. Chris had the Philly with provolone. I would totally eat there again, but it's too far. Thankfully there is a Philly's Best here in Pasadena! It's on Raymond Ave by the Del Mar station. Owned by someone else, but the owner of the Burbank local asked us to visit this place as they just opened and need customers. BTW, the owner over at Burbank is totally cool. He talked to us while ordering and then came out to see how we liked our cheesesteaks. Oh! And the fries are good too. :) Can't wait to have another!

Philly's Best - Burbank, CA

1419 West Olive Street
Burbank, CA 91506
818-840-8700

Philly's Best - Pasadena, CA
at Del Mar Station

220 S. Raymond Avenue, Suite 102
Pasadena, CA 91105
626-449-2378

WEEKEND RUNDOWN

FRIDAY

On Friday I mentioned my stomach pains. By lunch time, that day, I was starving. I ate lots and felt much better the rest of the day. I don't know why I was having pains. But I had told my boss that I'd be taking a half day so I didn't go back to work. After lunch at Domenico's [on Washington Blvd] G and I began my hunt for an outfit for Saturday. We headed to Paseo as I had seen online that Motherhood Maternity had cute cheap dresses. But we quickly discovered the store is no longer there. Even though the website still says it is.

G took advantage of the early afternoon and the fact that we were right outside a movie theater and convinced me to see Iron Man. Truthfully, I didn't need much convincing. I really wanted to see this movie too. We both really enjoyed the movie. Definitely one of the best comic book movies so far [although I'll admit to enjoying the X-men movies]. And I luv Robert Downey Jr. His sarcasm is great.....just like mine. :-p

After the movie we headed to Old Navy to continue my search. Luckily Old Navy came thru this time and I was able to find a complete outfit! Here's what I got:

I wore a black short sleeved cardigan over the dress and topped it with a long silver necklace from H&M. G even picked out my shoes! I'm wearing the sandals again today. I love them...now...wasn't too sure at time of purchase.

After Old Navy we had a sushi dinner at Ichima. We then headed to Old Town to get Alejandra's gift [H&M gift card and the first 2 Gossip Girl Books]. Of course I had to get frozen yogurt at 21 Choices. I had the Mango Pineapple with chopped in fresh strawberries and blackberries. The yogurt tasted just like Malibu Rum! Yummy.

SATURDAY

I blogged a short recap with a pic from the confirmation. It was all lovely. Church was followed by a family dinner at my parent's home. Yummy red or white posole followed by a super chocolatey chocolate cake topped with fresh strawberries.

Here's a pic of myself with the my Confirmanti and her family. I look so short!
Oh! I did not end up watching the boxing match. But I heard it was pretty lame. Oscar shoulda TKO'd him.

SUNDAY
And of course lazy Sunday. In short, here's what I did.
- Had cereal with oatmeal for breakfast
- Watched TV
- Baked Oatmeal Cookies
- G came home with carne asada burritos
- Watched the Laker game
- TV
- G left to play a basketball game
- Brought home a so not even healthy dinner of McD's. So was craving the cheeseburger again.
- Watched bootleg copy of "Under the Same Moon" that G's dad had. Totally awesome copy! Loved it! Cried my eyes out.
- Watched Brothers & Sisters in bed.

Lazy right! I love lazy days. And now I'm too lazy to add links and proof read. :)

Fairy Godmother

Here is a picture of me and Alejandra just after she got Confirmed. I was tired after the 2 hour mass and starving. I have now enjoyed some nachos and a huge bowl of red posole. Yum!! Now I'm just waiting for cake.

Later tonight I'll be watching the Oscar De La Hoya fight that we recorded. And don't forget tomorrow is Game 1 for the Lakers vs the Jazz!

Peace
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WEEKEND RUNDOWN

This weekend was pretty chill. Friday we had dinner at my parents house [yummy sopes!] and then had "the guys" over for a Wii game night. Our friend Mike brought over his Wii and we played bowling, tennis, and golf. Wii is so much damn fun. I want one so bad, but we really can't afford it right now. I thought about adding it to our baby registry, but I got the stink eye from G. :( I was able to stay up till 12am! I guess it was because I was busy, otherwise I tend to crash way earlier.

Saturday I was all alone as G had to work 8-5pm. I made myself the most bangin' french toast using Trader Joe's Cinnamon Swirl Bread. OMG! Soooo good! Everyone must try this sometime. I had 2 giant pieces. i was only missing some fresh strawberries and powdered sugar to top it with! MMmmmmm...sugar. After watching some Food Network TV, I got my lazy ass up to get ready for the Festival of Books @ UCLA. I went with A and her mom. After struggling thru bad LA traffic, we finally made it around 2:30pm. Might've been closer to 3pm. But it was so damn hot on Saturday that by 4:30pm we were done! The festival was cool. Tons and Tons of tents with all kinds of books. Each tent has a specific topic. We even got a free English Qur'an, study bible, and Buddhism guides. :) I'm all about learning new things.

I did buy a couple of books, however, both A and I thought there would be way more discounts on books. Most stuff was full price unless you went to a specialty tent that was selling random books for about half off. Any how, I bought the cutest children's book - "Abuelita Full of Life/Abuelita Llena de Vida" by Amy Costales. It is a bilingual book and it is beautifully illustrated. This one was full price, but the author was there and she signed the book. She was totally cool too. She told me the stories behind her books. She has 2 other books and is working on her 4th. I plan to get her other book "Hello Night, Hola Noche."

I am starting to build our baby library. I have tons of books, but my focus is totally shifting on to our baby. I want him to have all the classics that I grew up reading, plus some new ones. Especially these bilingual books, since we plan on teaching him Spanish first and then English.

At one of the discount tents where all paperbacks were $7.50 I bought 2 books I've been wanting to read. "Paula" by Isabel Allende and "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. I wanted to and should have bought more, but my stack of books to read is getting too high.

That night we had a carne asada dinner at my father-in-law's house. Good times.

Sunday G worked till 1pm. I made more french toast [:))] and had a lazy afternoon. G and I had a late lunch at Tops. It was so hot! We drove by a few perspective apartments. I really liked one of them. Really nice, gated, and even though it's 3 stories it has an elevator [Big plus with a baby], and I think it's 11oos q ft. But we would also have to pay around $275 more per month for this place. Rent is not cheap in Pasadena! We want to move into a 2 bedroom before baby arrives. And a house is so not an option for us right now. Sad, but true.

We topped of the day by not making it to the 5pm mass and instead making some crab ceviche for dinner. It was too hot to make hot food. I also made myself some frozen virgin strawberry margaritas. So good! We watched A Scanner Darkly on Cinemax OnDemand. Weird movie, but interesting.

Nice weekend overall.

So is everyone ready for the Lakers to make their sweep today?!? Bring out the brooms!

Recent Addictions

- Frozen Yogurt from 21 Choices in Old Town*

Specifically dutch chocolate with fresh strawberries and raspberries mixed in.

- Listening to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard over and over! Plug it in here to listen.

Heard it on Jack FM on my way to work 2 days ago and I can't get it out of my head! I was totally rocking out to it!

- Twitter [back to constant twittering]
- Anything potato [fries, smashed, mashed, roasted, baked, etc.]*
- American Idol [even though Michael John is gone :(]
- Sunny D [smooth flavor]*
- Coco Krispies*
- The Hills [will always love this show]


*Pregnancy related a.k.a cravings.

And a shout-out to the best in the West!

Playoff time!

You know what I don't need?

LISTERIA! It really pissed me off to find out that fucking Vons reuses their day-old deli meat in their Paninis. Are you fucking kidding me?????

I was really craving a turkey Panini with tomato so I went to Vons at lunch time. I was disappointed to find out that they were not grilling their Paninis. instead they were just heating them up, so no toasty bread. Whatever, I really wanted it. And it was still good.

So I am chatting with my brother about how they don't grill anymore [he use to work in the deli dept at Vons] and he tells me that he doesn't trust those Paninis! That it's day-old meats and he remembers how the lady's, who still work there, use to handle the meat. OMG! I make a conscience choice to eat deli meat while pregnant. Sure...many books and doctors advice against it because you may get Listeria, but no all are against. The only consolation I have is that at least my turkey was heated, and therefore potentially killed any possible bacteria. But come on Vons....are you kidding me?

Today is the day I had my last sandwich [EVER!] from Vons.

WEEKEND RUNDOWN

Guess who didn't take any pictures in Vegas??? Me! I never once busted out my camera. I actually forgot it in the room most times. Oh well. We've all been there. Wait! I did take pics of our room because I liked the newly remodeled rooms at Treasure Island...or TI. I'll have to upload those tomorrow.

G and I decided on this last minute getaway on Wednesday. We had both been aching to get out of town and G finally had a 3 days weekend. So we headed out around 11:30am on Friday. And although it was technically a "vacation" for us, I am so not feeling refreshed. I told G I needed a vacay from our vacay. I was just soooooo tired everyday. [I need one of those lounge by pool/beach all day vacations] I wasn't use to all the walking and my feet were killing me everyday [Considering we hardly walked! Just walking thru a casino was enough]. I think the fact that my feet are growing [pregnancy effect] and I was all swollen up there [because I'm not swollen at home!] really made it all the more painful. And Saturday I tweaked my ankle some how and ended up semi-limping the rest of the weekend. It was weird because we were playing Wii at my cousins house [went to watch the UCLA game there] and I was sitting. I got up to go to the bathroom and had to limp. WTF? No reason what-so-ever. It sucked. But we still made the most of it.

So Friday we got in to Vegas at 3:30pm [with 1 restroom stop]. But after all the strip traffic and long check-in line, we didn't get into our room at TI until almost 5:30pm. I really wanted to shower before heading out since my alarm hadn't gone off that morning. But I was also starving! So we ordered a club sandwich with fries from room service and shared it. We then wondered around our casino an dplayed some Wheel of Fortune [my fav].

Around 8:30pm we headed to Mandalay Bay to meet up with my cousin V and her husband. We went to Red Square where her husband use to work [great Vodka bar]. We sat at the bar for a while catching up and drinking [non-alcoholic for me of course]. By 11:30pm we were pooped so we said our goodbyes. G was starving so we headed to In-n-Out, took it back to our room, ate, and passed out. We are sooooo not fun! ;)

SATURDAY

We were up early. Had a lame breakfast at Kahunaville at TI [we had a coupon]. We then too the tram to the Mirage next door and from there we walked over to Cesar's Palace. Our mission was to make dinner reservations at Mesa Grill [Food Network's Bobby Flay's restaurant]. We walked thru the never ending Forum Shops which pooped me out. By the time we found the restaurant we had already decided to go watch the UCLA vs Memphis game at my cousins house. We figured we wouldn't be back in time for dinner before our Cirque du Soleil show. However, after seeing the lunch menu and finding my favorite Cuban Style Burger I immediately wanted to at least have lunch there. You see, my brother makes these burgers. We saw Bobby Flay make them on his show "Boy Meets Grill" and it has become a staple. So I really wanted to try the "real" Bobby version. My dreams were wuickly crushed upon realizing the the Lunch menu was only served M-F and it was Saturday. Booooooo! No Cuban Style Burger on the weekend brunch menu. Double boooooooo!!! I was so upset. G even tried asking the Hostess if the kitchen would take a special request. No such luck. I thought about using the "pregnancy card" but knew that was a stupid idea since the Hostess had already said no. So we left and the whole walk back to the hotel I wrote Bobby Flay an angry complaint letter in my head.

We headed to my cousin's house. V's hubby bbq'd some awesome food for us. The UCLA loss was disappointing, but after a couple hours of Wii we all forgot about it. G and I took off at about 7:30pm to get ready for our Cirque du Soleil show. After sadly realizing that our first show choice was on break, LOVE, we bought tickets to Mystere.

I thought Mystere was really good. And guess what? No giant man baby! I think they took him out of the show. I was worried about watching this show because of this man. All I kept picturing was the scene from Knocked Up where the 2 guys head off to Vegas and do Shrooms and watch this show. I think my fav part was the music. No soundtrack all live. That was cool. I forgot to check the shop for a CD. And of course the crazy acrobats were awesome. I'd definitely recommend this show.

That night we went back to the room after the show to decide whether I wanted to make an appearance at the Playboy Lounge at the Palms. My cousin G [who works at the Palms] told us earlier Hef and the Girls were in town celebrating his 82nd b-day. He told us he could easily get us VIP if we wanted to go see them. But yeah, we went back to the room and while "thinking" on the bed I passed out. LOL. Plus, my only heels that i thought fit and had worn for Easter no longer fit. :( So I didn't feel like I'd be dressed up enough.

SUNDAY

I got up SUPER early [6:45am] to shower before my massage at WET Spa in TI. I had an 8am appt and had to be there at 7:30am [Saturday was all booked]. My massage was awesome! The lady who did it has been doing prenatal massages forever! She was really good. Especially because it wasn't just a back massage. It was a shoulder/neck, then both arms/hands, then both legs/feet, and then the back. Awesome. I was all oily afterwards so I took a quickie shower at the spa. They had everything you needed after you showered.....all products. Even hair straighteners and curling irons.

We then checked out early and headed out for a cheap buffet off the strip. Yeah that that didn't work. we went to the Orleans Hotel & Casino on the back of the strip and still paid $14 for the buffet! I was looking for an $8 buffet. Too bad we couldn't say never mind. And the buffet sucked. The plan was to hit up the new LV indoor outlets before heading out, but I was too tired to walk around. Especially after G happily donated our last $50 to Wheel of Fortune.

No traffic back. 2 pee stops. We were back by 4pm but stopped at BJ's for an early dinner. Good times all around. Wish I had more pics to jazz up this post.

Fun times ahead.

I got a lot of baby stuff on the brain today, so I'm finding it hard to post something non-baby related.

I am, however, excited to go see Wicked tonight! Full review on Monday. We also plan to hit up Joe's Pizza in Santa Monica after the show. I know they're open till like 2 or 3am. Ever since my brother text me from NYC telling me he was having an awesome slice of pizza from Joe's I've been wanting some. Hope it doesn't disappointed.

Oh yeah - and we're [G & I] officially switching to AT&T wireless tomorrow. Still deciding on getting the LG Shine or the Blackberry Curve [both in red]. I know....different phones, but I'm not sure I still want a Blackberry. I'd be ok with a simpler phone. We'll see!!


Have a good weekend peeps!

In Love...

...with my new lip gloss!! It's the Mentha Lip Tint No.1136 from Co Bigelow Apothecaries - sold at Bath & Body Works. My sister gave me one and I was instantly hooked! I am weary of new lip gloss since they usually just dry out my lips. But this is the best of both all 3 worlds! Not only does it moisturize my lips, but it also has a soft pink tint that is perfect for all day wear and not too noticeable. AND on top of that it's mint-infused for fresh breath! I have to stop myself from licking it off. And when it does wear off, my lips don't chap or flake!!! This is the best shit ever! So it sells for $7.50 and this weekend B&BW had it on sale for $2!!!! So I bought 4 more! Had to stock up. The crazy part is that ever since I got this I have not used my Carmex once [except before bed]!

I had a pretty good weekend. The highlight [sadly] was yesterdays brunch at the Cheesecake Factory with G. My boss gave me a $50 gift card to this joint. Sadly, I couldn't eat my breakfast because it instantly gave me heartburn. So I had the poached eggs that it was topped with [cleaned off the sauce] potatoes and G's english muffin. We then had the Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake. It was soooo damn good. I really enjoyed it. I was thisclose to regretting my pick because the Godiva Cheesecake looked so good, but my pick did not disappoint. The Kahlua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake had a bottom layers of rich brownie, then Kahlua Cheesecake, followed buy creamy chocolate mousse and Chocolate Ganache. I was afraid it would be too rich, but it so wasn't. It was a real treat since we rarely indulge in dessert.

Last night we were at my parent's house [i seem to be spending A LOT of time there] and my brother connected his laptop to the TV and we proceeded to watch an illegal version of the movie Gone Baby, Gone from the internet. It was very high quality - it looked damn good on the HD tv set. The reason I am confessing to watching movies online illegally is because this movie was so good, we all felt like mailing Ben Affleck our $10. I felt guilty. :(

WEEKEND RUNDOWN

I had a very good football filled weekend!

Friday
G & I had dinner at Barney's LTD. in Old Town. I had been craving a really good cheeseburger and ended up ordering the Samuel Adams battered Halibut & Jumbo Shrimp. Not sure how that happened. But it was so good! I think the last time I had fish & chips was over 2 yrs ago. After dinner we headed over to my job to do the end of month closing. We then headed home to watch a movie and call it an night.

Saturday
We got up early to get the apartment all cleaned up since we had some friends coming over for the big UCLA vs USC football game. People started showing up just before 1pm. We had about 9 people over. Out of those 9 there was 1 USC fan. Adee is not really a fan....she just goes to the school. It was a sad game. It wasn't even fun to watch. It hurt to see UCLA go down so bad.

After the game we headed to my parent's house for dinner. My cousin Chris came over with the new game "Rock Band." This game is so much fun! I actually played guitar and bass! But since the boys are the instrument players they made me sing the entire time. That shit was hard! But I did pretty good. I actually got 100% in vocals in one of the song [Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"]. I was amazed how you could actually learn to play an instrument with this game. If you play it enough. Especially the drums.
Sunday
Was spent just like any other sunday. G worked and I stayed home and lounged all day watching football. Later we ordered Chinese to watch the evening game. Very uneventful. Except I did stay up an watch Desperate Housewives and was PO'd when they didn't show who died at the end. Sure you can totally guess, but why couldn't they just tell us?!?!? Who knows when this show will be back! Argh! 1 entire hour of my life I will never get back....almost as bad as that hour during The Bachelor Finale. Disappointment.


I also wanted to take a moment and share just how amazing G's pesto is. He made it on Thursday and it was so good I could have ate the entire pack of pasta. I also made a Caprese salad that was deelish! I love G's pesto because it isn't nutty. I hate it when the pine nuts are whole or the sauce is chunky. G knows this and made sure it wasn't nutty. It was so perfect! Yum! I want more of this for dinner tonight! Thanks babe!

And here's a couple pictures of our wedding cake. I know a few of you had been wondering how it was. It looked pretty good considering.

Heroes Season Finale tonight! Boo that it's ending so soon. :(

What's going on in my hood

I'm having trouble getting together this post for the weekend rundown. There is just so much info and so many pictures and so little time. But, If I wait any longer then this post will never make it up. So here's a quickie on some random happenings.

Last night my cousin Chris brought over the new Scene It game. We played a few games before Heroes and it was soooo much fun! This game is awesome. Especially fun with the new special buzzers it comes with. Really adds to the game. I sucked so bad. I came in 3rd the first game and 4th the second game. Sucks. It sucks more when you think you're so good with movie trivia and your really not.

Only one more episode of Heroes left! Damn writers strike. I mean more power to them, but I hate having shows cut off before their time.


I also want to write up a little something about our first anniversary Sunday. We didn't have plans since G didn't know he'd have the day off until earlier that week. He later told me he had tried to get us tickets to go see "Wicked" but there weren't any non $200 tickets. Sp we started the day with brunch at the Twin Palms in Old Town. We were lucky to get a table without reservations. *Tip: Go early if you don't have reservations! Later on there are too many huge parties. So brunch was of course freakin good! They have the best food.

Some how, for the rest of the afternoon we ended up tv shopping. We're gonna be losing our borrowed tv [we were storing his dad's huge tv] so we need to buy our own now. We're looking at a 36" - 42" LCD HD TV. And we don't want to spend over $1300. Any suggestions?

Later in the evening we went for our usual anniversary dinner at Cafe Santorini [back in Old Town]. We've been coming to this restaurant for our anniversary for like 6 or 7 years now. We love this place and have endured the changing menu. It started off more Greek, then turned Mediterranean and now it seems to be more Italian/Mediterranean. But no matter what it's always great. And we always order at least one of the daily specials. They never disappointed. I have pictures and wanted to get more detailed on our meal, but I'm short on time now.

We also wanted to watch a movie, but the times were conflicting with our dinner plans. We ended up renting a movie. After wandering a tiny blockbuster for 30 min we finally agreed to rent "Evening." It was good....not great. We paired this movie up with some year old wedding cake and a glass of the same prosecco we toasted with at our wedding. I was so scared to try the cake, but it was actually good. It had 4 layers and the inner 2 layers were very good. The outter 2 were a bit on the too moist side. But the frosting withstood time and was the exact same texture. It was deelish! I have pics....but of course no time to post. Tomorrow!

All in all it was a great low-key anniversary. I loved that it was based around food.


That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll provide links to pictures. Which I think I'm gonna have to pay up and upgrade to flickr pro so i can continue to upload my hundreds of pictures. *Sigh*

Happy not going shopping day!!

Taking a quick minute for a quick post. My mac just picked up a wireless signal at home and I'm taking advantage!!!

Still stuffed from all the great food last night. The roasted garlic mash potatoes [with marscapone cheese] where a huge hit! G & I were very proud. I also ended up making the stuffing [casserole style] which must've turned out great too because there was non left over! After we all dined we enjoyed a little hookah. It was great to hang out with so many cousins, aunts, and uncles. It was a great thanksgiving overall. We even had an announcement that one of my cousins will be having a new addition to the family in about 7-8 months! Yay! Congrats to them. They have a beautiful little girl who is about to celebrate her first birthday!

As for today, as my title states...I will not be doing any shopping. I absolutely hate Christmas shopping and would never start on a day like this. After a bit of cleaning at home I'll be heading over to my friend A's house to hang out for a while. Eat, drink, and talk about our book club read.

Hope everyone continues to have a nice & safe thanksgiving weekend. I'll post pictures on Monday.



OH YEAH! A side note since i'll most likely not post until Monday. Tomorrow we have a quinceanera, and then Sunday is our 1 year wedding anniversary! It also marks 11 years of dating. But I guess we aren't dating anymore so I should stop counting? Maybe we can call it Anniversary 10.1 [10yrs dating 1yr married]. :-p I don't know. But I cannot believe a year has already gone by. Crazy how time flies. This year has been filled with many many ups & downs, but I could not imagine sharing it all with anyone but the one person who matters most to me, my husband Gerardo. I love you babe! Thanks for an amazing year filled with many memories. I don't believe the honeymoon is over....the good part is just beginning. Looking forward to a lifetime with you. :-x

Day before turkey day....

This may be my last post for the week, considering I don't have internet. But I think I'll be spending all day at my moms tomorrow [where I pay for their wireless internet :\] so i'll try to get a post in.

I'm a huge thanksgiving fan. I love food and I love the special dishes served on this day. I have always been super thankful that my Mexican family is not lame [it's lame to me] and makes things like tamales and posole on thanksgiving. I mean wtf is that about? This ain't christams! heeheehee For as long as I can remember my family [on my moms side] has been cooking up a very traditional thanksgiving meal. Turkey(s), ham, stuffing, mash potatoes, peas, and all the other trimmings. I love it! My mom makes a great pumpkin pie.

This year, the entire [50+ peeps] family will be gathering at my mom's house. I cannot imagine a thanksgiving where maybe just 10 family members gather around a table. My thanksgivings have always taken place in a very warm and decorated back yard [only in California I suppose - although i do remember a time when we use to celebrate indoors] with many tables and tons of food; where we all gather in a large circle before we feast, holding hands, and take turns giving thanks for whatever we wish. There are always enough leftovers for each family to take some home for the next day.

For the first time I will actively be participating in the food prep. G & I have offered to make roasted garlic mash potatoes. I felt that now that we were married we should contribute in some way. Feels good you know? But now I have to go brave the crazy supermarket crowds and buy about 18 lbs of potatoes and everything else that is needed. Wish me luck....I hate supermarket crowds.