YouTube Tuesday!

Thank you Darlene for having this on your blog. I *heart* me some TJs.



Song originally seen on Slashfood.com.

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.

Updates

A quick list of what's been happening since I haven't blogged in forever.

- We're stilling settling into our new apartment. Boxes still sitting around, but not too many left.

- Been sleeping on our assome mattress for almost a week now and it's so perfect. We love it. A cal king is a heavenly thing when both G and I need some extra space. Although I am having trouble finding a simple white bed skirt. At least in store. May just have to order it online.

- Maternity leave is cool. I have tons of time to go looking for all these things we still need. I also have time to go relax at my cousin's pool and do daytime stuff. I was always so envious of everyone that was always out and about on weekdays. I even get to catch up on movies by going to matinee shows! OMG and sleep! I get to sleep in. Not much of a napper these days, but it's nice to know I can. And I hardly sleep at night so I totally sleep in.

- I'm so boring. I have absolutely nothing interesting to say.

- I did LOVE Dark Knight. Best movie of the summer by far. Best movie of the year I think. It was long but I was glad it was. Wouldn't have been right to edit any of that out.

- I was at the pool on Tuesday and I think I got a little sun burnt becasue I have been very itchy since last night. Especially my poor belly that was already itchy. It was the first time my tiger belly had been exposed.

- I just told G that I have nothing interesting to say on here and he told me to talk about him.

- I have nothing interesting to say.

- He said I should have sports section. Yeah....maybe that would've worked when I actually kept up with sports. Not these days.

- I splurged today and got my eyebrows waxed at the Anastasia counter in Nordstroms at the Santa Anita mall. It was good, but not great. May be my eyebrows, but when I go thome and looked in the mirror there were quite a bit of hairs that had to go. So I cleaned it up myself. This girl at the counter is good, she does my friend A's eyebrows and they always look great, but it just didn't work with me. Still glad someone else did it and not me. I had been letting them grow out for a month so that I could wax them before baby G came.

- Just placed an order on babiesrus.com and used our 10% off completion coupon. Didn't even dent the total. Babies ARE expensive.

- It is now almost midnight. I should go to bed.

- Oh yeah...I miss baking. I should bake tomorrow.

The end of an era...

...the era of my Scion TC. :-(( Today......I said goodbye to my TC. My assome ass TC that I will forever love. But it was all for the better. Of course, I needed a more "family friendly" car. The 2-door was just not gonna cut it. So now I have a mommy-mobile....wow....saying that sure makes it so real...how much things are changing.

Introducing the newest member of the family:

'08 Nissian Rogue in Gotham Grey

We did some shopping at Ikea in West Covina, and then headed to Babies R Us where we finally were able to purchase the car seat that we have been waiting for since May. Afterwards, G decided that we should head to the Nissan dealership across the street to "see" the Rogue. Yeah...seeing led to test-driving which led to getting an appraisal on my TC which led to a quote which led to our magic number being offered that we could not refuse. Before I knew it we were shaking hands and emptying out my TC and driving off the lot in a new Rogue.

It all happened so fast [not really...more like almost 4 hours] that I became emotional about it all. The thought of saying goodbye to my TC was enough to bring me to tears. That TC was my first car purchase. All mine...in my name...with my momey. It was sad to see my TC go, but it had been my idea all along to get a bigger car. I seriously sat there in the showroom with tears running down my face. Would I have cried if not pregnant? Maybe....but the hormone overload just made everything so emotional. It was overwhelming. So many things have been changing....all good...but still....it's change....scary, exciting, worthwhile change.

So we have a new car. Wow...I mean YAY!

WEEKEND RUNDOWN

I haven't done a real blog post in FOREVER! So let's get to it before I run out of time since it was a long holiday weekend.

FRIDAY

Started my day at the mall shopping for a dress for my baby shower on Saturday and for gifts for my shower hostesses. After that I headed to my moms where we would be carpooling to Brookside Park over by the Rose Bowl [our usual 4th of July spot]. Park was pretty relaxing as it wasn't too hot. Lots of food. Fireworks were not as good as last year. And it didn't help that we happened to pick a spot right behind a tree that would block most of the fireworks show. Lame. Unfortunately G had to work all day so he missed all festivities. Sucks.

SATURDAY

Shower day! G and I headed off to Pasadena to kill some time before our shower at my parents house. We had lunch at Chipotle, stopped at target for gift bags and other misc. items, and then G came with me to get a mani-pedi. I went to a new place on Lake Ave and Union and I loved it! They give an awesome massage and do a great job for a good price. I hear they do great eyebrow waxing too. Might try it before I have this kid.

After giving G's mom a ride from work we headed over to our shower. There was quite a bit of people already there. It was decorated soooo cute! It matched our Safari theme for our nursery. There was a lot of green and brown which my sister described as our wedding theme but for baby. So true. I love that they used these colors since I'm not much of a blue fan. We had a great time and got a lot of good loot. I'll have a full re-cap on my Baby Blog tomorrow. I don't have the pictures from our photographer yet [my brother and his fancy camera].

Quick shout-outs:
Nancy - Thank you for planning an beautiful shower for us! It was perfect in every way.
Vanessa - Thank you for taking the time [while pregnant and managing a toddler] to pick and mail out our invites. It means a lot that you would help out like this.
Angelica - Thanks for the bangin' ass cake! Serio. Can't stop thinking about it. And G thanks you for his UCLA balls. So cute!
Jackie - Thank you for providing the yummy favors! They were totally cute and a great idea. I love edible favors.

Ladies, it just means so much to me that your would all come together for me!

As we speak, the loot is being delivered to our home. Can't wait to get all unpacked and start setting up the nursery!

SUNDAY

After having breakfast at my mom's and wishing Vanessa farewell, G and I headed off to Macy's to check out their sale on mattresses. We went with the intention of buying a queen size cheaper end mattress. We came out with a Cal King pricey mattress! It was one of those "go big or go home" moments. We were way overdue for a new mattress set. How over due? We had been sleeping in my college bed....my full-size bed from Ikea. So yeah....it was over due. Especially with a baby coming soon. we didn't want nor need the extra expense, but this is an investment after all [or at least thats what the sales guy got us to believe]. This is the mattress set we got and it was discounted well over 50%. This really is Macy's biggest sale.

After a quick lunch at Tops, we headed back home to sleep off the shock of our gigantic purchase. we had wanted to catch a movie but the times didn't work with us. We also had plans to work on the unpacking, but my nap went long [which is great since I hardly sleep at night now]. So we picked up chinese for a late dinner [so yeah...we eat out a lot....lately...we haven't unpacked our kitchen gear] and watched The Savages. Good sad movie.

Step on a crack break your momma's back

Not to beat a dead horse, but WTF LAKERS:?????

'nough said.

I'm really beginning to think that it's mine and G's fault that they lost. We have watched every single game at our apartment [along with the usual suspects of Rob, Chris, Mike, and sometimes Ryan & Hector] except for 3 games. What 3 games? The 3 these bitches have lost! [The one they lost to San Antonio - yeah we were at a Dodger game]. It really blows that our Lamaze class is on Thursday, but what can we do? For $90 I ain't skipping!

Speaking of Lamaze, G is really enjoying it. He feels he's learning a lot which is good since this class was for him more than me. He is gonna be my coach after all. But this is also making me consider a natural birth. AKA drug FREE. I know....I'm crazy....but they make it sound so easy! We'll see because I'm totally not opposed to drugs. I'm all for it! I'll elaborate more on this on my baby blog.

Today we get a gift from my MIL. She is giving us a fat check to use on baby gear. Anything we want. This money is practically spent already. I want to get the Safari bedding from Baby Gap [although just as I was gonna order it they sold out, but I know they'll get more] and a Glider w/matching ottoman from Target. Can't wait! We don't have much baby stuff yet. Sorta just been waiting for our showers.

Nothing special planned for the weekend. Kids b-day party tomorrow and then Sunday we plan to catch a matinée showing of The Happening and then the Laker game.

Have a good one!

And happy Friday the 13th. ;)

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. :)

Stomach Virus?

I think I'm getting sick, but I'm not really sure. I woke up with a huge stomach ache this morning. It is now 12:10pm and it hurts just as much. I came to work around 9:30am because I don't want to use up my sick time now. I'm trying to save it for when I go on maternity leave. But I think I'm gonna go home. Plus, everyone at work is sick with something and I can't afford to really get sick right now. I've also been able to eat and my stomach hurts no more and no less than it did before eating. So I don't know what the deal is. All I know is I gotta stay hydrated.

Another reason I don't want to get sick is because I have my cousin's Confirmation tomorrow. I must be 100% for her. I still gotta go out today to find something to wear and get her gift. Already sounds like a long day. :( But G is off today so hopefully he'll be willing to play driver.

Have a good weekend everyone! Wait! Hahahaha...I have to blog on the weekends this month! I almost forgot. Well happy Friday everyone!

Champagne taste on a beer budget

Lot's of good things happening today....as far as material items go. We got our giant tax return in our bank account today! Woo-hoo! That mean we're finally buying a new tv....an HDTV! Yay! But the rest is going into savings and bills. Boo. We also signed up for DirectTV [with the HD DVR receiver] today and they'll be installing it tomorrow. Yay! I missed our living room. We haven't had a tv in there for months! G is sooo lucky. He had planned to host the Laker game tomorrow and then have a poker night. He was praying that the tax return would arrive before then. 2 hours ago the check posted and in another 2 hours he'll be going to buy the tv, set it up, and then tomorrow morning the DirectTV guy will come by. Talk about "just in the nick of time."

In other news, I know I've been a bad blogger. I just can't seem to get it together after my hiatus. I never know what to blog about. But I know that the only way to get back into it is to just post my randomness everyday again. I mean, that's what my readers enjoyed anyway. So here's hoping this blog gets back to normal. I miss it too. :)

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. :(