all play and no work!

i didn't intend to do any shopping this weekend but somehow i still ended up at the mall. i helped josh purchase two dresses (that he generously offered to me after he was "done with it"...whatever that means!). charlie decided he wanted to model and flaunted a bomber jacket with faux fur lining. sassy!



afterwards we watched quantum of solace which was eh. not bad, not great. i suspect they uglied up the girls to make daniel craig look less goofy. although he makes a great james bond, you gotta admit he kinda looks like the dude from the mad comics.

*i'm just sayin!

i spent saturday with joyce, mireya, ian, and david. joyce brought over turkey pot pie (which deliciously masked many of our thanksgiving leftovers) and we went out for yogurt at nubi.

*joyce and ian

*brain freeze
*good to the last drop!

*this place has our approval, solely based on the dole's pineapple tart flavor

we headed to downtown for a quick visit with edwin, jeannie, and brayden. he just finished taking a bath and smelled so nice and clean. look at his slick hair! hehe

*he's so grown up already!

*apparently, edwin is not :)

*cheap thrills in our backyard

*she's mine!

*eating dinner on the rollercoaster

*uncle david, after a loooong day (why so serious????)

gobble gobble

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. i love turkey, stuffing, ham, cranberry sauce, yams...i think i'm hungry again. i get my fix during the year by going to boston market. when i get a hankering after a supreme turkey meal, i make david take me to claim jumpers. :)

this year we spent thanksgiving at the calabasas resort with martin's parent, david's family, and some of joyce's friends. the more the merrier! my mama appointed me stuffing and potato salad duty (who eats potato salad?!). i defied her and made mashed potatoes. yes, i do live on the wild side.

joyce was nice enough to relinquish table decorating duties to me this year. she always does a superb job but with two kids running around and a turkey to baste, she had no choice! i hunted down some items and used some things she already picked out.

*we used burnt orange napkins and really simple "namecards". the boys got a tangerine.

*the girls got preserved, dried chinese lantern accents

*the overall tablescape...we didn't have enough chairs :(

*when i have downtime i love to bake. inspired by the holidays and bouchon's carrot cake cookies, i made variations of pumpkin spice cake sandwiched with cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans.

edwin and jeannie started a cute tradition of celebrating brayden's birthday with a slice of cake every sunday. wednesday was his one month birthday so i made mini cakes in honor of the little guy:

*happy birthday b!

*sadly i only have pictures of the desserts that i made the day before. i was too sidetracked by dinner to remember to take a picture.

i wish the wongs and the yuns could have joined us. we missed you guys!

Granny's Milestone

Last Sunday, granny turned 95. The whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin's kids) came together for dinner with a big, celebratory chinese banquet. Not everyone was able to make it, but we still had a good turnout of about 55 people.

*Don't be deceived by her looks - she's one of the fiercest women I've even known. She can kill a tiger with her bare hands. I have witnessed her beating down a skunk, and chasing down racoons for dinner. no joke.

Sometimes you have to scream in her ear but for the most part she is still very alert and active. She still tries to learn english, tends to the garden, takes walks, and reads newspapers. She goes out with the cutest straw hat, fanny pack, and cane. She never matches, but that's granny for you!

*Ian playing with Emily, my cousin Benjie's daughter. :)

*mireya and me...she's gesturing for my mom cuz she's not happy haha

*my sister joyce with a happier mireya

*henry and kathy, the girl who gave henry a heart

*benjie, emily, megan, and granny. megan is due in a few weeks!

*one of many wongs, my uncle, aunt, their granny, austin and justin.

*david and me

*posted only for proof that henry DOES smile!

*wellman's mom and pop, short stack, and wormy

*l-r: ryan and marsha (recent newlyweds!), kevin and arlou (soon to be newlyweds!)

*a REALLY sad attempt at a partial family picture. there were about 5 of us hiding in the back.

*She blew out the candle all by herself! i think that took some skill.

Because of this woman, I have an extended family of cousins that I adore, have tortured and annoyed, played with, and now grown up (sort of) with. I am grateful! :)

After dinner a few of us headed to nubi for some frozen yogurt. Kevin, the yogurtland connoisseur, actually proclaimed that it was slightly better than yogurtland! They had a deliciously tart and fresh pineapple yogurt that i'm craving right now.

*a bad pic on my part, but they're all grown up : vicky, david, and wellman
(aka shortstack, rudy, and wormy)

indulging

Last week, Kendra and I were craving chili cheese fries. She's pregnant so she has an excuse. I, on the other hand, am just a hungry girl. Our usual haunts include Tommy's (mine) and Lucky Boys (hers). We decided to try a new place near our shop called Sandwiches by Connal's. We usually drive by this place, only to be deterred by the long lines and cash only sign. And the fact that it's called "Sandwiches..." But we gave it a whirl and split chili cheese fries and fried zucchini.

*not like it makes a difference, but i took these with my phone:
thick homemade chili on seasoned fries. it was a bit too salty (even for me) and the chili had something of an anise seed essence. fries were great, chili was eh.

*BEST Fried Zucchini EVER. They reminded me of the ones that Farrell's used to offer. I miss Farrell's - the big birthday drums, the volcano ice cream mountain, the arcade, the candy....why did it close?!


So anyway, I won't say who, but a certain someone has been back twice since discovering this joint. The interior has a diner feel with coca cola emblems, white tile, and red vinyl upholstered chairs. They also offer lime rickeys, malts, chocolate dipped cones, and sundaes.

The other day, while reviewing their menu (and strategically planning my lunches) I discovered that they also serve breakfast. Of course I have to support the local businesses around me, so I went for breakfast. I got a veggie omelette (comes with hashbrowns, toast, and half a canned peach) for all of $5. I certainly didn't expect this:

On top of the $5 steal, you also get thick slices of avocado. Hashbrowns were made crispy - my favorite! This was the best I could do:



I think I could have done better. Practice makes perfect!

i hate that it gets dark so early

i'm pooped. if you wanna know what i spent this weekend doing, go here. halloween was spent scaring myself silly watching ghost hunters and similar ghost shows on the travel channel while prepping for a wedding show. i think i got home from work at midnight...packed for the show, slept at 1:30am, woke up at 5am...the highlight was eating donuts and cake and being too tired to care about it. i finally watched casino royale and LOVED it (surprisingly). david has been waiting to watch and we finally checked that off our list of movies. Casino Royale was like a classy Transporter. i can't wait for transporter 3 either!

i think we went to eat pho on sunday at saigon flavor, the best pho restaurant according to my cousin Henry. and then...boba at lollicup. even as im trying to recap this weekend, i feel tired! weird thing is that i'm totally wired right now.

i'll post more pics of the wedding show soon. in the case you're too lazy to go to fleuretica's blog, this was our booth: