Life is busy

February 14th.
Talk about being busy. Work is busy and life is busy. Every Thursdays we have Alpha. Every other Saturday, we have a meeting with pastor John and something for the wedding. We have birthdays, (2 in February), 2 dinners coming up for family stuff. Past Chinese new year.

To recap- 3 Alpha meetings so far, 2 meetings with Pastor John, 1 cake tasting done, 1 dinner with Dad’s cousins and family, 1 dinner for Chinese New Year, 1 flu that Nathan had, 2 current colds that I and N both have, many errands, 4 trips to Michaels for wedding stuff (guestbook frame, card box, stickers, etc), invitations done (almost), and lots more I need to take care of, hung out with Irene once separately (mall trip), saw Ash twice — went to her house on Friday and hung out with her and the babies and then N and I went to see her at her boutique yesterday, 2 nice weekends spent outside (yesterday we went to the pool and played Nerf football), 1 bridal shower and bachelorette party being planned !!

Anyway- I haven’t been good at updating this but I will be!.

E

January 23! 20 days of updates

Goodness it feels like the entire month has just flown by. There have been a lot of things going on aside from work and normal activities, we have wedding stuff!! We are getting a lot done actually. The first work week of January was kind of a bummer- it was back to the old routine but it was not as busy as I would have expected it to be. The next few weeks work wise were super busy.

Week of January 10th- BCS game- Auburn vs. Oregon 🙂 — Auburn won that. It was a good game. Irene came over that day too. She is excited about her maid of honor activities. Work, exercise, we were going to go to Six Flags but did not because Nathan was sick. On the 11th, N had his work dinner and Ash, Irene and I had a birthday dinner for Ashley and it was so fun! It was so nice going out with just the girls. We had delicious sushi in downtown Glendora.  On Saturday, we picked bridesmaid’s dresses! It was a great girls morning. We went to two places and we ended up picking out the dresses. Jenn and Mel got their dresses the next couple of days too. N and I played sports on Sunday instead of going to Six Flags. I loved hanging out with the girls. Ash got Bella’s flower girl dress that week too. Lots of good wedding stuff. 

Week of January 17- Dillon’s birthday party, Invitations done by Teri, work (tons of it for me) and Friday night and all day Saturday N and I had our pre-marital sessions at Lake avenue. It was wonderful (details below). Then N took me out for my promotion and we went out to a nice dinner. Sunday we went to Anaheim Hills country club for a wonderful brunch. Football all day after and then the gym.

Week of January 24th- ALPHA at Lake starts this week and we have our two tastings to schedule for Vellano and the bakery for our cake.

Eileen’s commentary for this entry.
– I JOINED KIWANIS! I called Mel and talked to him for awhile and so far this month I have been to two meetings. I like the Kiwanis and what they are about. I love the people of Kiwanis- the same ones I have known since high school pretty much. And of course I love Mel. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be joining. I like what the group is about because I see it through his eyes…I hope this continues on. He wants me to help out with Key Club and I really want to help out too but it will depend on how often I can get to Pasadena (I will have to work in Pasadena sometimes). I had to drive to Pasadena for the meeting twice so far. I really like the meetings and the presenters…I’m hoping it is more than meetings and lunch. The people there are very nice and I would like to get to know them better. They are very interesting members. I think as I get to know the club – I may want to change the dynamic… I mean I am the youngest person there by far but I am not sure they would want me to change anything. We’ll see.

This month we also met our pastor and got rejected by another pastor ( I won’t talk about that) but anyway, he suggested some wonderful fellowship sessions for us and we are definitely interested! The pre-marital courses was so wonderful- definitely intense. Friday night we were very late…but we met a couple other pre-maritals at our table and we caught the finance topic..- and it spurred on a conversation where I let N in about everything. Saturday, we woke up bright and early and had discussions about everything- we started with our love languages and our personality types. I think when we do the workbook it’ll really help us to learn about one another. We have a couple of books as well that we are going to read later. Anyway, I feel really close to N after this and we were super lovey dovey. The session was from 8-5 and it was definitely long. The speakers were wonderful. Anyway, I’ll let you in on more details as we continue the workbook on our own. 

Love
E

New Year- Jan 3!

Oh dear a month has gone by since my last post- yikes. I have been starting to keep updates in an excel sheet mainly of appointments and activities since my vacation and PTO time.

Highlighting main events for the month- we have had a LOT of Christmas and holiday activities! Here is the list of holiday activities:
Accenture Women’s Holiday Party
Our own Christmas party (we threw it at our place, I made some food, had some drinks and we played white elephant)- I find that it’s a good excuse to get Nathan to help clean…- Ash, Irene, Megan, Casey, Allen, Sidney, Dillon, Sarah and Eduardo came along with Nathan and I. It was fun- we hung out, played white elephant and drank more wine than we should have and played games.
Disneyland- N and I went to Disneyland and it was beautiful and fun. It was also freezing. Alyssa signed us in (love her!) and we had a wonderful time. Indy is still my favorite ride. We spent the whole day there (closed at 6) and we got super wet on the log ride…N should not be in the front…our log was particularly heavy and we sunk the log I think and got 200% more wet than anybody else exiting the ride…
Ashley’s “company” event- Food was decent, atmosphere was good to begin with- got a neat Green Street gift but it was a company sale’s event/ company party that I think Nathan would have been okay without. I had fun but I always have fun 🙂
Christmas Cookie Decorating at Nathan’s parents- That was neat— we decorated a lot of sugar cookies and spent some good time with his family. This was December 23
Volunteering at Operation Santa-  Barbara and I got up early on the 23rd to  help with Operation Santa– man did I lift a lot of boxes….I also cut open a lot of boxes and stacked a ton of toys. I should not be given a box cutter…I’m surprised I didn’t hurt myself. Then we helped sort Santa costumes. Then B and I had lunch and went to XI. I also met up with Bobby later for coffee!
N’s Grandma’s Christmas Eve Party- This was N’s extended family’s party and it was pretty fun- I saw all of his grand-aunts and uncles again and met his cousin- sweet girl.
Christmas Eve Church Candlelight Service- N and I went to the midnight service at Lake Ave- it was really nice and interactive.
Christmas Day- the day of TWO Christmases. Is that a word? Christmases… mmmm oh well- it didn’t go red on me. N and I exchanged gifts with one another in the morning to make it special :). He got me a gorgeous tennis bracelet and a pearl bracelet and he liked his gifts a lot too. First Christmas “event” was the one at my family’s — was happy and fun! We all exchanged gifts (Ma really liked her purse and new jacket and Dad liked his new techy gift- Allen enjoyed his pillow too!). And then we went to Baccali for lunch- YUM! I haven’t had that much food or meat in a long time so it was extremely delicious. Afterwards, we came home and watched a little basketball and then Nathan and I went to his grandparent’s house with our gifts for our Second event:). His parents were already there. We all divided the gifts and opened them in rounds. I received some lovely and thoughtful gifts and Nathan and I got dance lessons too for the wedding! We also had our own stockings. Then we had Christmas dinner (yummy ham) and hung out for awhile. I requested “The Santa Clause” so we all watched that at his grandparents house.
 
After Christmas events:
December 26– slept in, mall (got LOTs of stuff at VS- love those gift receipts), movies — saw True Grit- good one and then hit the gym
December 27- Hair appointment- my hair is dark brown now and I LOVE IT! Then went to Macy’s for another gift receipt thing…. 🙂  
December 28- Lunch with the cousins.This was fun- I hadn’t seen my cousins or talked to them in forever- Yen, Mark, Kalvin and his gf Wendy- we went to Sunday Bistro and caught up. I hadn’t seen Yen and Mark’s parents in awhile either so that was really nice. I had a great time with them and I look forward to seeing them again soon. Then I did laundry and was annoyed when I got home—
December 29- N was off today but I was in one of my moods. we went to get him fitted for his tux and we selected the groomsmen’s tuxes and his own tux (I can’t wait!) They look fab. We salvaged the day after lunch. I don’t remember what we were mad about but we got over it.
December 30- I went to Pasadena to find out that Dad was sick, gathered some stuff for the Rose Parade (with the intent of camping out), had a stress out attack and mini pity party that I got over quickly. Drove my butt to Beverly Hills (ugh…traffic there and traffic coming back) to meet with our photographer- whose style I like but a couple of critiques— 1- She should meet her clients at their convenience, 2- She needs to respond more promptly, 3- She should not be late for one of our max two meetings, 4- her contracts need work… will get to that later…. but really though her style is good and I hope she will pull through- I don’t have 100% confidence like I do Dean (our lovely British DJ) but he has been in the business for a long time.
December 31- NYE! Saw N at 3, and I was antsy all day and night- waiting to go out! I was a bit stressed because N was tired and I didn’t know what was going on and I wasn’t sure who would meet up with us. I swear I rather just throw a party next year. Anyway, we ended up driving to Pasadena originally thinking we would meet up with Allen and Sid- who ended up flaking on me twice that day (thought he was going to come to our place after work and thought he was coming out with us)- only brothers are allowed to do that without me getting annoyed. So then we drove to Old Town where there were SOOO many people already camping out for the parade. We tried to find decent parking and Irene and Casey actually told us where to park so we met them at Parsons and walked around to find our NYE party destination. Neomeze, Menage and Barneys were ridiculous— it didn’t feel right to pay $40-50 to go to a place we usually go to and where they are begging us to come in for free. We went to this new place LIV– I like it- it’s got  a “Pure” Caesar’s club theme to it. We danced and counted down the new year there. It’s very funny- N hates crowds and crowded situations and I love them. So I’m sure he was thrilled about the club scene and colorado Blvd. 🙂 We had a good time though. Drove home, went through Jack in the Box (I am always starving with alcohol).
January 1- Saturday! We went to the gym and just enjoyed doing nothing. Got a call from Mari and Lauren!!
January 2- Sunday- watched Greg Laurie, took down the tree, did errands, went to Fresh and Easy and I went overboard in baking and cooking things as I do when I have nothing else to do and something I need to occupy myself with, then we went to the gym 🙂

It’s going to be a good year- 2011. Lots of good things to happen and lots of good things I will make happen. Greg Laurie’s sermon had a good message. The theme was If this year were your last….would I have lived it the way God intended and the way that I would have wanted to. It makes me not sweat the small stuff and focus on what is important. It’s list making time 🙂

Quick update

Ok so I have definitely been slacking lately- busy at work. Thanksgiving events, wedding stuff, etc.

Got the wedding venue, DJ, dress, Christmas shopping done and there’s much more to do.

Today I went to my work holiday event and I have to say it was definitely fun and interesting- and I would not be as excited as hosting an event as some people would. I like decorating and I like crafts and cooking but not with a full time job. There’s just no way. I mean I barely got the beverages in time and was stressed and I am in a more flexible job than I was before.

So 20 women ages 24-50…60 add booze, food and imagine that these are LA women so first thing I notice- everyone looks amazing….the older ones look super young and the ones in their 30s look great. Everyone is thin and fit and dressed very well. I love LA- I would imagine more Mom-ish looks were I in the mid-west. The craft was a cookie jar craft and the appetizers were good and I ran into a lot of girls I knew and met some I didn’t – which I immediately liked.

Things that women have in common- marriage, weddings, being engaged. I get it…it’s a weird club. I mean there was another girl there who was engaged and we immediately could connect on a different level with how hard it is and how much work we have to do…those who were already married could relate and were interested. That was definitely different for me- but it’s nice to be in this “club” I guess :).

Those were the two things I noticed…that and most of my company’s women don’t age….well combine money + LA standards and you’ve got a pretty good looking group :).

I like having a women’s group- there is actually a lot of things we have in common and have to talk about. It’s odd because I’ve always been a guy’s girl…hung out with the guys, laughed at crude jokes, played sports, knew lots about cars etc…so this is really nice to enjoy planning a party, love the decorations and pay attention to detail 🙂 hahaha!!!

I’ve got a bunch of stuff left for this weekend and our holiday party on Dec 12 and then another xmas eve party later on. Goodness. We don’t have food in the fridge but we’ve got eggnog,chocolate chips and whip cream! hehehe.

Yeah that was an interesting observation- it’s nice to feel special all because someone loves you enough to marry you….I gotta say– it’s very anti-feminism — wrong wording but it’s late so forgive me…. but it’s like I became more interesting because I was engaged. Mmmm…validation from societal expectations? perhaps? I’m looking into it too much I think.

OH so LA women at my company= dress well, look great, and drive fantastic cars 🙂 Go consultants and women in services!  AND LA women would only be the ones to suggest an S-dance class for our next event— this is coming from our senior managers and managers….pole dancing classes- hilarious! This is not the south.

OK I’m excited for the weekend…sort of 🙂 The only obligation is Sunday’s N famliy christmas picture and setting up the tree but other than that- it’s quality time with N- maybe the USC-UCLA game. And I really want to go hiking- it’s cold though but I still want to. It’s nice and fun…gotta find an area around here to do so. I’m tired of the movies, shopping and hanging around our city.

All for now.

Updates

Goodness it’s been awhile

Oct 24- Allen’s birthday—went to the gym, went go-karting (tried to at K1) went to Speed zone instead, then went home for Chinese food, then had ice cream cake, then went to Bar 35 for Allen’s ugly mofo thing (saw Kellen and Kevin, Tony and his gf)
Oct 25- I think this was Monday—so Oct 25- 29 – work and all that jazz
Oct 30- USC game- that was a blast- ESPN Homecoming day, we went to view wedding locations (Diamond Bar and San Dimas) and then we went to the game…great fun (bought tix at StubHub), played games, ate junk food. N was properly drunk. I gave him his Barcaly jersey!
Oct 31- I remember we were really busy, then ended up going to his gma’s house and then rented Anaconda
Nov 1- Nov 3- boring
Nov 3- N’s birthday! He got off work early, I gave him his shirts and he took a long nap and then we went to his gma’s house.
Nov 4, 5 work
Nov 6- skydiving!!! Awesome- was me, Nathan and Dillon. We waited all day (our appointment was at 1pm but then we played games (darts, pickle), and then we jumped and it was very cold, I hugged a cloud and got motion sickness. Then we went to N’s parents and had a wonderful dinner
Nov 7- Porter Valley and Vellano- we found our wedding location!! Now time to book and secure! Sorry for the quick update—OH baking update- I made mini pumpkin pies  they are quite good. Next I will make a pull apart football cake. November 8- yesterday- N’s car is still messed up- so we took it to his parents last night, oh and we got N’s wedding band!!! And got my ring cleaned. It’s so sparkly now!!!
nov 9- today – got good news at work  – im stranded at home though
Nov 10- tomm PTO

Friday night-fun…:)

Okay so I am up Friday night at 1am. No I have not just come back from the bar or fancy lounge or club…or even the gym. I have been at home since N got home. He passed out after dinner…I don’t blame him but this is kind of becoming a habit for Friday night… Anyhow— so what am I doing?
I am making an ice cream cake for Allen’s birthday on Sunday (see link below)
http://www.bhg.com/videos/m/32071561/easy-ice-cream-layer-cake.htm

Well I made the cake part…need to buy strawberry ice cream, cool whip and candles tomorrow…need to buy lots of groceries tomorrow…plus pick up the rest of Allen’s bday gift.

I also found some wonderful things that I want/ want to try:
Pumpkin whoopie pies (YUM!) I will most likely use a spice mix for it though…so I will use the cream cheese filling from this site: http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/
And the cookie recipe below:

Pumpkin Cookie Cakes

• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (18.25-oune) spice cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

OK– so what else am I doing?? I found something I forgot about that I want to do: Mini pumpkin pies!
http://www.bakerella.com/pumpkin-pie-bites/

AND I found an awesome pie cutter/mold/pocket thing here:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/lattice-pocket-pie-mold/?pkey=cbakeware-thanksgiving

I am afraid now to go into Williams Sonoma for fear of all that I will purchase…I was never a fan of the place before….but that was when I was traveling and working and lived out of a hotel room…NOW that I have lots of time and I like to host…I am in dessert heaven.

Speaking of hosting- this is my favorite hostess blog- http://www.hostessblog.com/

I think all of this blog reading started with Bakerella…which started by reading Lexi’s blog about cake pops…and then I entered into this whole new world of great women who blog and take pictures of things, fashion and food and I have fallen into the world of creativity. Also there are a ton of wedding blogs and websites out there – it is almost too much for me..

What else did I do tonight? I found an amazing deal at Old Navy- 50% off any piece of outerwear– WOW- so I’m picking which one I want and which one I want for N – sale starts Oct 26-28
Coupon- http://media.oldnavyweekly.com/image/large/million_coupon.pdf
Women’s selection- http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=55474
Men’s selection- http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5286

Now yes– I have a lot of clothes..yes I need to give away clothes more than I need to buy them…yes I have tailored made jackets from all over but who can resist a 50% off sale! not me. I am going to go tomorrow to try some of them on to figure out which one I want 🙂 goodness I have a LOT more time with this new job and I love it!!

Ok what else did I do tonight? I wrapped Allen’s gift– I got him a nice sweater and button up shirt and some gushers (lol)! Tomorrow I will go pick him up a collage I made of him and I and our family (sibling pictures!) and buy him a Jawbone bluetooth which is pricey but is suppose to be amazing.

I also tried on my new USC shirt for next week’s game- love it! it’s a sweater with a silver heart on it and USC in the middle…speaking of which I should listen to Obama’s speech today (he was at SC today).

It is 1:10am…and I am going to go to bed! Tomorrow should be more fun…I am shopping in the morning— Walgreens, Best Buy, groceries…cake making and whoopie pie making in the afternoon, Wedding location appointments at Anaheim country club (http://www.herecomestheguide.com/location/detail/anaheim-hills-golf-course-clubhouse/) and La Canada Country club (http://www.herecomestheguide.com/location/detail/la-canada-flintridge-country-club/) and then at night I’m hoping we will go out in Pasadena.

Sunday will be one more wedding location in Azusa at the Lindley-Scott house (http://www.herecomestheguide.com/location/detail/lindley-scott-house/) and then we will have people over for Allen’s bday, go adult go-kart racing (K1) and then to my parents for food, my ice cream cake and presents, then Allen has us going to a lounge/bar in Pasadena for the shirt launching of the uglymofo.. I love what he put on the website as the theme of the logo and name:

Ugly Mofo is the projection of the ugliness inside everyday normal people, and of course, everyday not so normal people. Our artwork and apparel is the representation of how all beautiful things have an ugly side. The only thing is, it’s not that easy to use a paper bag to cover up what’s on the inside.  We specialize in alternative apparel and underground hip hop clothing.

Fun and busy weekend! Next weekend- USC-Oregon game, Halloween!! And weekend after that will be N’s bday and skydiving! yikes!!!

Work, wedding stuff, Jackass

Hi! So this week was my first week back at work and I must say I do not like waking up at 5 or 6 in the morning when I started getting use to having 11am wake up calls or being able to go back to sleep after N wakes up.

Monday- 5am meetings, struggled all day with work, need to improve my productivity. Here is an article a friend gave me and I took out what I saw relevant to myself and I liked it! –

 

Three Experts Talk About Productivity, Procrastination, and Getting Off Your Butt

What three tips can you share to get me off my butt?

1.  Overcome reactionary work flow. The constant inflow of “stuff”—email, texts, tweets, IMs—causes us to react rather than be proactive with our energy. Create windows of nonstimulation in your day to be proactive with your energy.

2. Organize with a bias toward action. Enter every meeting and occasion of creativity with an obsession for capturing “action steps” (tasks). When a meeting yields nothing actionable, question its existence. Keep action steps separate from notes.

3. Share ideas liberally. The more people who know your ideas, the more accountable you will be to follow through. Use blogs, networks, and social media to spread ideas, gather feedback, and boost accountability.

What three tips can you share to get me off my butt?

1. Talk to or research someone who’s achieved a goal similar to yours. What steps did that person follow? Use this as a road map.

2. Start small. Do one thing today. Do one more thing tomorrow. Over a year this adds up (to 365 things).

3. Find an accountability partner—someone who will call and nag you once a week to make sure you’re on track.

http://www.good.is/post/three-experts-talk-about-productivity-procrastination-and-getting-off-your-butt/page:4#slideshow_51084

 

Treat thinking sessions like doctor’s appointments. When you first start, aim for two one-hour sessions of uninterrupted thinking. Mark this time on your calendar, and consider it the way you would any other appointment or commitment you wouldn’t break without a good reason.

Plan for your sessions. Before these sessions, think through which questions you’d like to ponder. Gather any research material you’ll need, so you don’t have to go online to hunt for a document (which can lead to checking your email, and your Facebook, and your Twitter account while you’re there).

I like the idea of the thinking sessions the best- having devoted time to think about certain things. My brain is all over the place and that can be seen by my distractions or just the number of windows I have open. I also like the do one thing a day…towards your goal. I need to write this down. Keep a non electronic journal for this.

OK I just wrote that down. Wow that took about 100000000x longer than typing it. And by typing it I mean ctrl c, ctrl v.

We went to N’s parent’s house after this and hung out for a bit.

Tuesday Oct. 19- I had my first opportunity at work to do something I have yet to do and I got the assignment at 6am…and I did well 🙂 yay. :).  I don’t recall what we did later tonight…

Wednesday- Oct. 20- Work. Anddd today I was a mystery shopper! I had an account in college and today is my first time doing a shop in Socal. It was fun— annoying getting all of the things I needed together without a printer but I managed. N conducted the shop too– well he was there lol. It was fun– I got to reveal myself to the manager afterwards and give him a cash prize even though I wish the cash prize had gone to the server/cashier. I know this was a gym night and I love the gym- I love to run and I love how I feel after- I wish it didn’t take that long though. kills the night.

Thursday- more working, helped my manager with a few fire drills. Then got mad at N for something I tried to help him with and found something else I didn’t enjoy. Argued for about 15 minutes, got over it. I was a mystery shopper again tonight— in El Monte.. Let me say that I did not feel super comfortable driving my car in this area of town or parking my car or walking around. Anyway the shop was successful here as well. Good sushi.

THEN we went to watch Jackass at the AMC and it was hilarious. It was N’s idea to go tonight and I really like Jackass…I liked 1 and 2…I won’t sit and watch the shows but I cracked up during Jackass 2. So for this one– first thing I noticed– they have a lot more budget, second thing- wow they are getting old…Johnny Knoxville looks like he could break. third thing- all of the guys are doing things that look sooo painful and like they would hurt. And I’m sure it did hurt. Before I think they were doing it for fun and excitement, now it’s like they are doing it out of obligation for money and to entertain. Either way it was pretty funny and gross. I did have to look away multiple times. Some of the things these guys did…if it happened accidentally to me once I’d be upset for a long time and they are doing it again and again. I laughed the hardest at the donkey scene, cringed the most at the tooth pulling scene, and looked away at the Steve-o poo scene.

Wedding stuff! So we looked at a couple of places last weekend— Mountain Meadows and Coyote Hills- both golf courses/country clubs… love both…Mountain Meadows has a potential deal breaker of traffic and Coyote Hills has a wedding before ours would be. So we are checking out Anaheim Golf Course and La Canada Flintridge country club this weekend. I’m excited about both. Can I say that weddings are expensive…kus they are. We haven’t even budgeted for other things yet…like dresses, dj’s etc. and we got quoted about $20K for just food and the reception venue at a few places. funfun. Have more to figure out.

OH I forgot to mention what else we did last weekend- Amanda and Mike came over and we got to hang out with them. Drank at the apt. Amanda and I talked wedding stuff. Mike and N drank a lot…lol. Then we went clubbing in Old Town. 🙂 fun times!

Ok done for now. xoxo

Birthday weekend

Oct 4- oct 8-  Boring work week leading up with PTO and my birthday! I made a ton of mini cupcakes on Friday
Oct 9- Saturday- a WONDERFUL day and night!! So- we hung out around the apartment (Nathan made my German chocolate cake!), went to the gym and then drove off to my parent’s house where we had my birthday party!!!
Mom made lots and lots of wonderful Chinese food and we (me, N, Allen, Sidney, Irene, Casey, Mom and Dad)- ate dinner altogether at the table and then we opened presents and had cake. Ahem I mean I opened presents- and what wonderful gifts I got. My gifts from these folks were extremely thoughtful. A kettle bell from Allen because he knows I like to work out (and because he really is set on this kettle bell thing). 101 cookie cutters from Sidney (who didn’t even know I liked to bake but saw pictures on Allen’s phone). Dad’s portable cool air keyboard- light as a feather and sleek! Mom- Target gift card (she usually is more thoughtful but I’m glad I have the gift card). Irene’s gift was insane- 4 individually wrapped boxes with words- Faith, Hope, Love and Friendship and relatable quotes AND BEAUTIFUL jewelry!!! I couldn’t have asked for better family or friends. Then N comes out with a birthday cake on fire (I forgot to make a wish…how many years have I been doing this??). And we all enjoyed the cake. My parents kept going on and on about it. 🙂

We hung out around the house a little to digest and then we all caravaned to Old Town where originally we were going to go to Old Town Haunted House but went to Barney’s instead and played multiple games of pool where I must say I did very well. Megan and a few of her Link friends showed up and I love her for it- she had to go to Texas the next morning but came anyway- sooo nice!

Oct 10- Sunday- lounged around the apartment- did very very little and it was wonderful. Well we did do Nathan’s online traffic school together- which was extraordinarily boring. But we finished it pretty quickly

Oct 11- What an amazing birthday– SO- I have no idea what N has planned but all I know is that we have to be there by 3pm, I can wear whatever I want and that it needs to be sunny. So I’m thinking maybe something by the water? Who knows. That morning, we had breakfast and then we went to lay out by the pool- I tanned, N burn-tanned. We go back and get ready for whatever…oh before that N tells me we are going to Ontario Mills after (so I’m already excited for shopping – my BCBG card and for the movies after). So we start going on the 210-E towards Pomona and we take the Pomona Fairgrounds exit and I’m thinking are we going to a golf course/ the fair? But the fair is over— it’s just an empty parking lot. He made a wrong turn, so he u-turned and we head toward this lot with some airplanes in it and he turns in…I AM BEYOND SHOCKED at this point- I scream and yelp with excitement bc I think we are going to take a airplane ride over LA.
We walk into a place called “Universal Air Academy” and the guy asks us which one of you is going to fly- and N says- “she is.” omg….I’m getting nervous but I’m really excited. I’m going to fly a plane with wedges on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The instructor hands us our headsets and we walk over to the planes. Our plane is a Cessna 171N. And the pilot checks the plane while N and I take pictures- then we are ready for take off. N gets in the back, and I am sitting in the pilot’s seat. I learn to steer the plane while it is on the ground and then I learn how to make the plane go fast for take off and how to pull back to get the plane in the air. And that is what I do. I push the throttle in and we accelerate on the runway- and then I pull back the steering…thing… (it’s not a wheel…steering device…?) and we took off!!!

I was able to steer us to our apartments in WC and we saw Azusa and then we went in the canyons (AMAZING— didn’t even know Azusa had all that) then we flew over lakes and raging waters…I was also able to help land… so freaking awesome.

At this point I am in awe of Nathan– so I am sooo enamored and amazed at what an amazing gift this was– and how well he knew that I would love this. This really was the catalyst.

Day is not over yet (although it could have been and I would have been just happy and fine and still awesomely excited). We then go to Ontario Mills and I SHOP- Victoria’s Secrets, B&BB, BCBG- then we have a lovely dinner at Rainforest Cafe (it’s cute and fun!) and then we are off to the movies (Social Network/ Life as we Know it).

Best day EVER.

LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM

Rest of the week
Tuesday- got my hair done in San Gabriel
Wednesday- hung out with Ash- shopped with Ash (she got me these wonderful headbands that make me not hate my highlights) and then went to my parent’s. SO GET THIS- I go to pick up N (his car/ clutch/something is up)- and we take a fun Porsche for a ride- this particular one had some amazing pick up. That was a fun rush! We had mac and cheese and N fell asleep at 8:00pm….I tried to badger him awake but it didn’t work…he was pretty passed out. I decided to let him sleep and not poke him.
Oh i picked up all of my mail at home (gift cards, books!)
Thursday- MY DAY- finished one of my books (dangit I read too fast- N is starting to call me Matilda).
Friday- breakfast with Braulio in Anaheim, then Allen and Eileen day.

Day to Day update

The last time I posted was about a week ago- and I posted about food. Time to update you on what is going on in my day-to-day…and by you I mean my future self who will read this and figure out what exactly I did this year .

Friday- September 24- Jenn came in Thursday night and we caught up at night and talked a lot. Friday was wonderful- it was great to have someone to work with- a work buddy. I cut it short to go to the pool (and had to work on Sunday). But it was great talking to her and catching up. At night, we went to the store and cooked a bit and then got ready to go out. Matt came over and we eventually made it to Pasadena- Barcelona and then Menage. It was a pretty fun night…I was exhausted though- and I couldn’t feel my arm that night because of the two rock stars that I drank (will never do that again). Anyway I thought it was a fun night. I was sort of grumpy and angry at the end though.
Saturday- September 25- Jenn and I went to the beach all day. N ran some errands. We went to Huntington beach and I love it- it’s so pretty and I noticed that there are bonfire pits. We went to In N out for Jenn’s first taste. After that, I got ready for N’s mom’s birthday dinner at his grandma’s and that was fun. Vince’s and cake and then a bit of the Orphan movie (icky). Jenn was with her friend Trevor who we met later when we came home and tried to watch Rounders but we ended up falling asleep.
Sunday- September 26- Jenn and I went to Victoria Gardens and N went to his family’s lunch event for his mom. I met up with him later at the apartment after dropping off Jenn. An interesting day- N made me feel bad but I realized it was feelings from before that triggered such a big reaction from me. Fun Jenn weekend though! Pictures here:

Monday- Sept 27- Work work work. J football J
Tues- Sept 28- Suppose to take PTO for N’s mom’s surgery- woke up before 5am…but it was cancelled bc the surgeon had been up all night. Dr. Jain (an Indian woman)
Wed- Sept 29- All day was stressful. Was N’s mom’s surgery day and I met a lot of N’s family today. We kept getting updates and when she finally came out I was really thankful that everything went okay. It was hard to see her in tubes and after surgery but she ended up recovering extraordinarily well.
Thurs- Sept 30- Work then hospital- Teri was doing a bit better…not too too much.
Fri- October 1- I worked a bit then drove to meet Ashley and the two babies for lunch and really got a chance to hang out and talk to her. Ash gave me a couple of uplifting CDs that she mixed and I really appreciate that. She and I are the only ones that met our Stickk goals. J…well she has and according to my scale I have too. Afterwards, I drove home (parent’s home) and hung out with my dad and my mom. Mom and I went to the mall where I got Benetint and with that my birthday eye make up pack, a Clean perfume thing, some CoverFX samples (stuff is amazing), and Aveda stuff. YAY! Little surprises. I won’t put those away until my birthday is over…. I like stuff like this.
Afterwards I came home and N and I went to the hospital…things were a bit better
Saturday- October 2- Met up with MEGAN in Old Town at Le Pain Quotidian…funny it has always been in Old Town but I have never been there until I was in London. This place has amazing coffee. And it is crowded and it looks tiny from up front but it is quite big. Megan got this open faced sandwich with sprouts, chickpeas and avocados- I got the chocolate crossiant and a lovely coffee- both of our items looked good- but I can’t eat what Megan had so early in the morning. Anyway it was great catching up with Megan and I think I will see her again during this upcoming weekend of my birthday or at least the week of my birthday when I will take a much needed vacation. Afterwards, I met Nathan on the freeway (he was driving right next to me!). We went to Subway and then hung out at home for a bit and then we went to the hospital to visit N’s mom. She is doing much better and had all of the tubes removed from her and was no longer tired.
After that we went to N’s parent’s home and let out Buster. We had dinner there (Rubios) and then watched Wall Street and Easy A. Both were pretty good. It’s interesting the concept in Wall Street— the idea of not really producing anything and squeezing pennies out of other pennies and not really doing anything significantly productive- greed was a main theme. Easy A was funny and really showed moral character of a nice girl. N and I had a nice night J
Sunday- Oct 3- Nathan has been finishing up his Riverside documents and I have cleaned my closet sort of and organized things sort of. We have some errands to run today and I really want to go to the gym!

Melon balls!

Melon Ball Salad

I went to Target the other day to pick up Taboo and I went to the Kitchen aisle looking at mini cupcake items and look what I found- a melon baller!! So I don’t know about you– but I can’t stand cutting watermelon.  I like using a melon baller better and eating the pieces taste so much better…doesn’t that say a lot about presentation?

Anyway- so I had to Youtube it because my first few pieces came out funny. You have to dig the tool into the watermelon sideways and make the ball that way. The only way to make a full ball is to space the pieces apart.  But of course I’m not going to waste watermelon so I had some half pieces.

But in the end they turned out really pretty!!

E