Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Happy Tuesday!

Hey Friends!

I've had such a busy week....I'm sure you all have too! Just got back from Indiana for my daughter's VB tournament. They did OK. I was the chaperone for 11 girls! WHEW!!! What a weekend! The girls are all really nice though, they minded well. It's just that we were up by 5:00 am both Saturday and Sunday and I'm in-charge of all their meals and make sure they are all up and ready to go. What a job! But our hotel was comp'd for both nights so not too bad.

Now I'm taking care of a 3YO who's slightly feverish but thinks he wants to go snowboarding! Kids --- they're so resilient aren't they?

On a FUN note, I'm planning a girls trip to Vegas this Fall. Who wants to join us? :)

Well, keep posting and hope you're all doing GREAT!!!!

xox

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Shout Out To Filipino Bloggers....

Here's what's on the Bogger's Home Page today....

The latest from Blogger Buzz
Blogger now in Filipino
February 19, 2008 — permalink
This is a quick post to announce that, in addition to Blogger’s recent improvements and fixes, we are now available in Filipino.

There is already a very strong blogging community in the Philippines, and we’re very happy to support that and be a part of it. Want a taste? Start with our friend Aileen and keep clicking!
— Pete


Who knew?!?! Those Filipinos sure can write! LOL!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Locks For Love

Today I did something I have been wanting to do for the longest time. I got a haircut and donated it to Locks for Love! They took 10 inches off! I feel so good and so happy knowing that I may make someone happy for having my hair. :)

Now my hair is just above my shoulders. Short and bouncy and it feels so light. I love it!

For Valentine's dinner, I'm making crab and corn chowder, steamed Dungeness crabs, roasted asparagus and fingerling potatoes. And raspberry cheesecake and praline cheesecake for dessert. Hubby says he'll take me out this weekend....

TTFN!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good Morning All!

Just wanted to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you're all doing something fun!

Last night I went out with my girlfriends to celebrate my birthday. I know two months later.... But with everyone's schedule this was the soonest we can do it. Anyway, we went out to dinner then went to take an hour of hip hop class. That was so fun! Before I went out, I was feeling a bit melancholy. Like I wanted to cry for some reason. Hubby told me it would be good to go out with the girls. He was right. I was soon to find out that we all were feeling the same way. Isn't that funny? It's a relief actually. When you find out that you're not the only one. As I sat down and chatted with the girls, I was telling them that I don't know, but I just want to cry! Then a few minutes later, one of the girls walked in and as she sat down, she was saying that on her way to dinner, she wanted to just bawl. We all started LAUGHING!!! It was like a scene from "Sex and The City". The hip hop class afterwards was another release. Then we went for another drink. Got home at midnight. So glad I went out!

Do you ever feel that sometimes, your heart feels uneasy. Like something is tugging at it. Then you have a dream about an old friend. And you wonder if they're thinking about you the same. Lately, I've been having this sense of going back in time. Like reminiscing of things, people in my past, things I used to do. Quite a bit nostalgic. I emailed a friend whom I haven't talked to in a while. And what a coincidence, she was thinking about me too. See what I mean? Sometimes, you wonder and think about someone....you can choose to do something about it or not. Whatever the case may be, you make a decision. And you live with it.

Well, my friend and I need to catch up. Hope she's OK.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone....



Art Quote of the Day
Where words fail, music speaks.
Hans Christian Andersen



I leave you with this song...

Collide


The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
Your barely waking, and i'm tangled up in you, Yeah

Well, I'm open, your closed,
Where I follow, you'll go,
I worry I won't see your face, light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes,
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,
Out of the doubt that fills my mind,
I somehow find You and I collide

I'm quiet you know,
you make a first impression,
I found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes,
Even the stars refuse to shine,
out of the back you fall in time,
You somehow find, You and I collide

Don't stop here,
I lost my place,
I'm close behind

Even the best fall down sometimes,
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,
Out of the doubt that fills your mind,
You finally find You and I collide.

You finally find
You and I collide.
You finally find
You and I collide.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

My Little Hero!

Connor as Spiderman


Look at those muscles! Connor loves putting on his Spiderman costume all day long. He makes me smile.

Isn't She Lovely?

Ava's Confirmation



Here's my little lady growing up! She was Confirmed last Saturday as "Ava Anastassia".

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What's 12 Inches And Keeps Growing?!

SNOW!!! And we're getting more of it!!!! LOL! And what were you thinking?!?!?!?!? HAH!!!

Look at what I see from my kitchen window...


PS: Theresa ~ allucaneat buffet?!?!? ROTFLMAO!!! You crack me up!!!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

My Blogging Personality

Your Blogging Type is Unique and Avant Garde

You're a bit ... unusual. And so is your blog.
You're impulsive, and you'll often post the first thing that pops in your head.
Completely uncensored, you blog tends to shock... even though that's not your intent.
You tend to change your blog often, experimenting with new designs and content.

I'm Finally Feeling Better!

YUCK! I hate getting the flu. It got me bad this time around. I was sick for almost a week. Eeek! I'm back now.

Yesterday, I submitted several cards to a couple of publications. I hope I get a call! :) So wish me luck.

I don't have much to say today except I have a lot of catching up to do.

Let me know what you're up to today, OK?

Make it a great one!

Monday, February 04, 2008

Vegas Report

Hello!

I am back! I had an awesome time except the flight back home, I caught some kind of virus and I'm all achy and stuffy and coughing real bad. Eeek! Let me give you a run down of how my Vegas get-away went. Warning this is long so grab a cup of coffee/tea or wine (depending on when you're reading this) and put the kids away!

Wednesday - woke up at 5am for a limo pick up 6:30am. Everyone was in deep sleep so we just left and gave the kiddies a kiss and hug. I love waking up early to go on a vacation, don't you? Anyway, the flight there was nice. Got to Vegas at around 10am. Picked up our rental car and drove to the house that we rented. It was 30 minutes out from the strip. Nice house with all the works. Even had a hot tub outside and we had every intention of using it, until we find out later in the week how busy we would be. So needless to say, we didn't get to use it. Got some lunch, freshened up, bought some groceries, then headed out for dinner. We were pretty tired so kept it simple and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.



The next day, woke early to attend the Memory Trends Show. Got there at 9am and we were there until about 5pm. I took two classes, "Embracing Digital Scrapbooking" and "A Photo Can Sell 1000 Products". I got to meet Renee Pearson, author of Scrapbooking Digital and Maria Nerius, a well-known author in the craft industry. We had several make and takes (which I'll show you a picture of once my hubby gets home). They gave us a TON, I mean a TON of stuff from not only the make and takes but they gave us two bags full of goodies....pictures to follow. The classes cost $10 each. And my day pass cost $29. I paid a total of $49 for this event and I got away with over $200 worth of scrapbooking goodies. I kid you not!



We ate at Mesa Grill. We started off with some Blue Corn Pancake with Barbecued Duck and Habanero Chile-Star Anise Sauce and Tiger Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale and Corn-Cilantro Sauce. I had the Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Roasted Pineapple-Cascabel Chile Sauce and Caramelized Pineapple Green Onion Salsa. Hubby had the Pan Roasted Leg of Venison with Crushed Blackberry-Ancho Chile Sauce and Horseradish Potato Gratin. You'll see a copy of the menu here! For drinks I had their classic margarita.



No Bobby Flay but we saw Jerry Seinfeld! He had dinner there too. At first I wasn't sure if it was him. You know when you see these hollywood figure you have this vision that they would be larger than life, but he's just normal looking, dark hair, Jerry's face, in a suit and there he walked in and had dinner with his posse. No one made a big hoorah. But you can see people looking. I wanted so bad to give him a hug and ask for his autograph, but I didn't want to be disappointed just in case he said "no". KWIM?

After dinner, we walked and shopped at the Caesar's Palace. We got home pass midnight.



Friday morning was shopping day. I went to the Fashion Mall (which the name-sake they really did have a fashion show) and also spent the morning checking out different hotels too. I only had time to check out the Venetian, Mirage, Treasure Island and MGM.

Let me give you my short review of each of these hotels. The Venetian has a very romantic flair. This is the place where you can ride the gondola with your sweetie and enjoy the scenery as if you were in Italy. I like the Venetian because of all the hotels I've been in, this hotel didn't have a cigar/cigarette smell. They spray some neutralizer in the air that eliminates all that. The hotel is newer therefore, a lot cleaner. MGM is geared towards families with kids. They have a three-story display of a pair of lion and lioness. I was able to take pictures. Again...to follow. The Mirage and Treasure Island is geared towards the younger crowd. So I think if you were to go with the girls (which I'm planning on sometime in October) this would be the place to go! It has great restaurants and you can go clubbing at Studio 54 afterwards. Speaking of clubs, the less you wear the better! You will get in with no problem. You'll find someone giving out cards so you get a free pass to get in the club. So if you're female, you're in! Well, it probably helps to have other credentials as well. :)



Went home, got ready for dinner. This time it was at Bouchon's. Do you watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations"? Anyway, he went to this restaurant and he gave it a great review so hubby and I wanted to try it out. I had one of my favorite drinks of Rangpur with Tonic and a slice of lime. For appetizers, we had Foie Gras de Canard paired with wine. It was exquisite! This isn't for the light at heart. It's hard core stuff. Hubby and I love to experiment and we have a very exotic palate as you'll find out. Then we had to try the infamous french fries that made Anthony cry. It was the best fries I have ever had. It was cooked to perfection with just the right crispness on the outside and softness on the inside so you can taste the potatoes, not the grease! It was served in a pewter cone lined with white paper. The presentation is incredible. I also had Soupe a l'Oignon, which they claim is the best Onion Soup. I think they were right. When I make this kind of soup, I use cooking sherry so it yields a soup that is of the sweeter taste. I think they used dark red wine with this one as it was deep and rich. It was very pleasant. Then for our main entree we had the Petit Plateau. It was a tower of seafood containing, lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams, and oysters. It is out of this world! The mussels weren't gritty or mucky. Everything had a nice sweet and clean taste to it. Just divine! We passed on dessert and coffee. Now thinking back, I should have went for it. I will definitely go back there again. Here's a copy of the menu just in case you're interested.



Saturday morning was the Shot Show with my hubby. It was held at The Convention Center and this show was HUGE! It had over 20,000 booths! It was a very loooong day and it was very tiring! Drove back to the house to rest and got dressed for dinner...I know...again! This time we went to Paris. Ooooh-la-la. And had dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It was on the 11th floor and we were seated by the window. We saw the strip from up there. It was a very memorable experience. Here's what our menu composed of: For appetizers we had Black Pepper Marinated Raw Beef, Mustard Aïoli, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Parmesan and Fricassee of Petits Gris Escargot, Confit Tomato, Wild Mushrooms. For our main entree hubby and I shared Char Broiled Bone in Rib Eye with Bordelaise Sauce, and sided with Pommes Anna. And for dessert we had Grand Marnier souffle. It was the perfect dinner to end the week.

Sunday morning was travel day. I wasn't supposed to leave until 4pm, but I got an early flight and left at 10am. I missed my kids so much! Anywho, that flight was the most horrible ride EVER! It was so turbulent that I thought that was the last time I got to see my husband. It was scary! That shaking and rumbling lasted for a good 4 minutes and let me tell you, it seemed like forever! I sat on the very last row which made it even worst! Then as if that wasn't bad enough, some drunk guy came staggering in the plane and guess where he sat?!?!? YEP! Next to me! UGH! He wreaked like cigarettes and stale beer. I got nauseous. Then now I caught some flu virus and I feel horrible. I hope I start to feel better as I have a very busy week!

Ok, so there's my review of my Vegas get-away. Thanks for stopping by and reading this! Two things I didnt get a chance to do but will definitely try next time I go to Vegas. Go to a spa or two and go to a nice club like Tao. Would you believe I didn't gamble?! I wasn't even tempted, just not my cup of tea. One word of advice, if you're ever planning on going to Vegas, make reservations ahead of time for shows, dinner or anything -- you can do these online! Also, be prepared to see the night life as you've never seen before. I saw a T-girl (that's what they call them!) strolling down the streets of Paris my last night there. Oui-oui!
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That's all for now.... Don't forget to post comments to get a chance of winning some goodies from me!

Make it a great one!