furry kids

i love dogs. i always had a dog growing up so it isn't a surprise i'd own dogs in my adult life. having three dogs is like having babies... always having to keep track of them, taking them out, cleaning up after them... granted, i do get more opportunities to rest b'coz my furry kids looooove to veg out with me on the sofa. they make me smile when i'm sad and make me laugh when they do the silliest things. they are definitely a part of our family.  i love my furry kids!

torrance turkey trot

the kid and i decided wed participate in the torrance turkey trot 5k to balance out all the food well be feasting on today for thanksgiving. the run wasnt bad... flat surface the entire way... no hills, dips, etc. i lost ryna about half way after the first mile... those long giraffe legs needed to feel some speed and she booked it like a cheetah. she completed the trot in 32 minutes! im certain she could have finished under 30 minutes if she didnt spend the first 10 minutes running by my side. her best mile is 7:15... girl has speed. as for me... im actually proud of myself! considering i havent worked out in 2 months and havent ran in over 2 months, i managed to beat my 5k best time by almost 10 min. i finished in 38 minutes! woohoo! granted there were no hills... just flat surface... i think that made it much easier. i really should start running again... im itching for a 30 minutes or less 5k time!

pumpkin spice cupcakes w/honey frosting

last night I made pumpkin spice cupcakes for the first time. ryna helped me... her first time baking! and of course... just like a kid should... she licked the spatula and bowl clean. anyway... cupcakes came out GREAT. i think i'll be making these for thanksgiving this year in cake pop form. oh and... a pumpkin spice cupcake makes a great breakfast pastry and goes great with pumpkin spice latte! =)

view gallery...

nascar racing experience

for love's birthday this year, i got him a nascar racing experience. 5 minutes in the driver's seat... of a real nascar race car... on a real racetrack! unfortunately, his birthday was in july... and the next available scheduled event in SoCal wasn't until october... in fontana at the auto club speedway. it was worth the wait! we woke up super early that sunday morning... 5am... to make the drive from torrance to fonatana. i'm not a morning person... i swore i would sleep in the car on the way there, but i was too excited for him!! we arrived 30min early... managed to take a nap before they let everyone in. if anyone ever does this... plan ahead and prepare food, drinks, and snacks... bring a small cooler of goodies... b'coz you'll be there for a couple hours. i've never been to the speedway... it was pretty awesome to be walking into the pit... to set foot on the same concrete real racers and pit crews set foot on.

down the drain

ef·fort  noun \ˈe-fərt, -ˌfort\ : a serious attempt : try

zombie invasion

clever idea Huffington Post. halloween... my fav time of year. came across this section added among the traditional menu on the HP site. hilarious! love it!

JMS Chorus

ryna's school chorus group had their first performance of the school year. both chorus and band each performed three songs. 2 were from the musical, Wicked!!  the chorus group sang "One Short Day" and the band performed "Defy Gravity".  the band did a great on their performance on Clocks by Coldplay... i wish i recorded that one. anyway, i was able to record the chorus singing their last song, Michael Jackson's I'll Be There.

JMS Chorus - YouTube.

doubt your doubts

read it here --//> Doubt Your Doubts | Mixologi.

WORD.

cheaters

since my nutrition & fitness program ended last tuesday, i haven't worked out. between long hours at the office working on this major product release, packing, and preparing for a baby shower... i haven't carved out any time for me & my body. i really need to re-prioritize.

this past saturday ended up being a super duper cheat day b'coz i spent the day helping host a baby shower and well there was really nothing i could eat that fit my nutritional guidelines. i had a choice of street tacos, sushi (which was long gone before i realized there was any), and an endless supply of desserts. after trying really hard to avoid everything outside of the guidelines, i broke down. mike and i figured the day was already shot... so we decided to top the night off with carbolicious foods that we would really enjoy... pasta! following the baby shower, we drove down to mdr for dinner at c&o trattoria. i love this place. i love the food. i love the location. i love the ambiance. i love the service. i love the decor. i love the group karaoke sesh of 'that's amore!'. it's amore. what a night! we had garlic knots, caprese (4 servings) and shared an individual serving  size of fettuccini alfredo... we. were. stuffed. we ended up taking half the pasta home for our roomie to finish off.

went back to the guidelines the last 2 days, but today... i had vermicelli dry from saigon dish. and you know what... it wasn't even good!! geez, shoulda stuck to greek yogurt as i have the past 2 days. i cheated and now i feel cheated! sigh... lesson learned... don't over do it... indulge but don't over-indulge... drink a glass, not the whole bottle... i hope i've learned my lesson b'coz i have long way to go back to a size 5.

i think i'll avoid my scale this week... just can't face it after all the cheating i've done.

 

run for your lives!

zombie infested 5k obstacle course.

can we say awesome!! my two interests rolled into one exciting event. although, i think it would be more fun if we could take the zombies down... run around with paintball guns... yeah? yeah!!

wishing tree tags

i started crafting again for my girl's baby shower. i rarely get to craft these days. when i do get a bit of me time, it fills up quickly with long overdue errands or sleep! i enjoy making things from scratch and sometimes forget that. it's therapeutic and peaceful and makes me light up when i see the finished product. so, with the lack of crafting i've done... i really went all out...

for my first project, i made tags for the wishing tree.  not familiar with a wishing tree?  it's a fairly new trend that's cropped up at weddings, baby showers, birthdays, etc and often takes the place of a guest book.  i find it's an absolutely beautiful way to capture everyone's wishes and thoughts and makes a great decoration piece in your home.

i started with a 8.5"x11" white cardstock and cut that into 4.25"x4.25" which makes 4 per sheet. i used photoshop (love!) to create the tags with the cutest "fill-in-the-blank" message i came across at another baby shower this year. what a perfect idea for someone like me who can never think of anything clever or profound to say. all done and time to print!

next up, i punched a hole at the top-center of the tag using the crop-a-dile to run the twine through later.  i then grabbed one of my favorite tools; 4-in-1 embossing corner punch. imo, this is such a great tool b'coz it takes a simple square card and adds a little flare. if i wanted to, i could stop right here and be done with this project... but that isn't my style...

... inking the edges and corners always makes a statement for me. i love that old, tattered, and rustic look.  depending on how much you ink and what colors you choose can create many different moods in your project.  i ink the corners in a darker color to make sure the embossed symbol pops out.

for the back, i used rubber stamps to create a background and a center focus piece, which in this case was the theme of the event. and of course, i followed that up with more inking. lastly, i ran twine through the hole to create the ability to hang the tag on the wishing tree.

materials + tools:

• white cardstock


• computer w/photoshop or similar


• printer


• twine


• 2 rubber stamps


• stampin' up classic inkpad in bashful blue


• stampin' up classic inkpad in early espresso


• colorbox cat's eye pigment inkpads in 3 shades of brown


• fiskar's 4-in-1 embossing corner punch


• we r memory keepers crop-a-dile all-in-one-tool

 

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accepted

we stepped into the car after having a delicious dinner at tamaen when we received a text message from our realtor:

"seller agrees to original offer..."

i had to read it twice before i said anything to mike. i'm so ecstatic! the last few days have been quite stressful...

we found a home we both fell in love with. put in our offer 9 days ago. scrambled to get the documents the seller requested within the first 4 days. then had to extend our offer deadline so the seller can work out some personal matters they were dealing with regarding the sell of their house. 2 days ago they countered asking for $5k more than our offer. after mulling it over for 2 days, we came to a conclusion this morning that we'd stick to our guns... b'coz it's really our best offer and what we can afford. this morning... i was certain we lost our chance for the house and we had already started perusing redfin and zip realty for more prospects.

but tonight... that text message our realtor sent changed everything. i haven't felt this accomplished since my daughter was born. for the first time in my life... i will own a house. no... not just a house. a home. a home that my daughter will grow up in... a home that will be ours... a home our kids will grow up in. a home that i can be happy to finally call 'my home'.

i know this is barely just the beginning and i really hope i'm not jinxing us right now. i'm just so excited and anxious to talk about it... that i just had to blog it. escrow will open soon and we still need to get inspection done. i really really truly hope and pray that everything goes well from here on out.

a new journey awaits us....

 

weighing in

so, a few weeks ago i posted this and decided to cut out sugary and starchy carbs. well, after procrastinating for 2 wks... i finally started... and 4 weeks later ... i lost 11lbs. *happy dance*

eliminating some of my favorite foods was tough b'coz i love food... eliminating alcohol was even harder. but, i love me more. and i miss my skinny jeans and my waist very very much... it's been awhile since we last hung out and strutted our stuff. so... no pastas, rice, bread, cereal, cupcakes, cookies, chips, or even FRUIT! for 3 weeks. i ate all the veggies, lean meats, and fish my taste buds can tolerate. surprisingly, it was not difficult to find snacks and meals that fit with my diet. add a lil circuit training and 24 hour fitness turbo kick classes and you've got yourself a well established and guaranteed to lose weight diet & exercise program. ta-da! it's that easy...

... not. yeah, giving up the really good part of food kinda sucked... but not fitting into that dress i've been eyeing at bebe is absolutely devastating and nearing borderline depression. so... i guess i had to ask myself that question... what would you rather have? the delicious macaroni & cheese topped with chicken and buffalo hot sauce from elbows... or to wear a size 5 again. I'LL TAKE LATTER PLEASE. sure, i can have any comfort food satisfy my palette for the next hour. but, it'll take me yet another week to lose that pound i just gained. so, my diet began... and it won't stop until my eyes are satisfied with what it sees in the mirror... and my waist is satisfied with the size of jeans that wrap around my legs and hips.

it's great seeing results. and the scale isn't the only result i rely on to keep me going... the energy... the small definition and toned muscles that i swear to god i see peeking out... the ability to have a full and good night of sleep... the confidence... the clarity... the cleansing feeling from eating naturally good foods rather than processed fast food. changing how you eat is truly a positive lifestyle change. i can't wait to see where i'll be in another 4 weeks!

"motivation is what gets you started. habit is what keeps you going."

 

fakebook

 

it's easy to say your life is great. say it enough times and maybe... just maybe... you'll believe it yourself. it's easy to look busy and look good when no one is really looking at you. but in the end... no  matter what you say on the internet grapevine about yourself... your actions speak louder than any letters combined to create words that make you sound awesome. it's your actions that make you who you are.  it's the effort you put forth for your future, your family, your friends that define how awesome you are... not the status YOU wrote about yourself.

blog therapy

i've always preached about how blogging can be therapeutic. write your feelings out... let the emotions flood a piece of digital paper instead of having tears flood your heart.  just let it out and breathe.

i need to take my own advice.

i've become this private person who won't open up to anyone about anything. burden you with my issues? make you aware that i've got problems? show you my sensitive side? no way! i'll deal with it myself behind this hardshell exterior i've built so well... i'll sleep it off... go for a run... but i'll deal with it... alone.

alas, everyone needs a shoulder to lean on... whether you need advice, need another perspective, or just need someone to listen to you vent and rant and let you do so without judgement... we all need to let go of that weight on our shoulders one way or another.

so here i am... about to take my own advice. let's write about it... find closure and release the pain that weighs me down....

 

photo booth fun

this past weekend i started making photo booth props for my girl's shower.  when i found the templates online and read the instructions, i thought to myself, "this is cake. i'll have this done in a couple hours."  not quite as easy as i thought it would be... the spray adhesive stuck to EVERYTHING and i dulled out a dozen of my x-acto blades.  finding out your blade went dull was not a fun moment... i ruined four templates and had to re-print.  i think the worse was cutting out the eyewear.  but despite all the mess and sticky fingers... despite almost cutting myself a few times... despite the non-stop blade dulling action... despite getting adhesive all over my glass-top coffee table... despite all the long unexpected hours... the props came out great!! i'm thankful i'll get to use these props more than once this year... i plan on getting a lot of miles outta these suckas!

 



 

thanks to ohhappyday.com for most of the templates and the wonderful idea!

10 yrs

i love to dance. i may not always be on beat and i don't stray too far from the 2-step. but... i love to dance.

oc decadence 2011 didn't live up to the hype this year as so many of my friends stated.  so to make the best of the night, we hit up a swanky lil bar down the street.  the decor was upscale, but the crowd was down to earth.  the DJ was on point.  he's playing hip hop!?  OMGYG, BBD's poison just came on... dancefloor... STAT!  flashback... take me back to when the club was jumpin b'coz the music was good. it was a great night.

then the rude awakening came in and slapped me back into the 21st century. my girl friend met a boy who was just 22 yrs old. TWENTY-TWO. that makes me 10 years older than him. TEN YEARS!

so, how old is too old for the club or bar scene?  is age really just a number when it comes to dancing and drinking?  whether i'm 22, 32, or 42... i think i'd still enjoy a GNO at a local bar or club with good music, good company, and strong drinks. my age does not define me or my interests.  just because i turn 50 doesn't mean i'm buying a rocking chair and taking up crocheting because it "suits" my age.  eff that!  BUT with age does come a sense of maturity... a different perspective and level of respect for yourself, your company, and those around you. i'm truly young at heart and to this day i still don't think i know how to act my age.  you're only as old as you feel... and i'm feeling mighty young... so... let's dance.

 

calories

today i learned that 3,500 calories = 1lb. so, when you've consumed or burned 3,500 calories... you've either gained or lost 1 lb.  puts things into perspective... doesn't it?

i also learned in order to know how many calories you should consume daily to maintain your current weight, you must multiply 11 with your current weight.  for example:  if you weigh, 150 lbs... 150 x 11 = 1650.  1650 represents the number of calories you can eat daily to maintain your current weight.  so, if you're looking to lose weight... you use the same formula but instead replace your "current weight" with your "desired weight" to get the number of calories you need to consume daily to shed pounds.

i don't know why i'm blogging about this.  perhaps, so i can look back on this from time to time to remind myself i have all the right info and tools and need to utilize them to get me out of this funk they call dieting.

i'm cutting out sugars and starchy carbs (grains, potatoes, fruits) and sticking to lean protein and veggies for the next couple weeks.  we'll see how this goes...

 

people & dogs

this has circulated on the internet for years now and to this day, i don't know of the source.  but, i still find it funny....

the following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door:

the pusher

i was trying to erase history when i came across this lil gem. i simply cannot forget who turned me into an fb junkie. it's entrapment, i say!

 

run, gina, run!

normally, i keep things to myself b'coz once i start talking to people about something, i tend to lose interest.  but, who's reading anyway... i started running again.  an old fav of mine.  i especially love running when the sun is down and the sky is filled with stars.  however, when you run in a well-lit park b'coz you're a chick with a fear of being taken, you don't get to see many stars.  i like running with my shadow... she either runs beside me, behind me, or challenges me by running ahead of me.  no matter what, i never run alone at night. furthermore, running in the evening is so much more cooler without the heat of the sun beating down you.  my pace is not as fast as it once was... i'm currently at 3 miles in 40 minutes.  i'm working on it... slowly but surely with progress.  if anyone has any tips on how to increase my pace little by little, i'm open to suggestions!  hoping if talk about it... own it... i'll improve it.  i don't know if i'll ever run a marathon... or even a half marathon.  i think, for now, i'd rather much run for myself... for the peace that it brings me... the pleasure... the motivation.  just gimme a dope beat to immerse myself in and i'll dance to the rhythm and run with the tempo.

done, son!

look out weekend 'coz here i come... the weekend came... i attempted to conquer... and utterly failed. but i had fun doing it.  part 4...

after yet another night of fun... 2 days in row!?!... mike and i didn't get home until nearly 3am.  the first thought that ran through our mind as we were entering the 57 fwy... if we lived in oc, we'd probably be home by now.  sigh... soon.

my sunday was spent... keeping the sofa warm.  i did absolutely nothing all day long and enjoyed every minute.  so this is what's it's like to be one of our dogs. fortunate, spoiled, little brats. this weekend’s shenanigans totally wiped me out. i spent all of sunday pretty much in recovery mode in and out of sleep. sometimes you just need to do nothing to do everything.

 

filipino kingz of comedy

look out weekend 'coz here i come... the weekend came... i attempted to conquer... and utterly failed. but i had fun doing it.  part 3...

i managed to peel myself off of the sofa to head out to brea for some laughs with the homies at brea improv.  mike's good friend alex was hosting the filipino kingz of comedy show at our favorite improv location and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see these guys in action again.  the first time watching them was in irvine several months ago and all i remember was laughing hysterically.

surprisingly, i manage to put together a big group of us!  5 couples, plus jane!  unfortunately, jane's bf couldn't make it b'coz of work... in the pit taking photos of the rock the bells concert was work!  i'm a lil green brando!  maree & justin who have a 17 month old baby managed to arrange a sitter so they can enjoy their date night with us. tina, mike's sister, and nick arrived home directly from disneyland, changed, and walked all of 500ft from their front porch to the brea improv to enjoy a few laughs while her mom stayed home with the kids.  liz, rick, ryan, and kat were also able to make for the evening.  it was so great getting people together.  i love big groups of fun. =)

it was an absolutely great evening.  many thanks to alex for hosting this event and hooking us up with comp tickets and a reserved table!  all of the comedians killed it.  herb's new songs were awesome... when's your cd release?!  rad reyes was an awesomely funny host. justinwas full of surprises.  OMGYG! nico is still my favorite diva! and joey was side-splitting hilarious!  their routines had old material as well as new and their delivery was absolutely on point.  i know they'll continue to improve and can't wait to see them again.

 

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what's my age again?

look out weekend 'coz here i come... the weekend came... i attempted to conquer... and utterly failed. but i had fun doing it.  part 2...

following dinner at manpuku... we headed over to eric's hotel to freshen up and wait for our ride to sutra.  it's been 2 years since i last set foot inside sutra and it's changed.  the decor has transformed from sensual indian decor to pure white decadence.  although, the drinks are still the same... the crowd is still the same... and the vibe is still the same.  gotta love the oc clubbin' crowd.

i felt fancy coming in through the back entrance... never done that before!  no wait! no line! that alone just made my night.  we made our way to the DJ booth; it's a different perspective from up there... looking over the entire crowd listening to that guy mixing beats.  i didn't think asking the DJ to play a song still even happened anymore... mike and i have dotted bruises on our arms from people tapping us to ask "the DJ" if he'll play their song.  that was awkward.

it surprises me how electronica has become the norm in dance songs now & at the clubs.  i remember when back in the day the only time you'd be able to dance to trance was at an underground rave.  now, it's everywhere... when you here remixes of ke$hia (gag), black eyed peas, LMFAO, afrojack... especially in vegas... and especially at sutra.  i'm not hating... i enjoy it very  much... especially when i'm on the treadmill... or nordic track.

the club got eric a bottle of goose and we took shots, made strong cocktails, and toasted to the night.  the dance floor was littered with a variety of people... our favorite were the cougars. once again... you gotta love the oc crowd!  despite the variety of douche bags and girls you see and meet at the club... one commonality we all have is we're simply here to have fun.  blow off the work... or school... or funemployment... or it's so hard to be a trust fund baby week and hang with the homies... dance your ass off, drink your liver gone, and make out with that girl or guy you'd never give 2 seconds of your life if you were sober.

since we came with the DJ... we had to leave with the DJ.  that meant staying until the club closed.  a bottle of goose, a ride back to the hotel, and a couple hours to sober up and chop it up in the process meant mike and i didn't make it home until 5am.  5AM!!  after about 6 hours of sleep, i woke up tired as f*ck!  i realized at that very moment, my body is no longer that of a 23 year old.  i can't stay up drinking and dancing and be bright and chipper the very next morning.  i can't party until the wee hours of the night, or the next morning, b'coz i've got a cardio class to attend at 9am and a laundry list of errands to run before the sun sets and store doors close.  i can't behave like a responsible-free adult b'coz i am not a responsible free adult.  suffice to say; i don't do this regularly... wait; i don't do this at all anymore... unless i'm in vegas... incognito as a responsible-free adult.

so, what does one do at my age after staying out all night?  i was bitched up on the sofa watching HGTV recharging my batteries.

be sure to check DJ EROCK's website and next appearance!

 

 

I'm at MANPUKU, BITCH!

look out weekend 'coz here i come... the weekend came... i attempted to conquer... and utterly failed. but i had fun doing it.  part 1...

we kicked off the weekend friday night with dinner in the oc with eric & jane... two people we don't get to see enough... so this was a real treat! =)  we initially attempted to introduce eric to anjin, but the wait was 2 hours. that wouldn't give us enough time to enjoy the food and make it to his hotel to freshen up and to the club. we ditched our place in line and headed over to california shabu shabu... the wait was just as long. ugh. we were running out of time and our stomachs were running low on energy... we turned to yelp!

yelp! showed us the way to manpuku, japanese BBQ.

with 4 stars based on over 100+ reviews, we had to give it a shot... and not to mention, they were seating immediately!

to avoid any further delay, we opted for the party course for 4 for $100.  it included everything you see here.  food came out all at once and were quite overwhelmed with where to start.  i really enjoyed the yukkejan soup... it's like a spicy beef stew.  the only downside to the evening was our grill was turned on 'you like it well-charred, right?' high and the first batch of meat cuts, rib eye steak, was cooked too well done and kinda chewy.  oh well, one out of a dozen other plates gone wrong isn't so bad.  the pork short rib was delicious with the lettuce wraps and the salted prime short rib just melts in your mouth.  by the time we finished the salad, soup, rice, pork short rib lettuce wraps, and salted prime rib, we were about to throw in the towel until we looked up and remember we still had a whole plate of assorted meats and another plate of scallops & shrimp!!  time to move a notch on the belt and prep for another round.

we. were. stuft.  aside from good food, it was definite good company.  mike and i rarely go out to dinners with friends since most of his close friends either live up north or are unable to meet up due to scheduling conflicts and most of my friends live an hour away and now have kids to look after.  it was especially a real treat to be able to catch up with both jane and eric considering how rare it is we're free at the same time. thanks eric & jane for meeting up!  definitely will not be the last time we eat at (in eric's words) MANPUKU, BITCH! =)

 

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oc fair 2011

you know, the only reason i go to the oc fair every year is for the food.  i'm amazed to learn someone has thought of something else to deep fry.  this year... kool-aid.  i had to try it.  sure, it's total calories surpasses my daily caloric intake.  sure, it's probably loaded with enough sugar that it should come with an insulin shot.  sure.... but it's worth it.  it's worth experiencing it just once.  you only live once.

 

deep fried kool-aid.  as you see in the photo looks like doughnut holes, pancake bites, hush puppies.  i assume the kool-aid is mixed into the batter, causing the change in color.  but that isn't enough.  there's kool-aid powder mix mixed into the powerded sugar that's sprinkled on these lil red balls of doughy goodness.  how do they taste, you ask?  like a doughnut hole with cherry flavored kool-aid.  it was surprisingly delicious.  more than i can say for the krispy kreme chicken sandwich they had last year.

although, deep fried kool-aid was not my favorite deep fried morsel at this year's fair.  the blue ribbon goes to the deep fried BROWNIE. it's a biased opinion, since i'm already a HUGE fan of brownies.  last year, the award went to the deep fried oreo, but that has now been retired b'coz i have found a new indulgence.  like the oreo, the brownie is soft and chewy on the inside.  drizzled with chocolate syrup and everything just melts in your mouth.  both require a tall glass of milk!  now... when is someone going to make deep fried mac & cheese!?!?

the mister wanted garlic fries and so our mission began... until... it came to a quick halt.  australian potatoes?  whatever it is they're doing down under... i wanted in on it!  smothered and covered slices of deep fried potatoes... it just sounds dirty... and dirty it was.

 

aside from the food we managed to squeeze in some time to check out the ice museum. it's making its first appearance at the oc fair this year.  the wait in line wasn't nearly as bad as it appeared; only 15 minutes.  with about a dozen ice sculptures, the time spent inside the giant ice box was under 10 minutes.  great way to cool off from the summer sun.

here are some additional photos from the fair...

 

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would you like some fruit with your cake

celebrated kenzie's 1st birthday yesterday at the hacienda country club. this was her birthday cake!! tons of fruit and very tasty.  there was soooo much cake left... nearly half, or was there more?? anyways, t'was delicious and tasty.

 

hbd buddies

happy birthday to mike and kenzie who celebrates their back to back birthdays together for the first time this year!

 

we time

the mister and i finally got a chance to make it to the beach this summer.  the weather this summer has been really off lately... it'll be nice and sunny at home, but drive west 5 miles and bam! overcast. *sad face* but today... we got lucky! we kept driving past knob hill and lo behold... clear blue skies! it was a beautiful day to spend some quiet time at the beach... napping, tanning, and relaxing.

 

the rise of carmageddon

about to leave work and check sigalert.com for a traffic update.  i have never seen the 405 so green!! tonight's drive home will be cake! thanks carmageddon!

 

Never seen the 405 so green!! Drive home is cake!

all clear

awesome. zero traffic on driving into work at 8am on the 405 north. this is how the 405 should be every day! carmageddon should happen more often. really. no joke. we should make this a weekly event.... shoot, let's make it a daily event!

 

the rapture is upon us

this lil dude disappeared!  oh noes! it's the rapture! ..... of my tummy. =)

 

stairway to heavenly toned butt & thighs

baldwin hills scenic overlook stair trail

it took me 12 minutes to walk down, then back up to the top. steps are massive too. some i had to climb... great workout... will need to frequent this location more.

 

tweeny twelve

ryna wanted to have a slumber party for her birthday this year and so we did.  at first i wasn't planning on doing anything since i only allowed 3 friends to spend the night... but the planner in me creeped out.  it went from ordering pizza and baking cupcakes to putting together a full spread.  and i couldn't host a party without goody bags!  managed to pull everything together in less than a week which is a record for me, but this is also the smallest party i've planned/hosted.  i'm so happy with how the decor and everything turned out.  the girls had a blast and so did i.

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life is good

what a busy first month of 2011. definitely got a good fix of family time, friend time, mother/daughter time, animal time, and love time. celebrated many many birthdays... two 1st birthdays! finally made it out to napa valley and got my v. sattui fix! here's a few shots to sum up the month....

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up, up, here we go!

"here we go, come with me. there's a world out there
that we should see. take my hand, close your eyes. with you right here, i'm a rocketeer,"

 

this is the year of the rocketeer.  i've explored every inch of my home and as comforting as it is, it now time to travel and explore everything else.  i don't care where we go as long as i have the right peoples with me.  a weekend trip here or there whether it be near or far.  so put it in gear and let's ride.

carpe annum 2011

i tell myself at the start of every year. make changes. spend more time with family & friends. travel more. eat healthier. my body is a temple, treat it right. and yet, i somehow always successfully manage to regress. it always starts off with one day, then a week and before you know it... i'm doing it again... working myself to exhaustion, losing sleep, losing my sanity, gaining stress, losing communication with family & friends, losing my passions & interests, losing MYSELF. not this year.

carpe annum bitches. SEIZE.  THE.  YEAR.

it's time for real talk. i'm not going to let that feeling of sadness and guilt overwhelm me at the end of every year when i've realized i've let another year pass me by.  my daughter is one year older. my relationship is one year longer. all those home projects i had planned are still waiting for my attention.  i'm not gonna watch my life pass me by year after year. it's time to make shit count!

i'm not a fan of resolutions, b'coz i believe that if you really want to make a change, you'll do it without waiting for the beginning of a new year.  but b'coz i'm realizing at the end of every year how my life has zipped, i am going to make a resolution this year.

my 2011 resolution: I WILL NOT LET LIFE PASS ME BY!

i vow to get my ass out of bed EARLY so i can go to work early so i can get home at a early and spend time with my two favorite people and our animals.  i vow to stop procrastinating... the evil son of a bitch always wins.  i vow to take better care of myself b'coz my body is a temple. i vow not to work late nights UNLESS it is absolutely necessary b'coz a girl's still gotta get paid.  i vow not to sleep my weekends away only to complain sunday night that the weekend went by too quickly.  i vow to travel more even it if it's just an overnight stay in the city by the bay.  i vow to take more time off from work for vacations with the fam... even if its just a staycation...  i've never been a tourist in my own city.  i vow to make more time with my family and friends... dinner at your place or mine?  i vow to make more memories using my camera, filling another 87G of space on the backup server at home.  i vow to reunite myself with some of my favorite hobbies.  i vow to never let my life pass me by again.

let's dance 2011.  i'll lead.

angry kitty

punk rock hk collection
my new clutch wallet. *love*

2011 is the new me

happy new year! happy new blog!

making the move to wordpress cost me 7 years of blogging.  i fail at backing up data.  however, i figured i'd look on the brighter side and accept this as a sign that i need to let go of the past and move forward.  you can't live in the past, right?  so, i'm starting fresh with a new perspective on life and what lies ahead for me. cheers!