From one holiday to another…
*sigh* I just love Christmas time.
This year’s new ornament is one I picked up in Australia during our vacation — I’m not a good photographer at all so hopefully you can make out the Sydney Opera House in the above pic. 😀
Now I just have to get some presents under the tree…
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
Rob and I are starting our Turkey Day at my cousin’s house for lunch then we’re heading to his parents for dinner. Food and family all day. YUMMY.
We decided to make dessert for the festivities and as soon as I saw these pumpkin pie bites on Bakerella (thanks to Sarah for the link), I knew that’s what we were going to make.
Our effort. Hee hee. DEFINITELY not as pretty as Bakerella’s but OMG! SO. GOOD. I might have eaten 2 or 3 to “test” them. 😀 Our apartment smells pretty amazing too.
It’s been a tough few weeks at work so I’m ready for the holiday break. AND! My boss surprised me by giving me Monday off so I have a 5-day weekend.
SCORE!
My head hurts but I really want to post something so… here’s some random thoughts in list form.
1. I’m not really a fan of the Twilight series nor did I enjoy the first movie but for some reason, I still want to see New Moon. The clips from the trailers already make it look light years better than the first. Plus, I can’t help that I’m highly amused by the actors off-screen. Kristen Stewart is so uncomfortably awkward in interviews and Robert Pattinson looks high ALL THE TIME. Seriously.
2. I just found out Star Trek is being released on DVD today. I think I’ll have to pick up a copy. Mmmm Chris Pine (GO Bears!).
3. I watched Skate America yesterday (yes, I’m a figure skating fan despite NBC relegating non-Olympics coverage to their lesser network Universal Sports) and I have to say that overall, I’m really disappointed in the (lack of) depth on the US women’s side. Especially with the Winter Olympics coming up! Normally, the US has strong medal contenders but I think whoever makes the team will be fighting for the bronze medal at best. I just don’t think Rachael Flatt, Alissa Czisny, Caroline Zhang, Ashley Wagner, etc. are that good. Technically, they’re ok but they don’t have “it.” I’ll be rooting for Yu-Na Kim all the way.
4. I realized that the reason I can’t watch The Office regularly is because I get second-hand embarrassment. Every episode Michael does or says something ridiculous and I have to look away.
5. Just came back from taking Diesel outside and it is FUH-REEZING out there. I’ve become more and more wimpy to cold weather since moving to Southern CA.
6. I (ok, Rob and I) have been doing a good job at keeping up to date with all our TV. Except for poor Fringe. We’re 3 episodes behind. Argh.
7. I haven’t read a book in months. EEK. So embarrassing. I used to do all my reading during my commute to and from work and now that I work from home, I use that extra time to get more sleep (hehe). I got the first 3 books of the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series for my birthday so hopefully they’ll get me motivated to read again.
8. The Starbucks red cups are back!!! I get my fave Nonfat Peppermint Mocha year-round but there’s just something special about getting it in the official holiday cup.
9. I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving. A little more than a week! Turkey festivities will start off at lunch at my cousin’s house and I can’t wait.
10. Then of course, the day after Thanksgiving is another day I look forward to. BLACK FRIDAY. YAYAYAYAY. Rob and I never really have “big ticket” items that we need to buy… for some reason, we just like checking out the random items that are on sale. Thanks to Black Friday Ads I feel very well-prepared to hit the sales at Best Buy, Target, K-Mart, etc. I’m planning to get some DVDs and also a new wireless mouse for my laptop. ALSO. And possibly more importantly, Black Friday is the day we get our CHRISTMAS TREE. OMGSOEXCITING.
… That’s it for now. Back later.
So it’s the last day of my holiday vacation. 🙁 So sad. But before real life begins again, I have to share some vacation highlights!
1. Spending time with friends and family.
Christmas Eve is spent with my family — my cousin and his wife just bought a Wii so they asked us to bring our games so they could try them out. We brought Guitar Hero with us (with our one measly guitar) and my cousin pretty much spent the entire night playing it all by himself. Heh.
Christmas Day is spent with Rob’s family — his parents hosted lunch and there was a constant stream of relatives visiting all day. I was pretty much parked next to the food table. YUM. Rob watched the Lakers crush the Celtics. 😀
Rob and I also hung out with friends — my best friends and I had a yummy dinner and annual gift exchange (where I received the Gossip Girl s1 DVDs and a gorgeous Paris picture book among other FABULOUS presents). And our friends Daniel and Carolyn hosted a potluck where we dined on healthy foods such as fried chicken, spam musubi, and korean bbq and played Rock Band 2 all night. Well, the guys did. I sang “Hungry Like the Wolf” and that was it. I suck at Rock Band.
2. Looking for (and finding!) an apartment.
Rob and I spent all day on the 26th and 27th driving around Orange County visiting various apartment communities. OMG. They were built by the same developer so after seeing 2 places, they all started to look exactly the same. Except for the kitchens. We barely cook at all but for some reason, the look of the kitchens really made a huge difference in how we felt about the apartments. We really liked 2 communities — Option #1 is a new-ish community (6 years) on the border of Tustin and Irvine and very close to a major retail shopping center and lots of “hustle and bustle.” Option #2 is a brand new community a few miles south close to the Irvine Spectrum but in a more quiet, less developed area. After visiting both locations a second time we went with Option #2. The rent was over a $100 less per month and we couldn’t pass up having a brand new apartment with granite kitchen countertops (sooo pretty). We still feel like we’re central to lots of stuff in the OC (South Coast Plaza!) so that’s good. We anticipate moving in sometime the last week of January. CRAZY!
3. Seeing Jorge Garcia (Hurley from Lost!) at South Coast Plaza. Rob spotted him going up an escalator while we were looking around in Crate and Barrel. I didn’t believe it was him at first but it totally was! I wanted to follow him but chickened out. 😛
4. I had Pinkberry!
I snagged a Pinkberry gift card from work (for some reason, a vendor thought it was a good idea to give out gift cards even though there is not a single Pinkberry in the Bay Area) and treated myself to a large. Oink oink. SO GOOD.
5. Going to CA Adventure and Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve never been to DCA and it’s been about 5 years since my last trip to DL so I figured it was about time and I begged Rob to go with me. 😀 He agreed to 2 whole days! WOOT.
First day was spent at CA Adventure. A rundown of our day with some pics thrown in for good measure…
CLICK to see larger versions of the pics.
Grizzly River Run. Fun but I got SOAKED. ICK.
The Golden Gate Bridge!
Tower of Terror. OMG. I screamed and held on to Rob’s arm for dear life during the entire ride. Looking back the feeling of weightlessness is actually pretty cool.
Taking a quick shopping break and trying on the bride and groom Mickey ears!
Next up we went to the Animation Academy where we learned how to draw Donald Duck. This was definitely our favorite attraction of the trip! My drawing is on the left. 😀
Walking around the Wharf (does not beat the real thing right here in the Bay Area)…
Soarin’ Over California. A simulator ride that takes advantage of scent in addition to sight and sound.
California Screamin’. Awesome wooden roller coaster. Probably my favorite ride at DCA.
Mulholland Madness. Fun little mini-coaster.
At the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, I found the cutest fountain. So here I am with my Sorceror Mickey ears taking a picture with the Sorceror Mickey fountain! I have no idea why I am smiling like that. Dork.
Monsters Inc. Cute kiddie ride that takes you through the movie.
And to close our day at DCA, we went back to the Animation Academy to draw Jack Skeleton. My drawing is on the right.
Last picture of the day – Mickey, the “C”, and me!
Some random comments:
— Wow, I am SO OLD. We were only at DCA from about 11am to 9pm but my feet were KILLING me. What happened?!?
— I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it but Rob smokes. And I honestly had no idea that there were smoking areas at DCA. So Rob would leave the park every once in awhile to handle his business. Then we happened upon a smoking area in the Condor Flats area across from Soarin’. Isn’t that crazy? The other one is in the Hollywood Pictures area near the Muppet Vision show. (At Disneyland, there’s a smoking area near Big Thunder Ranch and another at Fantasy Gardens, which I dubbed “Smokey Gardens.” :P)
Overall, I enjoyed DCA but I probably wouldn’t spend another whole day at this park alone… I’d definitely have to mix it up with some time at DL. Still tons of fun, though. I’m sure I’ll be back to draw some more characters at Animation Academy and ride Screamin’!
Our second day was spent at Disneyland. YAYAYAYAYAYAY. I seriously love this place. My face lights up and I get so happy here. *giddy* There was an INSANE amount of people at DL and we missed a lot of the “kiddie” rides due to long lines (and the fact that they don’t have Fast Passes) but we trudged through and still had a great time. 😀 Since it was DL day, I forced Rob out of bed at 6am(!) so we could be at the park by the 8am opening. That didn’t happen exactly as planned but we still arrived around 8:30am.
Matterhorn. Always a classic. One of my faves.
Splash Mountain. After agreeing not to ride any water rides (considering how wet we got after GRR the previous day), we still went on SM when we saw that the stand-by line was only 5 minutes. Well, we got UNBELIEVABLY DRENCHED. So soaked that I had to buy a t-shirt and sweatshirt to replace my dripping sweater. I wish I had a picture of us after the ride but I was preoccupied.
Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Going on this ride totally made me want to see this movie.
After breakfast, we made our way over to DCA to go to the Animation Academy again! This time we drew Winnie the Pooh. My drawing is on the right.
Back at Disneyland sporting our Mickey tees!
Hanging out at the Star Trader store in Tomorrowland. One of my favorite stores because they have Star Wars themed merchandise. Heh.
Rob as Buzz Lightyear.
Me as Goofy.
Rob as Eeyore.
Me with an awesome R2D2 backpack I found. 😀
It may be unbelievably crowded during the holidays but I just LOVE seeing all the decorations. Look how gorgeous Sleeping Beauty’s castle is!
Eating a pineapple dole whip. A MUST HAVE.
Indiana Jones Adventure. Not as crazy and fast as I remember but still a goodie. Thank goodness for Fast Pass — the stand-by line for this ride got up to 2 hours!
Pirates of the Caribbean. A good time to rest our tired feet. Also got to see the holiday decorations in New Orleans Square.
Space Mountain. MY MOST FAVORITE RIDE EVER. The Fast Passes for this ride ran out quickly or I would have tried to get another one so we could ride it a second time. It’s the BEST.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. My first time on this ride! Rob’s score: 63,800. My score: 52,200.
The HUGE Disneyland Christmas tree in the middle of Main Street. We passed it because…
… we were on our way to DCA and the Animation Academy for a second time! This time we drew Minnie Mouse. My drawing is on the left.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Another oldie but goodie.
The castle all lit up!
And Small World too! I took this picture as we were waiting for the Fireworks Spectacular, which were pretty fantastic. I always love the music and the buildup to the Disney “snow” at the end.
Star Tours. Went on this ride because the line was only 10 minutes. It’s ok. I kinda think the video needs to be updated.
And finally, we end our day with another ride on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Rob’s score: 14,800. My score: 48,500. I WON!!!
And so ends a great day and a fantastic holiday vacation. 😀
Back to real life tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!
I’m down in Southern CA and have been keeping very busy… eating, visiting family, eating, apartment hunting, eating, opening Christmas presents, eating… 🙂
I had a very loooong day at Disney’s California Adventure and I have to get some rest for Disneyland tomorrow… but I wanted to say Hi to everyone! I promise a better holiday update after the New Year when I’m back in the Bay.
To get ready for the holidays, we took Diesel to the groomer to get bathed, have his hair cut, his nails clipped, his teeth brushed… the works.
I then convinced Rob that Diesel *needed* to get his picture taken with Santa!
He’s normally really excited to meet new people but for some reason, he was totally afraid of Santa! He wanted to jump out of Santa’s lap the entire time but it’s still a cute picture. 😀
Just 2 more days of work for the year!
I realized I haven’t shared pictures of our Christmas tree! It’s the same as it’s been for years now but I love showing it off anyway…
The tree decorated in all its cream and gold glory. You’ll notice that I added a few small pink and purple glittery round ornaments. I’m branching out into other colors! They’re so cute and sparkly that I couldn’t resist when I saw them at KMart. They do look a little random since it doesn’t quite match the theme of the tree but it gives me an excuse to get some more ornaments during the after Christmas sales. 😀 [Please excuse the terrible off-center picture. We have JUNK all over the place and I tried to avoid capturing the messiness next to the pretty tree.]
My favorite ornament on the tree this year. It’s a yummy looking cupcake!
Fun fun. Oh! I also started receiving holiday cards! Thank you to Marianne, Sarah and Alie. 🙂 Yours are in the mail!
Wow, December is whizzing right by. It’s already the 5th and I haven’t even posted about holiday cards yet!
So here it is… I’d love to send out holiday cards (international destinations too!) so if you’d like one from me, please leave me a comment and I’ll email you for your addess. 🙂
Hope all who celebrate had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I know I did. We had a low key day in the city — first lunch at Victor and Susie’s (Rob’s brother and sister-in-law) and then for dinner we all headed over to the Laos for a huge FEAST. Turkey, corn pudding, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie… OMG. ITWASSOGOOD.
Some other good things I did this weekend:
— Went to the Social Security office to officially change my name. CRAZINESS. But now I get to practice my new signature! It’s the little things…
— Hit the Black Friday sales. Wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Just wanted to check out the deals. Bought a bunch of DVDs for Christmas presents. And for myself too. Couldn’t help it!
— Went to Bakesale Betty’s in Oakland and picked up a chicken pot pie and strawberry shortcake for Friday dinner. SOYUMMY. The fried chicken sandwich (you can get it in salad form too) is awesome too. Check it out. Seriously.
— Walked Diesel around Fourth Street in Berkeley. Had the most amazing Meyer Lemon sorbet at Sketch. And visited my little slice of paper heaven, Paper Source.
— Made holiday sugar cookies with Rob.
— Bought and decorated our Christmas tree. Pictures to come.
Since I’m in the holiday spirit, I’m going to do this Christmas meme I found…
Welcome to the Christmas Edition of getting to know your friends!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
WRAPPING PAPER! By far. Part of the fun is actually wrapping the presents and then embellishing them with bows, ribbons, tags, etc.
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Real. I just love the smell of a real tree. Plus, the whole process of going out and picking the perfect tree is one of my favorite things to do.
3. When do you put up the tree?
The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take your tree down?
I try to take it down the first weekend in January… but sometimes it’s later because I’m lazy.
5. Do you like egg nog?
No, although I am a little intrigued by the eggnog latte at Starbucks.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I feel like I always have a different answer for these types of questions because I have a terrible memory. I think it would probably be the Barbie dream house I got from my aunt when I was really young. Maybe 6?
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
No. We don’t have anywhere to put it even if we had one. My dad has one, though, and he always waits for me to come home on Christmas Eve so I can set it up for him.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
My dad. He’s one of those people who has everything he needs. And is super picky.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
My friends Robyn and Carmen because we send each other wishlists every year. So easy! I don’t have to guess and I know they’ll like anything I get.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail! I love getting letters in the mail and I love passing that feeling on to others.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Nothing really comes to mind… maybe clothes that weren’t my style or didn’t fit?
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
ELF! It’s the best!
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Arrozcaldo. Basically rice porridge. YUM. My family has it every year on Christmas Eve. We eat it a few hours after dinner while we’re waiting to open presents.
15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear/white.
16. Favorite Christmas song?
Classic – “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (pretty much any version). Pop – *NSync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.” Hee.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
My dad and Rob’s parents all live in Southern CA so we always drive down there to spend the holidays with them.
18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Nope, probably not. 😛
19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Both! My family opens presents on Christmas Eve (we’re not a very patient bunch) and Rob’s family opens presents on Christmas morning.
20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The (rude) crowds. Too many people out and about grumbling about buying presents.
21. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I have a gold theme on the tree as I do every year.
22. What do you want for Christmas this year?
For Rob to take me to Disneyland! 😀
23. Who is most likely to post?
Sarah probably. I think she just might love Christmas more than I do!
That was fun. 🙂 Happy December everyone!
I started this a few days ago and just got around to finishing it. Oops. 😛
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I’m back at work this morning and I SO do not want to be here. Particularly since the pants I’m wearing right now do not fit properly due to all the holiday feasting I did during my vacation. Argh. So instead, I’m going to do some blogging. Hehe.
Here’s a few highlights from the past few weeks:
1. Spending LOTS of time with friends and family. Being in Southern CA for so long made me realize how much I miss it.
2. Doing lots of wedding “stuff.” Most notably cake tasting! YUM. Rob and I went to 3 different bakeries and had all kinds of cake (white, chocolate, carrot, marble, banana) along with all different kinds of fillings/icings (buttercream, cappuccino, mint chocolate, fresh strawberries…). Seriously, the best part of wedding planning so far. Just kidding. Sort of. Anyway, we decided on the design of our cake and selected our baker. YAY. Some pics of the yumminess…
The samples at Heidelberg Bakery. This is where we’re going to order our cake!
Rob sampling the banana nut cake (I think) at Torrance Bakery.
Mmmm.
3. Diesel playing with the other doggies in our family. He met my cousin’s dogs, Poker (also a shih tzu) and Roxy (a maltipoo), and he stayed at Rob’s parent’s house where he got to play with their dog, Oski (a pug). See the fun he had!
Diesel, Poker and Roxy (from left to right) on Christmas Eve opening up their presents. I take it back. Diesel probably didn’t enjoy playing with these two. Poker barked at him the whole night. Nicely, of course, but Diesel was still taken aback by him. And Roxy growled and lunged at him when we first got to my cousin’s house. She then proceeded to ignore him the rest of the night. I think that’s why Diesel is sitting so far away from them in this picture. Poor little guy.
Diesel and Oski. The Deez LOVES Oski. They play fight and have little tug of war games. I think he misses him. Aww.
4. Opening Presents! My friends and family were incredibly generous with the presents, as always. Some of the particularly noteworthy gifts I received:
— CTU t-shirt. HEE.
— Jack Bauer figurine. He currently resides on my desk at work ready to shoot anyone who approaches. 😀
— Brookstone ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. YAY. Now I can clean my engagement ring at home. I can’t wait to get it all sparkly.
— Cuttlebug. An awesome embossing and die-cut machine for scrapbooking!
— Casio Exilim EX-S770. This was a total surprise because I got it from a vendor at work. CRAZY! It’s only my second Christmas at my agency but I have quickly learned that the holidays are ridiculous. Really. We give so much business to various companies throughout the year that they practically throw presents our way at Christmas. We received an insane number of gift baskets, gift cards, boxes of chocolate, popcorn tins, etc. But the camera was the best of them all. Good stuff.
— canvas Marc Jacobs tote that I’ve been coveting
— DVDs (Veronica Mars s3, Brothers & Sisters s1)
— And tons of other good things — honestly, I feel so spoiled. The people in my life know me very, very well.
5. Eating my way through Cerritos. There’s just some things I can’t get here… like Filipino food (I *must* learn how to cook the dishes I love) and Chick-Fil-A (the BEST fast food EVER). The only thing I didn’t have was Pinkberry. I had a day planned out to go and everything but Rob and I got lazy. Next time for sure.
… And I guess that’s it. I already miss the holidays. :/ Since it looks like it’s going to be stormy all weekend, I better take down all the Christmas decorations and put away the luggage that’s still strewed all over the apartment…