eat, read, then eat some more!

thursday, week 2

this...is how i began my day (i'm trying to be good!)

after that classes i SO needed this coffee! *yes, i drink it with a straw (gotta save the teeth!)
i was now starving & lees recommended i check this place out. i've lived in bonita for over 20 years and drive past this place almost daily. i've never tried it since i'm not a big fan of oysters, but i always trust her judgment when it comes to food. i'm so glad i did - YUM! the grilled fish tacos were the best, and cheap to boot! the fish tacos were 99 cents and the others were not much more. we tried the marlin taco, shrimp taco & shrimp ceviche - all were yummy! this is going to be a new joint for us! thanks for the tip, lees ;)
and now we're off! i'm ashamed to even admit it, but i've never taken the kids to the public library. we usually just hit up the bookstores, but i figured it was time.

e for emma! they were mesmerized by the kid-friendly computer

our check-out stash

i had plans for the evening, so while i went out, the kids & r went to visit hayden

the inner sanctum (minus lees, jay, thel)

here is the background story:

a few years ago when myspace was new, an old friend from high school, jeff trinidad, found me and we reconnected. he & i were best buds and i was grateful for technology bringing him back into my life. we emailed each other back and forth and planned to get together for lunch to catch up "one of these days". you know how it goes...life happens and "next week" turned into next month, and before we knew it we were out of touch again.

...i never got a chance to have that lunch with jeff. i got a call from a friend letting me know he passed away from sarcoma. i didn't even know he was sick. he was diagnosed, had very little time left, and died within a few months. i remember at his viewing my bff rizzy handed me tissue after tissue. i couldn't stop crying. part of my crying was the guilt i felt for losing touch with him (again). i didn't even want to see him, i wanted to remember him the way he was back in high school: young, full of life, alive. r took my hand and told me i didn't have to, but it might make me feel better if i said goodbye. i did end up saying goodbye to my dear friend, but with a promise - that i would never let it happen again: i would treat my friendships as one of the most important details of my life, and if i did ever reconnect with an old friend i would stay in touch. that's what jeff taught me; life is too short & it is never too late to reconnect.

...which brings me back to the present. once again, thanks to facebook (or crackbook, as i call it) i found old junior high friends. i suggested to two of them (daryle & marie) that we meet for dinner. not only did we get together, we extended the circle to other friends. we now have a monthly dinner to catch up, break bread, and reinforce those bonds of friendship that were once (and still are) strong and true. {in my heart, this is how i remember and honor jeff.} this month, it was my idea to check out this place:

i'd heard so much about it!

we arrived a little early, so before marie got there we had a little appetizer :)

yum! we had a great time and marie got to share some great news! :)

marie was tired & had to wind down, but daryle, adriel & i were a little restless. we decided to grab (more) dessert...

now do you see why i have to do yoga in the morning! ;)

day for papa

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 7 - sunday!

it's r's 5th father's day - wow...i feel like it was just yesterday these kiddos fit squarely into our arms...
sweet babies

g & e woke their papa up with his present - an appointment for a 50 minute massage at coldwater creek. he said he didn't like massages, but that he'd try it (see how he liked it in a later post :)

we didn't really have any plans for breakfast, so i decided to give nette a call to see what she was up to. we decided to crash their plans & headed to frida for their sunday brunch. what we didn't realize was it was fully booked (reservations only). lucky for us a party of 8 was late and we got to steal their spot. between the handmade sopes & fresh ceviche, we couldn't believe how yummy it was! i do have to admit, it did come in a distant 2nd to all my old MOM co-workers authentic mexican cuisine. nevertheless, it's close by, and anytime we're in the mood for fresh mexican food, we know where to go! we think fiona has a crush on gavin :)

...as if we didn't stuff ourselves enough, we were invited to the deguzman home for dinner to celebrate with a bushel (yes!) of blue crab with all the fixins. ed ordered them straight from maryland--i didn't believe it til i saw it! this box is actually 3/4 empty! it was hilarious watching r & ed see who could tear out (filipino style) the biggest piece.
we think ed won
by the end of the day, the newspaper covered table was DONE!
we took the kids outside and the boys got a chance to relax and have some boy, oh, ahem, men-time the cigars were from the p.i.!

nicholas wanted in on the shots

it was a fun, food-filled day! we love you r!

the goonies

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 6 - saturday!

before all the festivities (and coughing) began

lees invited us to a family fundraiser for her cousin. we got a chance to chow down on good old fashioned movie novelties while the kids ran amuck. it was so much fun in myette & john's newly renovated backyard with all the fixins...big screen projector, fire pit, blankets & banigs all over the grass...between the licorice, hot cocoa (spiked with coffee) and the fire, we all had a wonderful time watching an oldie-but-goodie, the goonies, on a cool summer evening.

p.s. the only downer was lees was coughing her throat off all night...we discovered later it was bronchitis! :(

first thursday

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 4 - thursday!

ok, ok, i know i was supposed to be at yoga at 9am this morning...but it was much more fun snuggling in bed with my babies! even though they wake me up at the crack of dawn when i have at least a few more hours of sleep in me, seeing their chubby faces is worth it - i know this stage won't last forever!

we grabbed lunch with monica, sebs & mathias and i dragged gavin to yet another dr's appt; once again he was such a good boy :) i met my sister at loehmann's to buy a dress for meriel's bridal shower. i SO hate shopping! actually, i SO hate trying on clothes (that'll teach me - i guess i should have gone to that yoga class after all, huh?). finally i was able to find a really cute dress, now the fun part - a pair of cute shoes!

monica met up with us again since the boys had so much fun earlier. we were at the mission valley mall, supposed to go to sammy's, and i remembered it was happy hour and we were steps away from my all-time favorite hand roll, spicy scallop @ seau's:

yum! you can even see sweet baby mathias quietly sleeping, letting his mama enjoy her dinner. the boys were so behaved monica & i felt they deserved a treat :)

another wonderful summer vacation day!

p.s. nette i'll see you here @ 6am tomorrow! OR if you'd rather grab breakfast, let's talk ;) xo

where the surf meets the turf...

summer break 2009 - week 1, day 3 - wednesday!

oh yeah! what a way to celebrate day 3! we spent the entire day at the del mar fair (i just can't bring myself to call it the 'san diego county' fair)!

this was our 2nd time around thanks to unlimited tickets, but we still couldn't get enough of the yummy food! can we all scream for ice cream?
again

and again

and again!

my mama had never been to the fair, so she met us there to try all the food we are always talking about and much to the g & e's delight, hayden came along too!

wawa adores her granddaughters

our bff's the alfonso & quiros families joined us to partake in all the good eats!

we pigged out on corn dogs, pizza, french fries, tasti chips, zucchini, bbq sandwiches, ribs, shrimp, cream puffs, cotton candy, chocolate covered bacon (i know), and my most favorite cinnamon bun ever!

cream cheese frosting - yum!
did i mention i was watching what i was eating?


by the end of the day we were all pooped, but not as much as hayden was - quite literally! she pooped all over herself. i knew it when my sister gave me a pained look and said, "please come with me!" i cleaned the poor girl up & after being washed in freezing cold water and changed into clean, warm clothes, she knocked out...

i love having a niece :)

family, good friends & good food - that's what vacation is all about!

p.s. did i say i was going to yoga @ 6am today? um, emma turned off the alarm (true story!) nette has promised we're going on friday...stay tuned! :)

april showers bring may flowers

may is always a special month for me, mainly because of mother's day, but this year in particular was filled with so much fun. here are 7 reasons why:

may 7: muffins for mom! this was the first time i attended this event at wws, and i wasn't sure what to expect. i was actually going to skip it, until gavin's teacher called me to confirm i would be attending. "it's only 20 minutes, you have to come!"...and so i did. what i didn't expect was how wonderful it would turn out to be. i should have known when the other mom's passed around a box of tissues and told me to take a few "just in case".

i was greeted with the sweetest handmade centerpieces

i don't normally allow gavin to eat sweets before a meal, but how could i resist this face?

mrs. thomas stole a shot of our nose-to-nose kiss and what a special treat, a handmade, handprinted surprise

i'm so glad i made the time to be there - to spent just a small part of an ordinary day with my first born revelling in his being. needless to say, by the end of the event, i was a mess. sometimes i take for granted that i am actually a MOTHER! i forget how amazing it is and how lucky i am. that's why i'm grateful for moments like these...you must stop, think, and remember. i already can't wait for next year.


may 8: (the very next day)...mathias amado is here! my dear friend monica had been anxiously awaiting the birth of her 2nd son. between trips to nuyo and text messages, she kept me updated daily on her progress. when she didn't return one of my texts, i knew the time was near!

big brother sebs and baby mathias
may 9: as if i wasn't getting enough of my mothering, baby-fixation, the NEXT day (yes!) my sister gave birth to her first born, my very first niece!

meet hayden nicole!

i was in the room during the entire labor and my sister was a trooper...unfortunately, since she was 2 weeks early, hayden was sunny-side up and refused to come out. she ended up with a c-section and hayden was finally here!

when i first saw her i couldn't believe how much she looked like mike! she was so cute, even after being just a few hours new thanks to the swine flu epidemic (does anyone even remember it?!) kids were not allowed in the hospital. not siblings, relatives, no one under 16 years old. they weren't even allowed in the waiting room; they had to wait outside! it was pretty pathetic but the only way gavin & emma could even get a glimpse of their new cousin was through a window. by the time hayden was home, they were so excited. they couldn't wait to hold her!

may 10: mama's day! how i had the strength & energy to even get up after spending all night with my sister the day before, i have no idea. but i think in part it had to do with the 10:30 am reservations i had at our favorite buffet, lael's. ever since gavin was born we celebrate (per my request) mother's day here along with my friends: the pasta station, sushi bar, and dessert table :)

it was extra-special being joined by my bff and fellow mama

may 16: gily's turns 5! well, technically gily's birthday is on cinco de mayo, but an celebrated it on may 16 at la jolla shores. i can't believe gily bean is 5 already!! an & i were pregnant together, so it's already bringing me to tears thinking i will soon have a 5 year old myself!

sweet gily bean

she had an awesome barbie cake!

i'm thinking an had just a little too much fun chopping her (it) up :)

poor gily watched in disbelief

thank you for making her happy, barbie
i got to spend a few hours with my bff's. it was nice to catch up and just BE around each other! we SO missed you lees!

may 22: scrap sisters! for memorial weekend (thank god it was a 4 day for me!) we anxiously awaited abby's arrival (wow, nice alliteration!) so that we could spend a few child-free (well, technically they were in the other room) hours scrapping in peace. turns out, i can't get anything done while friends are around...i would rather chat and eat pie :) {hey j: do you have a pic of that pie n brought?}

i was inspired to scrap a page of that fun night

may 30: vincent is 9!
we bought disneyland passes, and they ain't cheap, so we are putting them to good use! we go to disneyland at least once a month, but we missed out on emma's AND olivia's birthdays because gavin & rick were sick. luckily we were all healthy enough to celebrate my godson vince turning 9. i don't want to get into all the details of all the birthdays i have missed, but i do feel very grateful that i get to spend many, many more birthdays celebrating with him :) we had lunch at blue bayou and as promised we chowed down on the yummy pirate boat.

my babies are always slow to warm up, but by the end of the day, they are all over the place (btw ...gavin is holding his new light saber. he wanted a red one, but i told him only sith lords use the red...he is a jedi he should have blue. he wanted the red anyway. i couldn't do it...i bought the blue)

it's that time of the year, and often people (co-workers, family members) ask me why i do the birthday party thing just about every weekend? isn't it too expensive? doesn't it get overwhelming? the answer is yes...but if you re-read this blog,

isn't it all worth it?

on another note...

rick & i were talking the other night...about where we are in our lives. i told him i want to document as much as i can to help me try to remember it all. i just know these are the best times... with two little people who are literally my life.