amused

inspired by the arrival of the wicked cast in san diego, i've been listening to a lot of kristin chenoweth. if you haven't already heard it, check out her version of "taylor the latte boy". here's a sample.

i promise you, if you aren't smiling, you will be when you finish listening to this song! thanks for the introduction d!

date night

friday, week 2

part of being the mama of a 3 & 4 year old is balancing - the kids, work, life, love (pretty much in that order).

huh, what's love? i know, i know...probably the most important of all. r & i went out for a much needed date night. guess where we went? i told him he was jealous because i had gone the night before. the truth is, bleu boheme was closed and we couldn't wait an hour, so we walked a block to grab a quick bite. yesterday i had the regular burger (truth be told, i actually prefer in-n-out's beef burger to this one, sorry fans.) so today i decided to try the veggie - YUM! it's one of the best veggie burgers i've ever had! had to have dessert of course!
and date night wouldn't be complete without a movie. this is the first "grown up" movie we've seen in a very long time. it was so funny - we got a lot of much needed laughs. we promised to do this more often...maybe next week :)

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! ;)

at the playground

wednesday, week 2

after yoga (yes! i made the 6:30 am class!) and rehab, we took the kids to park to spend the afternoon. monica, mathias & sebs joined us.

even though my finger is in it, i love this shot

hayden came to play, too. she's getting so big!

this is absolutely my favorite shot of the day! i can't wait to scrap it!

...at the end of the day nette gave me a call, she was at vons and needed a "mama minute". i was happy to oblige...(lees - why, oh why are you not on the same schedule as us?!)

p.s. those are nette's homemade cupcakes - yum!

bikram who?

tuesday, week 2

dusted off my yoga mat & dragged myself to bikram yoga. i did it, i was so freakin' hot, but i i did it, and it was well worth it! i need to remind myself how this feels, because if you are consistent, you just get used to the heat. i spent the rest of the day cleaning (and recovering), but i did score:

i usually only drink these after a hard-core workout. the yoga studio sells these for $3, but i bought them at henry's on sale for $1.19 and if you buy a case (i bought 3), you get another $1.35 off - woo hoo!

a picture says a thousand words...

monday, week 2

ok, who's bright idea was it to blog everyday of my summer break? oh, right, MINE. this is stressful! break is not supposed to be stressful! i've decided week 2 is going to be a picture blog--much more fun & self explanatory (and still sticking to my promise)! most of the photos are taken spur of the moment with my phone, so excuse the quality...it's the image that counts, right :)

decided to ditch yoga before my physical therapy (bad idea)

g & i met nette & fiona for lunch @ corner bakery. he was able to reach the water to refill my drink! that's the first time he did that...my baby boy is growing :(

even on vacation you can't escape it

at least catching up on law & order made folding clothes tolerable!
my little sweetie wanted to put on her own pj's, and by the end of the day i was tired, why not i say! isn't she a doll ;)

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!