35 cookies

anthony and i had dinner at the mall tonight. after finishing our noodles i was craving something sweet so we just went to LOOK at the cookies at mrs. fields. the guy working there convinced me to buy their last minute special for 20 minis. he ended up giving us like 35 cookies, though, 'cause anthony and i couldn't agree on which flavors to get, so he filled our bag up with everything we pointed at. free cookies are good, but then again i didnt NEED those 15 extra cookies. =P

angara

ryan, anthony, rianne and i had dinner at angara tonight. it was a mere two minute walk from our house! it was my first time eating indian food. not bad!

virgil

here's an old picture of me and my dear friend, virgil. he passed away this morning after a long battle with prostate cancer. he was diagnosed back in 2006, but we didn't find out until his wife told us in may of last year. he never wanted any of us to know because he didn't want anyone to feel sad or sorry for him. that's totally representative of what kind of person he was. all he ever cared about was making his friends and family happy.

i last saw him the day of anthony's triathlon. we went to visit him, and he wasn't his usual, silly self. he tried to be, but he looked weak.. like he was in a lot of pain. and while we weren't expecting to lose him this fast, it's comforting to know that he is no longer suffering. we went to his house again tonight to pray with his family, and they played a slideshow of all his old photos. there was a picture of him wearing a balloon animal around his head. when we saw it, we looked at each other and anthony goes, "now THAT's virgil." he was the most hilariously ridiculous person i've ever met and i'm thankful for the tons of happy memories i have to remember him by.

in-n-out shakes

i brought two milkshakes home today. strawberry for me and neopolitain for the hubby. that's his reward for putting up with an atrocious wife. haha jk. i heard a girl say "atrocious" the other day and have been overusing the word ever since.

chinese take-out

i was super duper starving on my way home from work today. i got some take-out from seafood port and scarfed it down as soon as i got home. i got broccoli chicken, egg flower soup, and rice. yummy. i love chinese food.

sunday in vegas

we left our hotel in lake las vegas at 11:00 this morning and then drove into the city to spend the afternoon with venus and vince. they were the only ones who weren't already headed home. we had lunch at raising cane's and then walked around the outlets for a bit. they stayed in vegas one more night, but anthony and i had a nice drive home and arrived in torrance a little after 7:00. the whole trip went by so fast!

the lake

we spent the day at the lake. as usual, we rode jetskis and enjoyed a delicious bbq lunch prepared by uncle willy, emilie, and arnold. the day went by really fast for some reason, but we had a good time.

road trip

this weekend is our annual lake mead trip with anthony's family. i had to stay at work late today to finish something up, so anthony and i didn't hit the road 'til after 10! yikes!

furaibo

ryan is now officially a torrance resident. he made the move from new mexico to california last week so we had dinner with him tonight to keep him company. we went to furaibo where we all ordered lots of food, but finished everything because it was all so delicious.

hello kitty

i convinced the neighbors' cat to come hang out with me again. he may look nice and calm in this picture, but he is actually quite the scaredy cat. he kept running away. haha.

tiny bowler

check out this tiny bowler in her pajamas and snazzy bowling shoes. haha. i love the way she's posing.

hawaiian vacation

anthony and i finally booked our anniversary trip. we decided on oahu! we haven't been there since this picture was taken back in 2006. we were originally planning to go somewhere exotic like thailand, peru, or brazil. we were thisclose to booking brazil, but changed our minds because the travel agent i was working with seemed sloppy, and all the other companies i got quotes from were super expensive. i realized that we'll have fun wherever we go, and i really just want to eat some good food and sit on the beach. so hawaii it is! woohoo! this trip is waaaaay cheaper, too. now that it's booked we're both excited. i can't wait! (=

anthony's first triathlon

we woke up super early this morning and headed to long beach for anthony's triathlon! even toni and vince woke up early and came out to support him! being that it was his first triathlon, it was just a "sprint" distance. so rather than pacing himself like he would in an olympic distance, he was really going for speed. he had a 1/2 mile swim, 11 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. his goal was to finish in under 1.5 hours, and he finished 5 minutes before that. woohoo! congatulations, tri-athlete!

LACMA

today we went to the LACMA to see the tim burton exhibit. we also walked around the contemporary art building afterwards and that was really cool. tickets were a bit pricey but i'm glad we went because i really enjoyed it. thanks for planning, eva!

never ending pasta

venus treated me to dinner at olive garden tonight! we both got the unlimited pasta deal which is super cheap, but also super hard to take advantage of because we were both already full after our first bowl. haha. luckily, we had a really nice waitress who let me get another bowl even though i didn't finish my first. sweet!

1 2 3 sleep

here's my whole family doing "1 2 3 sleep!" that's one of serena's tricks. haha. she's obviously much cuter at doing it than we are.

p.s. my mom apparently smiles in her sleep.

sister sister

i'm cheating with this picture 'cause it wasn't really taken on the 14th, but i waited alllllll day to see jennifer. haha. she flew into town today for a work conference. we were all looking forward to seeing her, but she didn't end up getting to carson 'til after 10:00. doh. this was taken when i finally saw her the next day. and btw, i have no idea why we're hiding behind the blanket. haha.

thai bbq with gennie

gennie and i met up for dinner tonight at thai bbq. it's been a while since either of us have been there, but it was as delicious as always! (=

gyu-kaku monday

anthony and i had dinner at gyu-kaku. happy hour mondays! woohoo!

grace's birthday

today was grace's 14th birthday! it was a busy day! we had an early lunch at boiling crab with the whole family. afterwards, anthony, chad, grace and i stopped by my parents' house to say hello and to pick up a skateboard ('cause that's what the bday girl felt like doing). we hung out at home for a little while, and then while anthony napped, the kiddos and i went to the salon to put feathers in grace's hair. i also put my feathers back in so i could match her. haha. we got some shaved ice, picked anthony up, went to church, picked up some taco bell for dinner (again, at the bday girl's request), and then finally headed to san pedro to meet back up with the family. happy birthday, gracie!

sage's birthday

today was sage's big day! we got to gel's house early afternoon to help her set everything up. everything was soooo cute! gel crafted up a storm! the sweets party was a success, with everything looking super sweet.. especially sage! happy first birthday, sagey baby!

decorations

venus came over tonight to help me finish up the rest of the decorations for sage's birthday party. yay! i can't wait to see how it all turns out!

newspaper nails

these didn't come out as cool as i imagined, but they're not bad!

painting the kitchen

i finally got around to painting the kitchen. we started last night and then i finished today after work. we still have to redo the rest of the cabinets and build a banquette, but we're getting there!

labor day

kevin and nina had a labor day bbq at their place today. they grilled up some yummy sausage kabobs and shrimp. mm mm good!

chad and grace

chad and grace slept over last night so i hung out with them all day. we spent the afternoon doing what chad wanted to do (stay home and watch reruns of the office), and then finally got out of the house per grace's request. after church, we went to dinner at stacked. yum!

mejia get together

we had a small get together at our house for dinner tonight. anthony and i were babysitting his two nephews, so they were really the stars of the show. we played "catch phrase" and gabe (the 7 year old) was sooo good! those boys are so cute. (=

note to self: paint that darn patch on the ceiling!

couch

this is my favorite spot on the couch. i wish i could just lounge here all day.

costco pizza

i love costco pizza!