Pop's Surprise 50th Birthday & A God Son.

My step dad, Dave (Pop) turned 50 on April 20th. A while back my mom wanted to give him a surprise party for his 50th birthday. What's funny is that we weren't sure if he suspected anything because he mentioned he knew that I was sneaky! ( He helped me throw my mom's surprise party).

The outcome:

 

Awesome! We got him! He had to work overtime on his birthday so it worked out perfectly with all the planning. We had his co-worker help keep him occupied at work and text us when he was on his way home. Thanks Tony!

 

Mom went all out for his special day. TONS of food, people, drinks and even a DJ.

 

 

Happy Birthday Pop! Thanks for always being there! We love you.

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone knows me really well, they know Ginger and I go waaaaay back. I don't know if the title "best friend" even fits because she is more like a sister. That's how deep our relationship goes. We have a lot of history! When she asked me to be her youngest son, Jarren's God Mother, I was more than honored and touched. Both her kids Donovan and Jarren are such smart and funny boys!

Jarren has the same birthday as my step dad's and Ginger wanted to have him baptized on his birthday and have a birthday party after. Unfortunately, since I was part of planning Pop's birthday I couldn't make it to Jarren's big day. I still wanted to be a part of his birthday and celebrate with him so we decided to take him to Chuck E Cheeses the day before. Seems like he had a great time and I'm glad I could at least give that to him :)

 

 

 

His Baptism.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Jarr!! I hope you enjoy Freaky Forms ;)... and Ill be watching you! LOL

Love Ninang. 

 

 

 



Left Over Brown Rice Cakes

I'm not crazy about brown rice but I try to make it every now and then. Nothing beats white jasmine rice! The other night I tried to make brown rice with stir fry I made for dinner. I had the idea to put a lot more water in our rice cooker so the brown rice wouldn't be so chewy...Well, it definitely wasn't chewy. It was a little too mushy. (3 cups brown jasmine rice & 6 cups water) With the 2 cups of mushy brown rice left over, I decided I could make rice cakes. I looked on line just to see if it's been done before and sure enough it has.

The turn out:

They're not half bad! Actually Oliver loves them! (Yay!) I feel like I could have seasoned them a little more so feel free to season how ever you want! I didn't measure so here is what I dumped in the mixing bowl.

- 2 cups mushy brown rice
-1 egg
- Panko bread crumbs
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Dried parsley
- Paula Deen's house seasoning (1 cup salt, 1/4 cup ground black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder)
  I put this on just about anything.

Hand mix and make patties, fry in olive oil until you get a golden brown crust and enjoy!

* I meant to put onions in this but forgot to. Think it would taste great!

Valentine's Day 2013

Happy Belated Hearts Day! I hope everyone had a nice one! This year we decided not to go out and wait an hour at crowded restaurants. I thought it would be nice to have something at home and do a steakhouse theme dinner. When I got home from work, Oliver wasn't home yet (he usually is before me) A few minutes later he came in with long stem red roses and a really good red wine blend (Apothic Red). We enjoyed that whole bottle to by the way!

The menu: Wedge salad with feta cheese, tomatoes, and greek dressing, T-bone steak and home made red mashed potatoes. Dessert was chocolate cupcakes I made and our good friend Marie was so sweet enough to drop off icecream cupcakes from Coldstone. :)

We really had a nice simple Valentine's Day. The sweetest moment to me was when I came home from working out and Oliver dressed up for me. :) He can be a real sweetie sometimes.

A Tripple Celebration Dinner

Well first off, happy new year! So far it seems like this year has started off good and for a lot of other people I know! I don't think I've heard so many people having good news starting off for the new year but I think it's awesome!
For new years eve, we went to my parents house and had a small party. Friends, tons of food, tons of drinks, karaoke, and games. Of course we did the champagne toast ;)

New Years Kisses

 

As for the triple celebration, a good friend of mine, (Hi Marie!) really wanted to give us a housewarming gift to celebrate our new home. After trying to convince her she didn't owe us anything because it's just an apartment and not our house yet, she didn't budge. Well, we talked about cooking Korean BBQ or Shabu Shabu when we settle in our new place anyway so I told her if she really wanted to get us something, that would be a great gift.

For those who don't know what Shabu Shabu aka hot pot is, here's an idea:Shabu Shabu
Well turns out, one of our friends had a birthday that same week and also another friend got a great job offer in San Francisco and was moving that same week! Celebration: Housewarming/birthday/new job. :)

Turn out was great! We used our griddle (also a housewarming gift from Marie for our previous apartment) LOL got to love that girl! We used this to cook fresh seafood and vegetables she brought over. Everyone enjoyed it and we ended up with a lot of food!

We started off with fresh gigantic clams on the grill. Our friend's Dad (The one moving to San Francisco) caught these! They were delicious!

Preparing for the big feast! Look at these scallops!

Had to take a picture of our friend Andino cooking. This is rare to see.

Griddles are not only used for breakfast!

To top the night off, we celebrated with some cake for Michelle's birthday.

If anyone knows where I can find a good price on electric shabu shabu hot pots let me know! This is something I would like to invest in and eat more this way. :) It's healthier and fun to entertain with!

Thank you so much Marie for our "housewarming" dinner slash other celebrations! You saved us some grocery shopping for a week LOL. It means a lot to us. Thanks for being such a great friend. You're the best!

Christmas 2012

 

I love the holidays and I think most people do because it's nostalgic with traditions, memories and being with family. This Christmas was very active and it started December 1st with a new tradition a couple of friends started. Dressing up and going out to dinner and a white elephant gift exchange after.(AKA Dirty Santa). This was a lot of fun!

                               Dinner at the Veranda at Rancho Bernardo Inn                               

 

  

 

 

This is a real ginger bread house!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                

 The next week was my company's holiday party at La Costa Resort & Spa. We have it here every year but it is always nice to go to. We're actually really lucky to always have it in such a nice place. Drinking, dancing, prizes, and of course food :) It was a great turn out.

Two weeks later we got invited to an ugly sweater Christmas party. I've been wanting to either throw one or go to one so we got our chance to. An old friend and classmate had one that also included a white elephant game! Unfortunately for us, we couldn't find any ugly sweaters because these kind of parties became so popular. So what Oliver and I did was buy old sweaters from a thrift store and decorate it. The party turned out to be a lot of fun!

 

 

In the middle of these events, we were getting ready to move to our new apartment. I swear I have moved four times in the last three years and I'm just NOW making the decision to get rid of a lot of stuff. I wanted to put up our Christmas tree this year but didn't really see the point since we were moving a few days before Christmas and before we knew it, we'd have to pack up the tree again..that didn't appeal to us much since we were already packing a lot already. 

Packing from our old place

Our new apartment

We had to down grade from a two bedroom to a one bedroom since rent was going up and we only used the extra room for storage but we really like our new place! It's close to everything, its spacious, and cozy. Even my friend Marie said it had good Feng Shui!

As a housewarming/Christmas gift, our friend bought a bbq set for us off his classmate who was trying to get rid of it. He got it for a great price to! This was so nice of him. :)

 

On Christmas Eve, we spent time at Oliver's Aunt's for a small family party. A lot of food, drinks, and yet again another white elephant game! (I wish I took more pictures on this day!)

On Christmas Day we got a big shipment from my step mom and dad that we weren't suppose to open until this day and it was a great gift. We love it! A poster of the movie Casablanca. I love classic anything and this is definitely a classic. Thanks you guys! Now I know why you asked what was a classic movie I liked ;)

 

Later that day we went to my parents and had an early dinner followed with drinks and karaoke ;) Have to say it was a nice Christmas :)

 

My sister and brother in law flew in from Ohio for the holidays but we didn't see them until the day after Christmas. We finally got to meet our nephew Nathan for the first time! He's so adorable!

This year has probably been the most times I've played the White Elephant (Dirty Santa) game. I played four times this year and all my gifts have turned out good!

The celebration didn't end. Usually we get together with my step dad's family on Christmas Eve every year but since everyone was busy we did it on December 30th. It's always nice to get together with them. We all start out with drinks and appetizers and then sit down to dinner. Then open gifts and have coffee and dessert. My step dad's father was Norwegian so they always have a traditional Norwegian dinner. 

We definitely had a great Christmas and it's times like these where I wish Christmas lasted longer but there is always next year.;)

Sweet Home Alabama

 

Alabama has a lot of my childhood memories in it and I know a lot of people don't expect me to have family there haha. Montgomery is not a top destination to visit but my grandparents always made it a cozy welcome when I was little. :) It's true what they say about southern hospitality! I remember having family gatherings during the holidays, playing with my cousins, enjoying each others company, especially my Granny.. her cooking and the white chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz cracker sandwiches she always use to make during the holidays. :) I really miss her. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of  beautiful parts of Alabama!

 I haven't gone back since 2008 and decided it was time to pay a visit. So I went this November.. and it just so happens that my birthday would come during this trip! I thought this was great because I haven't spent my birthday with my dad's side of the family since I was a little girl. Oliver couldn't come with me this time because of... you wanna guess?? :) A lot has changed since I've been gone.  I got to spend quality time with my sister who is growing up. My dad and step mom had special plans for us so I didn't get to see all of my family with a short trip but I did get to spend time with my grandpa of course and see my aunt and uncle and one of my grandma's sisters. I'm not complaining about the plans though! I was really happy to spend quality time with my dad that I rarely get to do and it was important to me. There were a few "first" on this trip. First time I met my new step mother Kelli who is a beautiful woman inside and out, first time I met my new step brothers, first time my dad and I worked out together, first time I stayed in his new house, first time I went to the beach in Alabama, and the first time my dad brought me there. Here are a few pictures:

Pictures with my sister, step mom and dad

   

                    

 
Out to dinner

 

         My Dad & I

     

Hanging out on my dad's porch with a fire pit and drink

                                   

                         

  Where we stayed for 3 days and our view from our room!

                         

                 
        
                        
                                                           
                                    
                                                                    Isn't this pretty?
                                           

                                                       When in the south... eat grits :p

          

 

             Florida was only 7 miles away, so we decided to visit the popular bar Flora-Bama...They were actually having a church service there LOL.

 

At the State line between Florida and Alabama

As we headed back to Prattville, (Where my dad and step mom live) we celebrated my birthday at their house for dinner with family. We had a good home made southern dinner. Country Fried Steak and mashed potatoes with red velvet cake to finish with.

 

                                             

                                                      With my Grandpa and Dad
                                      

                                                          Being goofy with Kelli
                                      

 I got some really nice birthday gifts and I am thankful for all of them but this is one I'd like to share. Kelli had her co-worker who's an artist do a painting that represented Oliver and I. I loved it because it was so original and made just for us. This is so sweet and so special to Oliver and I. Thank you sooooo much Kelli!! This means a lot to us and we both love this! Tell your co-worker thank you!

 

 

                        

I'm really glad I got to visit because time is precious especially when you don't see certain family that often. My dad mentioned a few times before how nice it would be if we could all go to the beach and I'm so happy he made it happen! We made a lot of great memories and next time Oliver will join us. I'm going to make sure the next time we visit won't have a 4 year gap. However, I was happy to fly back into San Diego. This view is always nice to come home to:

 

I just want to say thank you to my Dad and Kelli for giving me a memorable time and everything that you've both done for me. I can't thank you enough and can't wait to see you both again. I love and miss you already. Kelli, you are amazing and I'm so happy my dad has you in his life. I can see how happy you make him and that makes me love you even more. Until we see each other again, we always have Facebook!