Posts Tagged "recap"
November showers…
About a month ago [yeah, yeah, I know I'm waaaay behind] I hosted a baby shower for my bestie, Jacki. It was a little bit stressful but a whole lot of fun. The moment I found out she was pregnant, I volunteered to host her shower, if her mom didn’t want to do the honors. Of course, I’m at a point where I’m incapable, or more accurately, unwilling, to do things simply so you know her shower quickly morphed into quite the production.
I quickly came up with the “Baby Circus” theme after seeing a fancy, schmancy circus themed shower on Hostess with the Mostess and the insanely adorable “Animal Parade” on Meri Meri. Seriously, how adorable are those little animals? And the carousel? EEEEEEEE! [Too bad we forgot to bring it!] The food was loosely inspired by carnival fair. We served mini steak and cheese sammies, florentine and swiss cheese and smoked applewood bacon quiche, mini chicken tacos, mini corn dogs and vegetable crudites. Tammy took care of the dessert table and served brownies, lemon tarts, red velvet and funfetti cupcakes, and caramel and pink popcorn.
Of course I wouldn’t bring this up without sharing pictures with the class!
The food and dessert tables
The food was one of my favorite parts. We were a bit late getting everything ready [seriously, people showed up at 1 on the dot! I was not prepared for that. Obviously my social circle tends to roll in fashionably late] so we were still cooking up a storm and decorating cakes when people started showing up. That was a bit stressful for me and I really wish I could have been done before then but oh well, can’t do much about it. I was pretty much excited to eat everything we made for this shower, especially those steak sammies. Oh so good. And don’t get me started on those mini chicken tacos. I was excited that we didn’t use the fourth box I bought so now I get to snack on them myself. And the swiss cheese and applewood smoked bacon quiche? Just lovely. I honestly believe bacon is a magical ingredient. Seriously, when was the last time you had something bad that had bacon in it?
The dessert table was other wordly. Tammy did a great job of making all the desserts [my hand was only in the pink popcorn - she did the rest!] and everyone raved over them, though the funny thing was that because the table looked so display worthy, people were afraid of taking anything from it! People would wander through the kitchen and help themselves to the desserts that were waiting to replace the ones on the table so we had to make a general announcement that it was, in fact, okay to raid the dessert table, and boy did they.
Let’s just say there were no survivors.
Two of my pet projects were the personalized water bottles [yeah, I went there] and the favors. I made my trusty vanilla bean sugar cookies in the shape of little animals to mimic the Mothers Circus Animal cookies [I subbed blue frosting for the signature pink] and made my own label that was based off the Barnum Animal Crackers boxes. The water bottle labels were super easy thanks to Mrs. Lemon’s handy dandy template she shared on Weddingbee. It was super easy to do and made a big difference. Yet another reason to love the Internet.
Yummy, yummy in my tummy…
All in all, the shower was a success. Everyone who attended had a great time [my other partner-in-crime, one of Jacki's coworkers did a fantastic job at hosting the games]. Jacki was floored by the amount of effort we put into her shower and I’m glad I was able to gift her such a wonderful time.
How to eat an abomination
I lived in Michigan for four years and never had a good Mexican meal. There was one restaurant near campus that I attempted to like my freshman year but ruled out because it wasn’t cutting it and one quick franchisey burrito joint that filled the role of Taco Bell without the post-meal regret: it wasn’t special but worked in a pinch.
Now, I’m not saying there isn’t any good Mexican in the entire state of Michigan, so if there is a place y’all swear by, please let me know so I can try it out, but as far as I know, there is no good Mexican food in Michigan. Michigan being Ann Arbor and Flint.
Yes, I attempted to eat Mexican food in Flint. What was I thinking? I have no clue but I had developed the most intense craving for chicken enchiladas that I was desperate to satisfy and couldn’t wait until I returned to California. Which was the next day. Patience is definitely not my virtue. We’ve covered this many times before.
Anywho, so the bf’s mom took us out to dinner and gave me the honor of choosing where to eat. For a normal person, this decision isn’t hard, especially since there aren’t too many restaurants in the Flint area to begin with. But pose this question to me and since I rarely ever desire a specific type of food, I’ll furrow my brow, stare, hem and haw until someone else makes the decision because my answer of “Food?” [yes, with the question mark] is not helpful in the slightest.
I asked if there were any good Mexican restaurants and we ended up at Tia Helita‘s in Burton. I’m not sure when I became so particular about my Mexican food considering that I’ll happily eat at Chevy’s. To be honest, I probably don’t really know what “good Mexican food” really is but I sure do know when it’s bad.
My grievances with this restaurant is long: the decor is stereotypical of a tacky Mexican restaurant: random sombreros, plastic “Cinco de Mayo” beer flag banners and images of the Virgin of Guadelupe. Plus it was really dark for some reason. Probably to make sure you don’t know what you’re supposed to be eating. So the food. In one word: bland. Mexican food is about the flavor and the spice and the heat and I got none of that. First problem: they served their unevenly fried and salted chips with salsa and canned nacho cheese.
Let me repeat that because I’m sure your indignation was as riled as mine: CANNED NACHO CHEESE. Who does that?!
Second problem: the bland food. My chicken enchiladas were lacking in every department. The sauce didn’t taste like anything except red, the chicken wasn’t seasoned at all and dry. The enchiladas were overstuffed in parts that when I cut into them, I’d end up with a wad of chicken on my fork. The rice was dry on top and pretty bland everywhere else and the refried beans started out tasting okay but then weren’t tasting like anything. To be serious, I kept looking around after just about every bite expecting to see Gordon Ramsey to bust into the dining room and tell me that they were serving me old refried beans.
I felt like a real jerk for requesting something only to be so critical later. Thankfully the bf admitted he didn’t like the food either and we had a good laugh about it. I definitely learned one thing: next time I’m in a mood for Mexican food, I’m just going to go to Red Robin for a burger.
Read More10 years strong and growing
So remember way back when I was talking about my 10 year class reunion? Yeah, the one I ended up taking planning control of because I’m kind of Type A like that? Well, it happened in October but only after it almost DIDN’T happen.
After going back and forth, we finally settled on a restaurant in Oakland for dinner and dancing because we’re grown; it would be fun to get together and hang out. We even had a nice raffle set up: I was able to get Giants tickets for the next season through work and we were going to have some other stuff that we hadn’t really figured out at the moment. I was pretty excited about how everything was starting to fall into place and people were excited about it, especially after the first set of plans for a reunion fizzled and died.
I should have taken that as a sign. If that wasn’t a canary…sigh.
We set a sliding scale for the tickets, the earlier you bought them, the cheaper they’d be. We would be cutting it very slim on making any kind of profit to pay for a DJ and to have some for a class gift but it was doable. And then the whispers started. Apparently people thought it was too expensive [mind you, the ticket prices were as follows: $50 singles/$70 couples and went up by $10 the closer we got to the date, topping out at $80/90 I believe, I don’t remember anymore], and too far, and how it was such a shame we weren’t having something so people can bring their kids, and how we’re young still and we should do something FUN. Really? Fun? Because dinner, dancing, and general shooting the breeze isn’t fun? We’re from Vallejo: we make EVERYTHING fun!
Except no one wanted to tell the people organizing the event about these concerns. After about a month we finally had to threaten to cancel the reunion because of lack of interest before people jumped into action: finally complaining outright. I was admittedly steamed by this point and didn’t care anymore. As upset as I was, I still wanted a reunion. So we finally just left it up to them to plan it.
And that is how we ended up at a local park for a BYO bbq. I kid you not.
And all those people who wanted a picnic so they could bring their kids? THEY DIDN’T EVEN SHOW UP.
I know, I will admit that I didn’t have high hopes for the revised reunion. In fact, I had vowed that I would probably only stay an hour or two tops. But you know what? I ended up staying for 5 hours and I had a blast. I had to remind myself the whole point was to get us together and that’s what happened. We had a great group of probably 40 people all told that rolled through during the day and I had fun bouncing from group to group chatting everyone up. It was fun reliving some of our high school stories, and yes, even after 10 years people still remembered how in love I was with Tiger and Derek Jeter. Though, the way I championed Tiger, it would be impossible to forget!
We had a great raffle as well: Giants/Dodger tickets and a stadium fleece blanket, a gift certificate for a massage, a gift card and some candy for the movies and a couple of Target gift cards. We even made more than enough money to recoup the deposit I lost on the restaurant and give a generous gift to the school, though I opted to only take half of what I was owed and gave the rest to the school.
Everyone was appreciative of the efforts of Jessica and I, which helped heal the wounds from being the Facebook complainers. Can you believe one person had the nerve to say it was stupid for the reunion to be held on a specific date just because one of the organizers [me] would be in town? Excuse me what now? Why would I plan it for a day I wouldn’t be in town? So I can’t plan it for a day that works for me but its okay for someone to ask that it gets bumped up a week so it’ll coincide with her already planned trip to the area?
Really.
But it turned out to be a great day. I stayed a lot longer than I thought I would and people were hanging out until the park closed. And a small group of us made our own after-party with dinner and then dancing in the City [I did not join for dancing since I had to be up early the next day]. Sure we still had people who complained about it being ghetto, but those same people didn’t reply when we had the original plan set so you can’t really rest your hat on that. And even when some folks tried to turn on us on Facebook, my friends were there to launch the defense.
Though that was nothing like the one-man assault from a spurned classmate that no one really remembered from school that erupted into a post-reunion flame war. Seeing everyone band together against him? Priceless.
I love my class.
A November in Michigan
It’s been years since I was last in Michigan in November. It is usually just starting to get cold but the snow is still holding off for the time being and there is a crispness in the air. It’s the typical midwestern fall feel: the chill in the air, the leaves changing colors, hoodie sweaters and scarves and white hot chocolate from Caribou Coffee. Ahhh. I always enjoyed the Michigan fall.
Somewhere over Illinois…
I thoroughly enjoyed this trip with the bf, yes as always. It felt like it took forever for the 13th to come so I could finally go to the airport. Thankfully the flights were uneventful except for the fake Gucci bag lady [I mean, who do you think you're fooling with that purse?] who thought she could stuff her carry on suitcase under the seat. Um, no you can’t. Thank goodness the flight attendants saw that epic fail and took her bag to stow underneath. Because if I had to use the bathroom but couldn’t because her bag was all in the way, I was NOT going to be a happy camper. And last I checked, airlines aren’t so understanding about mid-air altercations.
Anywho, I was just glad to be back in my bf’s arms. As typical of our trips, we spent some time in Ann Arbor wandering around campus just because. I actually had to get used to there being students actually on campus. It was kind of weird, to tell you the truth. Especially since we were both older than everyone else. We spent Saturday afternoon on campus as well, taking in a somewhat warm day. The sun was out people! The sun! After coffee and scones on the Diag, we played a few games at Pinball Pete’s [where I was totally cheated out of tickets from the Skee-ball machine. WEAK], we made our way to North Campus in hopes of finding the Wave Field.
Brunch on the Diag
After a few wrong turns [and a delightful trip through a random engineering building], we finally made it. While I have only been to the Wave Field I think once while I was a student, I hadn’t been there during the day so I wasn’t exactly sure where the field was located, except that I remember walking with a group of people from my floor down a street and turned a corner. Not exactly helpful [but I did eventually lead us to the general location!].
Some of my favorite moments of my trip were the little moments: moments like sitting on the mound and talking about what we were going to do later that day and more talk of our future together [oh, so no there wasn't a proposal or talk of a proposal so don't get too excited], stealing kisses in the afternoon sun, cuddling and holding hands, playing with the little toy we won with our tickets at the arcade. There’s something extraordinarily special about being an ordinary couple.
Oh the toy?
Meet my newest addition to my growing collection of stuff: Pete, the eleduck.
I’ve decided that Pete will be our official traveling buddy. He’ll be joining us on every trip we take from here on out and I’ll be taking his picture. I know it’s silly [and completely something I'd do] but I like it. So here’s his first picture.
We spent the rest of the weekend at the house with his family. He always apologizes for there not being much to do in Flint but I don’t mind it at all. To be honest, sometimes I really don’t want to do anything but just hang out, even if we’re just hanging out at home. I don’t always have to be doing something. That and I really love his family. They all make me feel so loved and welcomed every time I visit and I sincerely enjoying spending time with them as well. I feel very blessed that I can settle down and have a honest to goodness conversation with his mom. Yay for not having to deal with the in-law crunchiness that some people have to negotiate. And can I say just how much I adore his maternal grandparents? They are a hoot! Especially his Grandfather. I adore him, he’s so fun to talk to. I’m still amused how hard he is campaigning for me to move to Michigan.
We did catch “Where the Wild Things Are” and I was a little let down. I know there isn’t much to the book [which I still love] but the movie felt a little thin to me. The bf did not enjoy it at all. I looked over at him halfway through and I just KNEW he didn’t like it. Oh well. Not like I’ve never picked a movie he didn’t like before and I’m sure it won’t be the last time either!
On my last night in Michigan, we went out on a nice little date to a sushi restaurant on campus. We got dressed up and everything and had a nice time out. After sushi we ended up downtown at a Starbucks enjoying the last few hours of the night before turning in for an evening of Family Guy, The Office, and a new episode of The Seeker. What can I say? I’m a bit of a lazy homebody.
We’ll just say that Tuesday was the hardest day. I’ll have to wait a bit to elaborate on that because I still get a little teary thinking about it. Sigh. I love my boyfriend and I miss him every day.
But soon, soon we won’t have to say goodbye anymore.
Read MoreThat makes me crazy in the head
I had such a wonderful weekend. Though not wonderful enough to fully take the sting of knowing I have to spend a couple hundred bucks on brakes for Shoeless Joe. At least it’s for both the front and rear brakes and not just one set. But still. Sigh.
But it’s okay. It will all come back to me anyhow. I’m claiming that.
Anywho, I’ve got a couple days to prep and get my business straight for my weekend trip to L.A. to visit Lindsey. I need to pack and just get my plans in order. No big deal. It’s not like I can pack in a million and a half things into two days. But you know I’m gonna try though.
Oh, so the weekend. I made my way up to Sacramento to check out Legally Blonde the Musical with Jacki and have dinner at The Melting Pot afterwards. This was my birthday gift and can I say that it was wonderful? I had already seen the Broadway version they aired on MTV long ago but I still immensely enjoyed myself this time around. It was even better since I could lean over and discuss things with her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mILEnI5cZmw
We ended up singing “Omigod!” for a while afterwards, which is a sign of a pretty successful catchy song. It’s so cute! Though not so cute [at least not the 100th time we saw it] were the throngs of girls wearing pink or pink shoes. I mean, it’s just a play folks. No reason to get all wardrobe crazy. It’s like those girls in junior high/high school who used to wear the coordinated outfits to Six Flags Great America.
You know who you are.
After the show, we made our way to The Melting Pot for dinner and oh my goodness, I am more in love with fondue than ever before. We started off with a yummy spinach and artichoke cheese fondue that was so delicious and cheesy and we literally could not wait to dive into that sucker. Kind of helped that we were both starved at that point. We didn’t bother with the bowl of veggies that accompanied the apple pieces, bread and tortilla chips. Why eat filler?
We then shared an order of their Pacific Rim platter: shrimp, duck, chicken, beef, pork and potstickers. Sure the entrees are meant for one person but after eating the cheese fondue and salad, I was getting a little towards the full side and there was no way I’d be able to eat everything on that plate. Between the two of us though, we cleared it, along with the side of potatoes, broccoli and mushroom caps that came along with it.
I really want to go back and hopefully I’ll be able to bring the bf along as a double date with Jacki and her husband. I just love me some cheese fondue. It’s two of my favorite things really: cheese and bread. Tell me, how can you go wrong?
I’ll tell you: you can’t.
Read More