Thank-Sniff-Ling

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am proud to say that I have not gained a pound nor did I have to endure any sort of food coma. I am sad to say that I had to skip out on some quality family time and delicious feasting due to the inevitable flu. After leaving work at 2:30 on Wednesday, I already started to get the first symptoms. Nonetheless, I proceeded to the stores for my one and only Christmas shopping trip of the year. It was quite a success and I vow to not give retail any business until the new year. I went home and got ready for another round of Spring Awakening and halfway through the show, I started to feel really queasy. I still managed to greet the cast at the stage door before retiring and sleeping 'til close to 1pm on Thanksgiving day. We joined Marc's family for dinner where I pretty much sat in a corner, delirious from all the medication I had been taking. We were supposed to make our way to my Dad's family's gathering afterwards but I wasn't feeling well. I slept all day Friday at my parent's house. Enjoyed the rain/light snow on Saturday as family from my Mom's side came by for a meal. I managed to say hi to everyone before sleeping...some more. So it's Monday now and I'm still sick. Although I must admit that it beats being at work. I have no pictures to share but despite that, I am still ever so thankful for all of God's blessings. With November coming to a close, I declare tomorrow as the official beginning to the Christmas countdown. Happy December!

Giving Thanks

In a few hours, most of us will be jumping from our seats to endure the Southern California phenomenon called traffic as we travel to visit our loved ones. I'd call it "holiday traffic" but it has come to be a daily occurrence regardless of the occasion. Actually, Marc and I won't be heading home 'til tomorrow. We have friends coming over tonight and we will be catching another show at the Center. Nonetheless, I am very excited to spend time with family! I haven't seen some of them since our wedding in April. Tomorrow evening will be a bit of a challenge as we try to juggle our way through Marc's family's dinner and my Dad's side's gathering. I still don't know how we'll do it but I'm sure we'll get to both somehow. Due to work schedules, my Mom's side of the family has decided to postpone the Thanksgiving celebration to lunchtime on Saturday. That makes it easier on our part. Otherwise, we'd have 3 dinners to go to. Imagine all that food?! Having two days off will be a nice luxury for me. While everyone is out shopping on "Black Friday," I plan to catch up with friends, be lazy, and hang out with my siblings.

Every day should be Thanksgiving because each day, there is something to be thankful for. Like most, I'm inclined to make a list to detail what I'm thankful for but I will leave it at this: God has truly blessed us this year by providing for ALL of our needs. As you connect with your family and friends this Thanksgiving, always remember that each moment is worth giving thanks for.

Sajid-Briceno Wedding

As promised, here are photos from the gorgeous wedding I attended this weekend. It was held at Padua Hills Theatre in Claremont. The ceremony took place in an outdoor courtyard while the reception was held in the theatre itself.

Silvino, the groom, sang Josh Groban's "When You Say You Love Me" as Melissa walked down the aisle. It was such a touching moment!

The gorgeous bride, Melissa and her Mom (my Auntie Tessie)

An obstructed view of "the kiss."

Mr .& Mrs. Briceno!

Stolen shot of Silvino right after the ceremony.

My beautiful cousin Crystal-one of the bridesmaid's. She will be getting married in less than a month!

This looks familiar. : )

Hydrangea centerpieces were on the patio furniture during cocktail hour

The lighting in the reception room was absolutely wonderful!

First dance-we couldn't really see from the back.

Check out these chandeliers!

Crystal hanging from the centerpiece.

Hubby's name earned an added "H." lol!

Warning: I was kind of obsessed with the cake, can't you tell?

Apparently it was cheesecake. We didn't stay long enough to taste it and I do not eat cheesecake. Surprise!

I just love the look of it!

Told you I couldn't get enough.

The End!

Post-Weekend Exhaustion

Photos courtesy of Rockstar Photobooth

My cousin's wedding was an absolute hit and so was sitting on stage for an off-Broadway production. I am extremely exhausted so I will have to delay pictures for a day or two. Check back later and have an awesome evening!

Busy weekend up ahead

I don't think I could pull off a peacock feather dress nor would I even want to try!

This weekend will be a busy yet fun one for sure! Tomorrow, we are meeting up with some of our friends from college to see Spring Awakening. On Sunday, we will be at my cousin Melissa's wedding in Claremont. I'll be taking lots of pictures for sure! I'll be catching up on sleep during my short but sweet Thanksgiving break next week. Enjoy the weekend!

Spring Awakening: Mini Performance

For those who have been following my blog, I have been raving about Spring Awakening for a few months now. As of Tuesday night, the touring cast started it's two week run here in Orange County. This afternoon, I was able to see Steffi D (Ilse) and Taylor Trensch (Moritz) perform a number at the local Bloomingdale's. It was such a fun treat to be able to be in the presence of two talented people and listen to their amazing voices. Not only that but it was a great opportunity to get together with the other Guilty Ones and friends who have been so active in promoting the show. I cannot wait to see it on Saturday!

My friend Michelle and I waiting for the performance to start.

Taylor and Steffi arriving at the scene

I was a little too excited to meet Steffi...

...and even more excited to meet Taylor

Taylor and Steffi with myself, Tony (our college friend) and Marc

Loyal fans of musical theatre-always and forever!

Let's swap presents!

Who loves presents? I do! Mel over at ChinkyMel's Corner is hosting a present exchange. This is your chance to meet fellow bloggers from all over as well as to give and receive gifts. Hurry on over here for more info and do it quick because as of today, you only have one week to sign up. This should be fun so let's all participate. The more, the merrier! Thanks Mel for hosting such a fun exchange!

Website Design

I nearly forgot I had an assignment due this evening. The assignment was to create a webpage. For something put together in 15 minutes, I thought this turned out pretty good. Simple yet functional. I'm thinking of enhancing it and perhaps making it my future blog design. What do you think? I still have a lot to learn but I will admit that I am having fun!

Patchwork

Gypsy Den, Sana Ana

Coffee bar inside

I met up with my girlfriends Ella and Jane for brunch at Gypsy Den on Sunday morning. It is the most adorable little cafe and , a vegetarian's paradise. Having grown up in "vege-land," (aka Loma Linda) meat substitutes have become part of my life. We had a wonderful time chatting over "stripples" and "sausage" before heading over to Patchwork. It was definitely hard to keep the wallet in the bag with all the beautifully crafted things there were for sale.I have so much respect for the crafting community especially with all the 'up-cycling' and 're-cycling' that is being done to create un-imaginable works of art.

A shop called The Road Less Traveled hosted classes throughout the day. We were fortunate enough to participate in a finger knitting class. While my friends had gorgeous finished products to take home, I had nothing but a ball of yarn! It was great to try but honestly, I don't think I'm cut out for using my fingers as a loom! Although I must say, that I am even more inspired to continue to craft after attending Patchwork!

Patchwork lined the sidewalks of the space where the event was held

I wanted to take all of these critters home!

A cute little donut Christmas tree ornament

I love how Oh, Hello Friend displayed her necklaces. What a great idea!

Adorable flower rings

More rings and hairpins

I want to make a cute bib necklace just like this!

Jane is trying her hand at finger knitting

Ella with her self-made yarn necklace

For those of you who missed this one-of-a-kind craft fair, there will be another one in Long beach on November 29th. Trust me, you'll want to go!

Productive Veteran's Day

Scattered photographs

It was nice to have Wednesday off. After my morning work-out and doing some grocery shopping, I worked on a project that has long been ignored. I have been dreading the sorting of my wedding pictures because there are so many of them. We promised our parents that we would have our wedding book together by Thanksgiving to show family and friends. Clearly, that is not happening. I find it really hard to sort photos electronically so I resorted to prints. Thanks to RitzPix, I was able to print most of our 'top choices' at an affordable price. Not only did I have to sort through the professional photos but one's that friends and family took as well. What will I do with these prints afterwards? I have no idea!

Marc did his share of sorting too then I started creating layouts in Photoshop. I realized that if I continue using Photoshop, it will take me forever and a day because there are so many embellishments/styles that can be done. Since I've used Blurb in the past for my travel books, I've resorted to using them again. Besides, simplicity seems to be the key to putting together wedding books. After all, it should the bride and groom that stand out and not your fancy background or cute embellishment, right? Wish me luck as I attempt to have this project done by Christmas. In case your'e wondering, yes our photographer did put one together for us but only has 30 pictures which is why I'm creating my own.

The final selections by category

Creating layouts. This is for the "getting ready" page. :)

On another note, Missy at Lovely Little Life passed on a 'cute blog award' to me. Isn't she sweet? I must now pass this on to 10 other bloggers so here I go....

1. Danni at Oh Hello Friend

2. Tawny at Let's Eat

3. Jenn at I art u

4. Ella at Twenty-Five

5. Yellow Goat at YellowGoat Design

6. Joanna at A Cup of Jo

7. Ruthi at Ruthi Auda

8. Luzel at iDiy

9. Holly at HollyMaus

10. Jill at Today I Saw

I adore each and everyone of these blogs and have become my daily reads. Check them out when you get a chance! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

A Night in LA: Part II

The last Hello Kitty picture, I promise! Mealtime in Kitty-land!

As you all know by now, no trip is complete without a meal, right? After a visit to dear Hello Kitty, we picked up my brother from his school and Hollywood and headed a few blocks down to Grub. This place was voted as the #1 lunch and brunch spot in LA by CitySearch. They just recently started dinner service. Let me tell you, we were not disappointed.

Marc & Chad going through the complimentary pretzels, carrots, grape tomatoes and celery with ranch. No bread and butter here friends! What a great healthy alternative!

This is probably one of the cutest patios I've seen.

This truffle mac 'n cheese was bursting with flavor. I would so go back for this alone!

Unfortunately, Grub was scheduled to close its doors before we could order dessert. Overall, they had great food and ambience and mediocre service. A meal isn't complete without dessert right? So off we went in search of one of LA's favorite bakeries, Milk. Turns out, my brother knew exactly where to find it!

Chad enjoying "The Brownie" which was way more than just a brownie!

Having heard about it for months, I just had to try the "Blue Velvet" cake.

It was supposed to have a blueberry flavor but I couldn't taste it. Tasted like regular "velvet" to me. :) Quite honestly, I've had better. Or maybe it just tastes better red.

So that was my wonderful evening in LA. Got to spend some quality time with the hubby and the brother. Yesterday was Veteran's Day and boy did I have a great day off! I'll post about it later. Homework calls!