Five Question Friday

Hi everyone….I’m sorry I’ve been away for a bit.  I got hit with some pretty crazy news/stuff to deal with the day I got back from NY that has completely consumed me…and not in a good way.  I haven’t been dealing with it well and just trying to get through each day.  I also sprained my wrist at the airport on my way back, and have been dealing with that as well.   But I wanted to check in and say I have missed you all and hope to be back to my normal self in a few weeks.   Hope this little 5QFriday will help to fill in the gap.

 

1. What’s the last thing you spent too much money on?

I always spend too much money on food.  Looking at my bank statement for the last month, I would say food was the most, then clothes to take to NY, and airfare/baggage fees.

 

2. What celeb chef would you want to make you dinner?

Rachel Ray….she is always so fun and makes some great food.

 

3. Where do you hide things when visitors pop over or do you let them see the real deal?

The “real deal”.  If people are coming over, they are usually good friends, who love me for me and I want them to know the real me…plus my apartment is pretty clean, so there really isn’t anything to hide anyways.

 

4. Who is your oldest living family member?

I think my great, great uncle Tony, who I got to see last month at my sis’s wedding.  My mom took a pic of us, but she never did send it to me, so I can’t attach it  Just picture a late 80 year old classic Italian looking man and me.

 

5. What is your favorite DQ treat and/or Sonic drink combo (ie: cherry vanilla dr. pepper)?

I don’t go to DQ and never been to Sonic.  But my favorite combo I had today was a chocolate protein shake blended with a banana….mmm

 

Happy Friday

Five Question Friday

1. Do you prefer your ice cream in a bowl or in a cone?

I prefer my ice cream in a waffle cone, but since I am trying to diet, if I do have ice cream, it is in a bowl.  Though there have been moments of weakness where all I did was grab a spoon and ate it straight out of the container…no bowl or cone needed.

The yummy sundeas that my brother-in-law, me and my sister enjoyed on Wednesday from an old favorite restaurant back home

2. What three things do you love the smell of?

perfume, fresh flowers, the smell right after a nice rainfall in the country/forrest area, babies, the ocean…oh wait you said 3 things…

3. Giftcards or no? (In regards to gift giving…)

I like to give gifts, that are as personal as I can think of.  I try to get creative and find something that is what the person really likes.  If all else fails, I go for a gift card.  If someone wants to give me a gift, I would say its safer to give me a gift card (or CASH).  I’m pretty picky, so unless you know SPECIFICALLY what I want/need, its easier to just give me the gift card/cash.

4. What sports did you play in high school if any and do you still play them?

I did not play sports in high school.  I tried softball, gymnastics and dance when I was young.  But with my parents divorce, we could not afford to do any more sports and with the visitation schedule, it made it too complicated.  Plus, as I grew older, I got more and more uncoordinated….lol.  Now I just love to watch sports and can be your biggest cheerleader from the sidelines.

Here I am when I was 5 years old in my dance recital outfit

5. Were you in band in high school? What instrument did you play?

I played the clarinet since the 3rd grade.  In high school, I switched to the bass clarinet.  I was in the marching band and regular band.

 

 

Happy Friday!

Birthday Bliss

As promised, here is a blog detailing how I spent my birthday for the last week (yes, I said week).  My birthday was actually yesterday, but since it was on a Tuesday, I had to pick alternative days to celebrate with my friends, due to work schedules.  The festivities started last Thursday, actually.  I was taken out to lunch by my coworkers and boss to a sushi restaurant.  Thursday work best for all of us to go out, and then there actually an ice cream social party being held that afternoon for those of us that ride share throughout the week. So it was perfect to have lunch and then come back for ice cream.

Friday, I went to the gym, then had a wonderful massage, to help my back pain and just to relax.  Then I went shopping with my friend Christina and her daughter.  I needed to find a dress for my sister’s upcoming wedding, and some clothes for my trip to NY.  I was able to find both!  and got myself a new Coach purse that I had been eyeing for awhile now.

Sunday was the big celebration.  I have been in Los Angeles for 5 years now, and still have a huge Bucket List of places to see, things to do, etc. so I thought this would be a great time to get a few things crossed off while celebrating with my friends.  My day started out with these for breakfast:

cinnamon rolls....mmmm!

After my healthy, non-calorie, non-sugar, delicious breakfast, the first stop was the Griffith Observatory:

This place has been featured in movies, and has the most amazing views of Los Angeles, as well as being an awesome place to learn all about astronomy.  Here are some pictures from inside:

I'm holding a 4 billion year old piece of a meteor

a scaled down version of the telescope

Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  I wanted to go here because I love museums, and this one had some great contemporary art, modern art, but mostly because they had a special exhibit by Tim Burton, that was only there until 10/31/11.  They would not let you take pictures of the Burton exhibit, but I was able to get a picture of me going into the exhibit and the end of the exhibit:

That man is amazingly brilliant, yet disturbed.  His exhibit was so interesting and well worth seeing.  Here are a few other pics from the musuem:

After walking around all day, we quickly changed into our heels and headed over to Beverly Hills to this restaurant, The Stinking Rose, where everything they serve has garlic in it, even the ice cream.  You walk in to smell the intoxicating aroma of roasted garlic, and you leave covered in it .   We were not brave enough to try the garlic martini or garlic wine, and opted for mojitos.  The garlic bread was our appetizer.  I ordered baby back ribs, encrusted in garlic, and it came with garlic mashed potatoes…..it was AMAZING!!  see:

Then the waiter came out, placed a large garlic bulb hat on my head, and handed me a candleabra and garlic ice cream while he and the other waiters and my fantastic friends sang Happy Birthday:

group photo after

Then we headed back home, as it was getting late.  The Emmy Awards were that night, and while driving back to where my car was parked, we happened to drive right past one of the after-parties and saw lots of celebs outside getting photographed.

Yesterday, I had to work.  I woke up to so many text messages, calls and Facebook birthday wishes, which continued throughout the day, making it hard to work.  I went out to lunch with the coworkers again, and then after work, spent the evening with my fabulous adoptive family here.  We had dinner and yummy desserts and just got to relax and have girl time.

I am exhausted but it has been a blast!  I feel so blessed by each and every person who helped make me feel special, while I continue to fret about getting older.  I look forward to what this year has in store and can’t wait to share with you all, and to be able to cross more things off my bucket list!

How did you spend your last birthday?  What things are you looking forward to this year and/or crossing off of your bucket list?

Five Question Friday

It’s that time again, Five Question Friday!!  It’s already the first Friday of August…this year is flying by.  Here is my latest rendition of 5QF.  As always, feel free to copy and paste the questions into your own blog post or answer them in my comments section below:

1. Do you have siblings and are you close with them?  I have one sister, younger by 2 1/2 years.  We were never really close growing up but now that she is older, we are working on it.  It is hard because she has been living in England for 8-9 years now, and with me in California, we have an 8 hour time difference.  We try to Skype video chat a few times per month.  I will be seeing her in 62 days, when we meet up back home in NY for her wedding.   Here is a picture of us from March 2007 when I visited her in London and we went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum:

2. Would you rather be slightly UNDER weight or slightly OVER weight?  Since I have been Over weight for a long time now, it would be nice to be slightly under weight for a change.  I would love to not have to worry about what I eat or having to work out, just for a little while.  While I do love some of my curves, I would miss them if I was underweight.

3. What’s your favorite State Fair food to splurge on?  when I lived in NY and went to the NY state fair, I always got a wine slushie, a cigar, and either a pulled pork sandwich or chicken speedies….mmmm.  Now that I’m exercising and dieting, I don’t think any fair food is good for me.  But I might somehow try to justify some fried-dough this year

image courtesy of Google. Doesn't it look delicious??!!!??!!

4. What are your thoughts on your kid(s) going to school in a few weeks? I don’t have any kids so this doesn’t apply.  I do however work with school-aged children, and so this is usually a busy time of year for me with all the back to school IEP meetings and services requested.  My job is already busy/stressful enough currently, so I’m not looking forward to the extra paperwork and meetings.  But I guess it is job security.

5. Pool or Ocean?  Well, with watching shark week all week on TV, I am gonna say pool.  I have never been a fan of the ocean to swim in.  When I was younger, I got caught up in a riptide/current and needed to be rescued, and I have always had a fear that I would get bit by a shark or stung by jellyfish.  I prefer to see what is in the water.  However I love being at the beach, listening to the waves, relaxing on the sand, soaking up the sun, and going in the water up to my knees.  While a pool is nice to swim in, it’s just not the same.

aghhhhhh!!!!

Happy Friday!!!

Happy Mother’s Day

Mothers Day

A Mother loves right from the start.
She holds her baby close to her heart.
The bond that grows will never falter.
Her love is so strong it will never alter.
A Mother gives never ending Love.
She never feels that she has given enough.
For you she will always do her best.
Constantly working, there’s no time to rest.
A Mother is there when things go wrong.
A hug and a kiss to help us along.
Always there when we need her near.
Gently wipes our eyes when we shed a tear.
So on this day shower your Mother with Love.
Gifts and presents are nice but that is not enough.
Give your Mother a day to have some peace of mind.
Be gentle, be good, be helpful, be kind.
Happy Mothers Day.

by: Carol Matthews

Wishing all the mother’s, grandmother’s, moms-to-be, and future mother’s a wonderful and blessed Mother’s Day.

Related post:  Check out my post,  Mama Said, and see if your mother said some of the same things to you when you were growing up!

(P)ostcards, Placemats and Packages

 Postcards and packages – the lost art of good mail.

I pretty much never get anything good in the mail.  Usually all I get are bills, bills, some junk mail, and more bills.

Remember years ago when you would actually get handwritten letters?  My grandparents also would send me postcards, almost on a bi-weekly basis.  Today it has been 1 year since my grandfather’s passing.  And even though I know he is in a better place, I still am having a hard time accepting that he is gone, and wish I still had kept some of the postcards they had sent. Click HERE to read the letter I wrote to him on my way to go see him while he was dying.

My mother recently got a new sewing machine and now that she is retired, she has a lot of free time on her hands and has been busy making all these new creations.  I can hardly remember her ever mailing me a present.  Usually on birthdays or Christmas she would send a card, with an occasional check in it.  But now that she has her new sewing hobby, she has been making placemats, and has sent me two for St. Patrick’s Day, and two for Easter.  She also made me a pillowcase with my favorite NFL football team logo on it.  It was a very welcomed surprise, getting a present in the mail, especially from my mom.  Here are pictures of the 2 placemats:

 

My sister and her fiance just went to Paris in March (one of my dream vacations).  I asked her to get me an Eiffel Tower souvenier and some chocolates.  Well, she actually did, and my package arrived the other day.  I have been waiting for 3 weeks for it (she lives in the UK and I live in California).  I was so excited to arrive home after a long work day to see my package waiting for me.  Here is my Eiffel Tower and my chocolates, with the wrapping covered with different popular sites in Paris:

One of my blog buddies, Raven, was doing a project where she was sending handwritten cards/letters, one per week, for the rest of the year.  I ended up sending her my address, and loved getting the nice letter in the mail a week later.  I have really missed the little things, like handwritten letters, homemade cards, postcards, and surprise packages.  They have a way of making you feel thought of by the sender.  It is so easy to just send an email or Facebook message, taking away the personal feeling of the messages at times.  Maybe this will serve as a reminder to all of us, including myself, to occasionally take a few minutes to send an actual letter/card to someone in the mail; send a small gift package; or remember to pick up a few postcards on your travels and send them to friends and family far away.

How do you feel about getting packages/letters/cards/etc in the mail? What was the last thing you got in the mail?  How often do you send mail to others?

This post is part of a month-long series, A-Z, that I am participating in for the month of April.  You can learn more about it by clicking on the link over on the right sidebar.