Category Archive: Linda

Weekend of parties in Long Beach!

Posted by Lisa On May 31st, 2011

Wednesday, May 25

Kevin and I got on the road on Wednesday evening with the Lola in tow. The drive down was pretty uneventful (the best kind of trip down the 5 highway, I’d say!) and we got in at midnight.

Pretty cows out to graze!

Lola was quite intrigued by the cows

Our pretty little girl stretching out her legs

Thursday, May 26th

We were fortunate enough to stay at Kevin’s parent’s house for the trip and were treated to a yummy breakfast of eggs and toast. We just hung out most of the day, running some errands and soaking in the sun (oh, the sun!) As Dorothy was watering the garden, she quickly learned how much Lola LOVES the garden hose…

Watering her grandpup! Haha

That evening we met up for dinner at Lucille’s BBQ (our go-to place when we’re in town!) with none other but Brianne, Brian and Brianne’s sister Laura.

Oh how I’ve missed you!

Cutie pie

Kevin and Brian, stuffed silly

Kevin and Lola, posing for a photo at home

Friday, May 27th

For the few weeks leading up to our trip down south I was working with Kevin’s mom and sister Judith to plan a surprise graduation party for Kevin on Friday night. We had a guest list of around 40 people and were anxious to get the party started! But first, a lot of shopping and preparations to make sure that Kevin didn’t find out until the last possible minute (and since we were staying with his parents it proved to be a little difficult!)

The plan that afternoon was to have his brother Thomas take him out for a few hours while Dorothy, George, Judith and I prepared the food, cleaned the house, and got the backyard all ready to go. Unfortunately, Thomas had to go to work at 6pm (the same time the party started) so he had to drop Kevin off at 5:30, so the surprise was a little premature. Nevertheless, Kevin was extremely surprised and had not idea what we had up our sleeves!

The guests started arriving…

Dan, Judith and Kevin

Jessie and her niece Lola (with Valerie, Vanessa and Rose in the background!)

Dan, Chris, Kevin, Brian, Dominic and Jayme

Same as above plus Dorothy, Loren, Shani, Andrea and Ron

Jess and Brianne

Mmm…veggie skewers! Oh yeah, and burgers & hot dogs for the carnivores

Christian (my mom’s boyfriend Steve’s grandson)

Lola and her new best “friend” Christian (he quickly wore her out [which is not an easy thing to do!] and so she got a little annoyed towards the end of the party since he was still full of energy and wanted to play!)

Me and Brianne

Kev and Jessie

Jess and Matt

After chowing down we brought out the cakes and said a little something about the man of the hour–for those of you that don’t know, Kevin just completed a two year Aviation Mechanics program at the College of Alameda. It was a full-time program in which Kevin went to school from 4:30-10:30 every night for two years. He ended up at the top of his class (no surprise here!) and just last week, at the recommendation of his instructor, was offered a job at Rolls Royce working on the V-22 Osprey engine! It was SO great being able to celebrate Kevin and all of his accomplishments with the people that love him and it was even more wonderful that he was able to announce his new job just a week out of school. We’re all so proud of you, Kev!

Applauding the guest of honor

The ADORABLE airplane cake the Dorothy baked and Shani decorated

It also happened to be Dan’s birthday so we sang a little song for him and gave him a cupcake to celebrate

Christian said he wanted the candle (not the cupcake, surprisingly) and said he was going to save it to put it on *his* birthday cake

A Cookie Monster cupcake will do that to you

I think everyone who attended really enjoyed celebrating Kevin and his accomplishments, thank you to everyone who was able to make it!

Saturday, May 28th

The main reason we made the trip to Long Beach this weekend was to celebrate with my good friends Kim and Frank on the day they got hitched!!

That morning we met up with my mom, Jessie, the Julians and Matt’s girlfriend Alexis at what other place but The Potholder?!

The whole gang

The wedding was scheduled to start at 4:30pm at the Art Theater in Long Beach–such a cool wedding venue!

The marquee said “A Love Story: Kimberly and Frank”…so cute!!

Jess, Steve, me, Kevin and my Auntie Tina in front of the theater

Me and Jess all dolled up

Me and Kev on the red carpet

Inside the theater they were showing silent films

Steve chowing on some popcorn (they had bags of it in the lobby for people to eat!)

Me and my mama

The ceremony was short and sweet, officiated by Kim’s dad Guy (who actually married Kevin and I as well!)

Kim and her mama Terry walking down the aisle. What a beautiful bride!

The reception was behind the theater under a big tent…

Beautiful flower arrangement centerpieces

Lots and lots of wine for the masses!

Me and my party dress

Guy greeting my Auntie Tina and Jessie

Kim coming by to say hi

Hugs all around!

Matt and Alexis with the bride

Portrait of the bride…

…and the flower girl Bella

Me, mom, Tina, Jess and Kim (LOVE this photo!)

Me and Shan

Kim and Frank cracking up at Stacey (maid-of-honor’s) hilarious toast

The shoes…so perfect!

First dance

And Bella decided it was her time to show off her firefighter pole slide!

Susuico family dance (Stacey, Jay, Bella and Tasi)

Mom and Frank dancing

Kim and Steve dancing

Dancin’ shoes (mom and Jess)

Mom and Steve

Diane and Dave

Jess and Terry

Pretty sister!

Me and Kev (our obligatory shot)

They had an awesome candy bar for people to fill up little popcorn bags with treats…

The kiddos could be found swarming the table most of the evening

I swear she posed that way on her own! Haha

Their cake was AMAZING–made by one of her girlfriends Diana! And it tasted better than it looks, no joke.

The adorable orange bride and groom to go with the citrus theme.

The ol’ hula gang! Sayuri, Cat, Kim, mom and me

Finally warm enough weather to wear something that shows off my tattoo!

The evening was perfect and we felt so incredibly fortunate to be able to celebrate with our good friends Kim and Frank as they start a new life together!!

Sunday, May 29th

After a late night we met up with Brianne and Brian at The Coffee Cup Cafe for some good eats.

Me and Bri

We hung out with them for a few hours trying to distract Brian as Brianne went out to prepare for his very own surprise party, this time to celebrate his birthday! That afternoon we had to pretend we were saying bye for good and that we wouldn’t be seeing him again until our next trip down, but little did he know that we’d be turning right back around to their apartment a few short hours later to celebrate with him and friends/family.

A video of the surprise!

Birthday banner made by Brianne

Cake!

We got the chance to see our friend Lara and meet her brand-new baby Audrey! Audrey was a total sweetheart and it was great being able to meet her after only seeing photos all this time.

Lara, Brianne and Audrey

Ted and Lara

Me and the flying baby!

Monday, May 30th

We were treated to a home-cooked breakfast of waffles covered in strawberries and a breakfast veggie stir fry (or bacon if your name is Kevin). It was nice being able to spend a couple of hours at home with Dorothy and George before making our way back home to SF.

Unfortunately the ride home was nowhere near as smooth as the ride down. 9 1/2 hours later we finally parked in front of our house. Let that be a warning to anyone who thinks they can avoid the awful traffic on the 5 on a holiday! 🙂

We had SUCH an awesome trip, thanks to everyone who made an effort to see us and we can’t wait to go back!

Mom & Steve’s visit

Posted by Lisa On April 25th, 2011

My mom and her boyfriend Steve came up for another visit (see their past visits here and here) from April 1st-3rd and we had a nice time.

Friday night I joined them in Los Gatos at Jessie’s work, Enoteca La Storia (a super cute wine bar) for some champagne and cheese (a lovely combination 😉 ).

Jess hard at work and me hard at drinking 😉

Jess nommin’ on some goodies

The spread (or what was left of it)

Mom & Steve (in shadows, wah!)

The only scraps we left on the cutting board

Mom, me and Steve through the window

After Jessie’s shift ended we ventured to another wine bar in downtown Los Gatos, Cin-Cin, for dinner. The restaurant offered small plates and they were fantastic! We then took a stroll down the main strip and landed at the Dolce Spazio Dessert Cafe for some gelato. Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Beautiful blue sky on the drive to SJ

Afterwards we drove back to San Jose to check out an art walk that happens on the first Friday of every month in downtown San Jose called South First Fridays. Only a couple of galleries peaked our interest: the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and another gallery that I didn’t catch the name of that featured pieces about size (from microscopic to ginormous).

Me and Jess in front of some beautiful quilts

One of my favorite pieces. If you look closely…

…you’ll notice that the artist carved the alphabet out of the tips of these pencils. Incredible!

I felt like I walked straight into a Dr. Seuss book with these funky tree sculptures.

Trippy

On Saturday, mom and Steve came out to SF for some exploring. Our first stop was lunch at Chilango Mexican restaurant. Now I’ve always been a fan of Mexican food (I mean hello, I’m half Mexican) but I have never fallen so deeply in love with a Mexican restaurant as I did with Chilango. Their food is in traditional Mexico, D.F. (the capital) style and it is SO AMAZING! A little pricey but holy hell it’s worth it.

Okay, I’m done drooling now.

My mom and I giving Chilango two thumbs up!

We then took a nice drive through the Castro, starting out at the Seward slides (see a video of me and Kevin going down the slides here, with Kevin’s crazy drop straight on his rear at the bottom of the slide), then winding our way up through the beautiful neighborhood and finally ending at Corona Heights park. Mom, Kevin and I went for a brief hike up to the top of the rock formations and really enjoyed the views of the city.

Beautiful colored rocks against a bright blue sky.

A random little “village” we came across. These little houses were maybe 6 inches tall, so cute!

Me and Kev at the top of Corona Heights

For dinner we shared our love of Ethiopian food with mom and Steve and they quickly became fans! We went to Cafe Ethiopia in the Mission which we had tried before and definitely loved (except for one of the waiters telling us, at the end of our meal, that “there are people waiting to eat”, we got the hint!)

Dig in!!

We had a really nice visit (and lots of yummy food to boot!) with mom and Steve. Looking forward to their next visit!

Weekend in LA

Posted by Lisa On March 2nd, 2011

I flew down to LAX on Fri. 2/11 for a work retreat at our LA campus and decided to stick around for the weekend to see some family! My mom and her boyfriend Steve came to pick me up in Alhambra and we went straight to one of my favorite restaurants out that way: Noodle World.

I spent most of my time with Mom and Steve out in San Pedro. We took a 2 mile walk down Paseo Del Mar and when we were looking out over Royal Palms beach, we happened to spot a mermaid!

But then we realized she wasn’t alone. Alas, she and her three friends were with a full crew taking photos.

We then enjoyed breakfast at the Lighthouse Deli (yummy batter-of-the-day pancakes!) That afternoon me and my mom went to visit my aunt in her new digs in Garden Grove. For those of you that know my family well, I’m happy to report that Tina is doing GREAT! 🙂

Then we made our way back to San Pedro to The Corner Store for a wine tasting benefiting the Marine Mammal Center of San Pedro.

Lots of incredible desserts like these fudgy, red velvet cake pops dipped in chocolate. AMAZING!!

Then we zipped on over to Busy Bee (a famous sandwich shop that I had heard so many good things about but had never tried before) to buy a boatload of sandwiches to enjoy with Brianne & Brian and my brother Derek who were coming over to Steve’s for dinner and games!

Mmm…check out that greasy goodness on the sandwich wrappers. 🙂

Brianne and Brian and Catalina Island in the background

Not the best photo, but the three of us enjoying the sunset

Gorgeous view, eh?

We spent a good few hours laughing our rears off playing a game called The Game of Things (highly recommend this game for groups, so much fun!) Kevin even joined in on the fun in SF via Skype! He was my partner during a few rounds and it was great to have him join in on the game for a bit. 🙂

The next morning we were up bright and early for some yummy breakfast (egg, muenster cheese and honey mustard paninis with cottage cheese/oranges and a piping hot cup of joe).

Then we drove down to Long Beach and I spent a whopping 2 hours in LB the entire weekend. I went to visit with my in-laws, Dorothy and George, and we had a great little visit. George cooked up some yummy and slightly spicy chicken salad sandwiches for us to enjoy too. Yummy!

After the short visit with the Edmonds family (and an even shorter appearance of my bro-in-law Thomas) we drove down to pick up my brother Derek to get some lunch at Portillo’s Hot Dogs in Buena Park and then made another visit to my aunt Tina.

Derek, a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, made a visit to the windy city last year and found out that Portillo’s (a Chicago-based restaurant) had a chain out in Buena Park. Here he is enjoying a dog covered in goodness (as you can see, he’s not the biggest fan of the Lisa blog paparazzi).

We then made our way back up to San Pedro to make a visit with Steve’s grandson Christian who is an adorable kindergartner. We spent a good amount of time drawing mutant animals…

And then as the sun was setting, Christian insisted on taking me on a flashlight tour of Steve’s backyard where he showed me, amongst other things, the place where his cat is buried. Haha!

After that we rushed off to LAX and I was home around 10:15pm on Sunday. I had a really fantastic whirlwind of a trip and can’t thank my mom and Steve enough for the hospitality! 🙂

Christmas: The Long Beach edition

Posted by Lisa On January 7th, 2011

One of the biggest perks to working for a university (me) = two weeks off at Christmas!

One of the biggest bummers to working for business that is busiest during the holidays (Kev) = not able to spend Christmas day with family 🙁

BUT we were able to finagle a few days before Christmas for a quick, shotgun trip down south. We decided to surprise Kevin’s mom Dorothy so she was the only one in our families that didn’t know we were coming down. We had a good week or so of talking up how sad it was that we weren’t able to come down at all for the holidays…if only she knew…hehehehe.

Monday 12/20
After Kevin got off of work that afternoon we jumped in the car and made our way down to Long Beach. We got in around 1am Tuesday morning and after quickly saying hi to my mom, we hit the sack to get ready for our big surprise the next morning.

Tuesday 12/21
Kevin’s dad George helped with the surprise telling Dorothy that he had a doctor’s appointment that morning that he wanted her to go to with him. So our plan was for Kevin to call Dorothy on her cell phone and have her on the phone when we knocked on the door. Here are two videos of Operation: Surprise Dorothy for Christmas 2010! 😉

Kevin trying to make small talk with Dorothy as we prepare to get out in the rain and knock on the door

As you can see, we didn’t plan it out as well as we had hoped but we surprised her nonetheless! If you look closely in the background you can see Lola tear through the house running after their cat Sebastian! Hahah, poor thing!

Thomas was there and Judith, Joshua and Katelyn came over for a yummy breakfast of waffles, french toast, and bacon.

They were enthralled with the story Kevin was telling.

A little gift exchange…

Katelyn showing off her new shirt

Josh showing off his new shirt

Dorothy and George fighting over who gets to open the gift 😉

The bicycle glasses we got them!

Family photo! Kevin, me, Katelyn, Joshua and Judith (and Lola too)

We spent the whole day with the family and enjoyed a yummy spaghetti dinner together too.

Lola relaxing at the Edmonds’ home with Kevin

Wednesday 12/22
We met up with Thomas and his girlfriend Ashley for breakfast at The Potholder Cafe in Long Beach.

That afternoon we spent a few hours hanging out with my mom (like old times!) and then met up with my brother Derek, our friend Brian, my mom’s boyfriend Steve and the Chinese student living with my mom while he studies at CSULB Jeremy for dinner at Lucille’s BBQ (me and Kevin’s favorite chain restaurant!)

Lola and her new roommate Luke

Thursday 12/23
We woke up early so that me, Kevin and my mom could go to Westminster for our annual Chinese massage (annual for me and Kev, more often for my mom!) It was EXACTLY what we needed and we enjoyed it so much. My mom asked the guys to snap a few photos of us for proof, haha!

Kevin, the mummy

My mom and me

We then went to fill up our tummies with some yummy Chinese food at Seafood Cove #1.

That afternoon around 4pm we jumped back in our car and made our way back to San Francisco so that Kevin could be at work the next morning at 6am.

We were in LB right when the crazy rain was happening, but the clouds parted for us on the last day and the sun poked through, seemingly taunting us and begging us to stay! 😉

TDay 2010

Posted by Lisa On November 29th, 2010

This year Kevin had to work the days before and after Thanksgiving so we couldn’t make a trip down south–Jessie had to work the day of so we decided to host a small Thanksgiving dinner at her place in San Jose!

In the afternoon we were busy cooking and Skyping with Kevin’s family who were gathered at his parent’s house for the feast.

Dorothy and George

Kevin chatting away

Our beautiful nieces Katelyn and Sophie!

Thomas, Katelyn and Sophie posing for a photo

Even though it was only me, Kev and Jessie for the meal itself we ended up having one of the most delicious and entertaining Thanksgivings in recent memory!

The mansion Jessie lives in (literally! Check out the post I wrote about her building on move-in day here)

Started out with some Skyping with my family–this photo is of my mom and my Auntie Tina, but there also was my brother Derek, my Uncle Joey and my mom’s boyfriend Steve.

Jess got a free cooked crab from her boss so she proceeded to pound away at it.

Hahaha, that girl cracks me up!

So…dinner was amazing. Started out with some spanakopita, fried cheese balls, and dates stuffed with dark chocolate and walnuts.

And the main event! Mushroom stuffing, apple cranberry quinoa, collard greens, roasted cauliflower (and some tri-tip [not pictured] for the meat-eatin’ Kevin).

And three bottles of wine later…we started getting a little goofy.

The lipstick went on.

The feathers were donned.

So how do I look with bangs?? (No really, I want to know…I’m gonna get a haircut soon and want to know what you think! haha)

Socks were mismatched.

Kitties were cuddled.

And then the Delmar girls got into typical Delmar fashion and started posing for random photos…

But the highlight of the evening was by far this Christmas video. ENJOY and HAPPY HOLIDAYS from the Delmar sisters! 🙂

Spa day treat after the half-marathon

Posted by Lisa On October 27th, 2010

My mom and Steve treated me to a spa day after my half-marathon–it was JUST what the doctor ordered! We went to Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona and I could not have asked for a better time to feel refreshed after my race.

The day was gloomy and we weren’t even sure if the spa was going to be open but it seems there were about 50 other crazy people with the same idea as us. 😉 We got there around noon and had four hours to spend in the hot sulfur baths, the sauna, the jacuzzis and, of course, the mud bath!

Love this place. If you live in Southern California and haven’t been here yet, you must get there now!

The weather reminded me of Hawai’i

One of the saltwater jacuzzis. Amazing!

Me and my Mama Jones

My mama, the pro at this whole mud thing

A self-portrait after the mud has baked in the sauna a bit.

Afterwards we spent some required time at Tom’s Farms purchasing some delicious candies, bread, wine and cheese.

Haha, I love that they waved and looked hokey just as I asked them to. 🙂

Hello!

They have the coolest candies here! Chocolate rocks…awesome.

My idea of heaven.

Such a lovely way to end a great trip down to Long Beach. Thank you both so much!!

13.1

Posted by Lisa On October 22nd, 2010

On Sunday 10/17 I completed my first half marathon (13.1 miles) and I am so so so proud of myself for doing it! I participated in the Long Beach International City Bank half marathon and had a fantastic experience even though it was a really rough run.

The night before I was up half the night with food poisoning. The day before I didn’t eat much since I wasn’t hungry (probably nerves) and that night went to eat at a local Italian restaurant at the urging of my mom who encouraged me to carbo load for the next day’s race. I knew it’d be good for me so I went even though I wasn’t hungry. After a plate of spaghetti and meatballs I felt overly full (hadn’t felt like that in a long time) and we decided to take a walk in Seal Beach to walk the feeling off. My stomach wasn’t happy with me for eating so much (or so I thought) and after some uncomfortable visits to the bathroom at the Coffee Bean I thought it was all over.

I went to bed at 9:30 so that I could get enough rest for the early morning start time. At 10:30 I woke up shaking violently and feeling nauseous. I ran to the kitchen and proceeded to throw up all of the spaghetti I had eaten hours before. After falling back asleep at 11pm I woke up at 1am sweating profusely and having to run to the kitchen again to throw up what water I had in my system. I woke up again at 3am feeling like crap but luckily didn’t have to get up.

So when my alarm went off at 5am it’s probably pretty obvious that I was not feeling my best. My head was pounding. My body was aching all over. I was dehydrated and had no appetite. To be honest I was about 50% sure that I wasn’t going to be able to go on with the race. But the determined part of me that doesn’t like to give up kept insisting that I didn’t drive 400 miles, I didn’t have tons of people rooting for me, I didn’t pay the $90 entrance fee, and I didn’t make it a goal to run a half marathon before my 27th birthday for nothing!

My mom and Steve drove me there (thank goodness because I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle the traffic and the stress on my own). The traffic was horrendous (when 20,000 people are trying to get to the same place it doesn’t make for easy traffic) but we got lucky and a police officer randomly told us to take a different exit which saved us tons of time. We walked a couple of miles from the parking lot and before I knew it I was at the starting line.

When I started the race, my body was aching so much it felt as though I had already run 13 miles. Not good. But the gun shot off and I started running. The longest run I did in my training was the week before and I ran 10 miles in 1 hour, 50 minutes. Generally I run at least 4-5 miles without stopping and then when I do stop it’s only for a minute or so and then I keep running. This time, I didn’t even make it to the 2 mile mark without walking. I’d start running again for a bit and then have to stop to walk for a mile. It was terrible. At mile 6 I was reunited with my mom and Steve and saw my friends Alison and Seth who drove up from Irvine to see me and they gave me a little boost of energy. But it didn’t last long. I was feeling so incredibly sluggish and I wanted to call my mom and tell her to come pick me up because I didn’t think I could do it. I was on the verge of tears a few times when I’d be jogging so slow people were walking faster than me. It was the most difficult run I have ever done and more than the physical difficulty it was mentally difficult to continue. But I did.

The water and PowerAde breaks every couple of miles helped immensely and I started to feel hydrated. At mile 10 I decided to try one of those Clif Bar energy gel shots (a funky thing I had heard of before but wasn’t interested in trying previously, it’s like the consistency between pudding and jello and I was definitely not excited to try it). It had an immediate effect on me and I felt increasingly stronger and more energetic. The thought of my friends Alison and Seth leaving because she had yoga teacher training at 12noon in Huntington Beach inspired me to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. So at mile 10 I started running. And I didn’t stop the entire time.

At mile 13 I saw my mom and Steve and the tears started welling up. With only .1 miles to go, I just took off and started high-tailing it. I ran as fast as my body could take me. You know, you’d think more people would do that when the finish line was in sight, but no one around me was doing that, so I must have looked like a crazy woman to all of those hundreds of spectators. But I didn’t care, I was going to finish the race strong.

After 3 hours and 19 minutes of an extremely difficult run I crossed the finish line as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I have never felt more proud of myself than I did in that moment. It was an extremely difficult road (not just the run itself by the months leading up to it) but I did it. And I am so excited to call myself an athlete and to continue running for the rest of my life.

Giving my mom a thumbs-up at the start of the race

This was at mile 6–I’m in the teal shirt in the right corner

I’m dead center–this is at mile 13 when I just started to high-tail it to the finish line.

Crossing the finish line with a huge smile on my face! I ordered a copy to come via mail and will hopefully have it soon.

My official race results!

I did it!!

Jessie’s graduation from SF State University!

Posted by Lisa On May 19th, 2010

The moment had finally come for Jessie’s graduation from SF State! She graduated with a BA in Political Science and my mom & her boyfriend Steve, her roommate Jessie and her boss Deanna were all there to show our support and cheer her on (as she went on stage three times!) The ceremony was specific for the PS Department, so lucky for us we didn’t have to sit through 7,000 names being called. 😉

I know it hasn’t been easy for Jess to get to this moment but I know that she worked her rear off to make it a reality and I honestly could not be more proud of her. Tears were shed and her name was hollered as loud as I could and it was not only a big moment in Jessie’s life, it was a big moment in mine too. I love you Jess and am so so so so very proud of you! YOU DID IT!!!!!

A short video of Jessie going up on stage to receive her “Student Leader of the Year” award…well-deserved!!!

Anxious to finally get her degree!

She did it!!

College graduate sisters!

(Part of) her cheering squad!

After her graduation we all went out to dinner at You See Sushi (one of Jessie’s favorite sushi restaurants) and on the walk there we spotted a cute Vespa that we encouraged Jess to jump on for an impromptu photo shoot (with that cute outfit she was wearing we couldn’t resist!)

I Photo Shop’d that! 😉

At the restaurant we presented Jessie with some cards, one being from me and my mom. It was a card that you could record a message in so we recorded a really goofy message and I had to videotape Jessie’s reaction while she opened it…enjoy!

Lisa’s visit to Long Beach

Posted by Lisa On April 28th, 2010

I just came back from a fun-filled time away in Long Beach! Kevin unfortunately wasn’t able to go because of school (he has to clock in and out so he can’t just skip class!) so he and Lola were holding down the fort while I was away.

Wed. 4/21
After a full day of work I left home at 6pm for the drive down to Long Beach! I made it in record time (3 minutes shy of 6 hours) and it was the best drive down the 5 yet! I generally leave in the wee hours of the morning and though it’s beautiful seeing the sunrise, there’s nothing quite like the way the green, rolling hills look when they’re bathed in the golden light of the setting sun (wow, I guess I’m more of a poet than I thought! haha) I was pretty blown away with how beautiful it was and I just wish I stopped for a few minutes to take some photos! I got in right at midnight and went straight to bed after a quick reunion with my family dog Lukey!

Thurs. 4/22
I woke up bright and early and went to breakfast with my mama and my second mom Diane! Diane suggested we try Brulee, a fairly new breakfast/brunch/lunch spot off PCH/Loynes Drive in Long Beach and we were definitely not disappointed! The food was absolutely delicious with very reasonable prices and super friendly staff.

After breakfast my mom and I went shopping a bit (I needed to buy a dress for the wedding I was going to that weekend) and I worked from home for a few hours in the afternoon. Then that evening we went to dinner with Allen, a Chinese student who is renting a room from my mom while he attends CSULB. We went to Cho Dang Tofu House restaurant in Cerritos, one of my favorite restaurants ever! The soup comes out boiling and you get an egg that you crack and cook right in your bowl! It comes with a steaming bowl of rice and a ton of little dishes full of yummy treats (kim chee, seaweed, etc.) And to top it all off, they have soft-serve ice cream available at the end of the meal, included in the price! 🙂

Best. Dinner. Ever!

Cracking an egg right into my soup. Mmm mmm MMM!

Me and Allen after a delightful meal

Fri. 4/23
I took it easy Friday morning trying to catch up on some sleep and get rested up for the big Girl Scout camp out weekend! The main reason I went down to LB was because of the Junior Jam GS camp out that my niece’s troop was participating in. I was the co-leader with my sis-in-law Judith for the past two years and as 4th grade Juniors last year we participated in Junior Jam in ’09 so we had to participate as 5th grade Juniors this year as it’s their last year as Junior Girl Scouts! And of course I had to come down to be with them. The girls didn’t know I was coming so it was a big surprise for them. 🙂 Junior Jam is a camping skills competition weekend, so they competed in a ton of skills like putting up a tent, first aid, fire-building, knots, lashing, emergency preparedness, GS know-how, compass and trail signs, etc. I think it is such a great event where 500 Junior Girl Scouts come together to demonstrate their knowledge with these type of skills. And on top of that, a High School GS troop is the one that puts on the event every year! It’s quite amazing.

So Friday night we set up camp, had dinner, and the troop participated in a camp-wide night games which was kind of like “Amazing Race”.

The girls were in love with the doggie door in the tent (okay, I know it’s not really a doggie door but it looks like it!)

Sat. 4/24
We woke up bright and early to eat breakfast (mmm breakfast burritos), decorate our campsite (the weekend’s theme was “Jammin’ Holidays” so our troop’s theme was “birthday”), and get ready for the competition!

The girls were up bright-and-early and wanted to check out the pond

We woke up to a wonderful surprise…squirrels got into our birthday cake! haha

I had a few of the girls pose in front of the huge decorations they had for the camp out, I told them to pretend they were part of the scenes.

The troop named themselves the “Party Bashers” for this camp out (last year it was a music themed camp out so our troop’s theme was the 80’s and the girls named themselves “The Crazy 80’s Ladies”, they sure are creative!)

That’s one good lookin’ donkey! 😉

We created a little birthday scene with the girl’s stuffed animals, too cute!

And now for the skills…

Patiently awaiting their turn

They had to use their lashing skills to make a table

Performing a flag ceremony, good job ladies!

Putting up a tent

Tying knots

The girls did a fantastic job with the skills, I was so proud of them! After eating lunch with the troop I had to leave early so didn’t stick around for the campfire that night or the awards ceremony the next morning. But I found out that the girls placed 5th!! 🙂

Saturday afternoon I tagged along with my mom and her boyfriend Steve and their friends to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale! The Renaissance Faire is one of my absolute favorite things to do so I couldn’t pass up the offer to go with them while I was in LB! We had a fantastic time and it was great spending the afternoon there until they closed…definitely the way to go to beat the crowds and still enjoy yourself!

My mom trying on a ribbon/flower headband, so pretty!

Steve’s grandson Christian…watch out Cap’n Jack!

A young Renaissance man checking himself out in the mirror

Give him a few years and Christian will have the biggest smile on his face 😉

Pirate mama

They have the prettiest masks there!

Christian wanted to ride the swing so I got to tag along 🙂 He’s just to the right of me.

Little Robin Hood

My head was too big for that hole, haha

My favorite thing to get at the Ren Faire…fruit ice!!

Christian sizing up the Giant

Christian and Steve showing the mini Giant who’s boss

Christian on the dragon swing (he’s third from the front)

It was Pirate Day at the Ren Faire, can’t you tell?

Beautiful horse!

I absolutely love all of the costumes! And they all play their characters so well too.

Christian climbing a tree

Saturday night I got together with our good friend Brianne and her sister Laura & Laura’s friend Kylie. We had some snacks, had some laughs, and played some fun games (our favorite past-time!) I was so happy we were able to get together, Brianne and Brian are two friends we miss so much being up here!!

Sun. 4/25
I had another early morning because I wanted to squeeze in as my visits to people as possible! The morning I spent a few hours with my in-laws Dorothy and George (with a short-but-sweet visit with my bro-in-law Thomas too!). It was great catching up with them and I really do miss our talks!

Mid-morning I drove out to my friend Kim’s house to visit with her and her three monkeys (I mean sons!) Kim and I are training for the half-marathon together (check out our running blog here!) and we hadn’t seen each other in about SIX YEARS! It was SO GREAT catching up with her in person and seeing her boys (who are a blast!)

Jacob (3) and David (12)

Kim’s dad came by on his motorcycle so Jacob and David got a ride back home while Connor (2) watched them drive off!

After a few hours of hanging out with her clan 😉 I had to rush back home to get ready for Evon’s wedding! Evon and I were in a sistahood at Redlands together (Wadada Wa Rangi Wengi or WRW) and she married her wonderful fiancee Russell! I was so honored to be a part of their special day and it was so great reuniting with so many of my WRW sistas! I carpooled with my good friend Alison and her husband Seth and it was so nice spending some time with them!

They got married at the most beautiful Catholic church I’ve ever been in!

The lone lit candle

I love stained-glass windows. Beautiful!

The newlyweds, congrats Evon and Russell!!

Nialta and Linda

The reception was a few miles away at a reception hall and it was gorgeously decorated and we had the most amazing spread waiting for us! The crazy thing is that that was only the first course of over SEVEN courses!!

And each table came adorned with a bottle of whiskey and vodka…

Danica getting us started with the Grey Goose

The reception was so much fun! In the first 10 minutes of the bride and groom showing up, her guests had her up in the air!

The happy couple’s first dance

The cake. Being on a Sunday night we had to leave by 10pm, and they hadn’t even gotten to the cake yet! It sure was gorgeous though…

Me and the BEAUTIFUL bride!

Alison, Caroline (a bridesmaid) and me

Me and Sneha (who flew in from NYC)

Meenal (who flew in from Antigua!), me and Alison

Mon. 4/26
Monday wasn’t too eventful except for the 6 hour drive back up to SF! And yes, even with the LA traffic I hit going up I made it in exactly 6 hours…I guess it pays only having one person and making only one pit-stop during the drive! I had a wonderful reunion with my Lola and after a power nap that evening I stayed up until 11pm so that I could see Kevin when he got home from school! 🙂

I had such a wonderful trip, thank you all for taking the time to see me and spend time with me!

Mom’s visit

Posted by Lisa On April 11th, 2010

My mom and her boyfriend Steve came up to visit Thursday 4/1 – Monday 4/5 and we had a really great time. It was the first time my mom had come up to see our new place in SF and it was a great chance to get to know Steve better as well. They drove up on Thursday and that afternoon after hanging out with Kevin and me for a little bit, Kevin had to go to school so the three of us went out exploring the city.

We drove through Bernal Heights (a really cute neighborhood near our apartment) then drove through Diamond Heights and stopped to get a gorgeous view of downtown.

Kevin’s usually the tour guide for our visitors, so it was interesting being put in the driver’s seat and when I asked them “So what do you want to see?” they replied “Whatever you want to show us!” I know one of my favorite places in the city is Golden Gate Park, so that’s where we went!

We took a stroll around Stow Lake (one of my favorite spots in GG Park)…

The local sun-bathin’ turtles

Me and mom near the waterfall on Strawberry Hill

Mom and Steve in the Golden Gate Pavillion, a Chinese pagoda on Stow Lake

After our romp through the park, we decided to indulge in some delicious Peruvian food in the Mission at Mi Lindo Peru. My mom and I had actually been to this same restaurant years before when we came up to visit Jessie (long before Kevin and I had even considered moving to SF!)

This is a fantastic restaurant with extremely good food. My good friend Claudia (who visited me last summer) inspired in me a great love for Peruvian food. Our visit to this restaurant reminded me that I need to ask her for some of her recipes to make some at home! 🙂

My mom got Inca Kola (kind of like cream soda)

I got Aji de Gallina (chili chicken in a cream sauce)…I really need to learn to make this at home so I can have it whenever I please! 🙂

Friday through Sunday Steve was out visiting his niece’s family in San Ramon, so my mom stayed with me and Kevin those nights. On Friday I was able to get out of work early to spend some time with mom and Jess that evening. We hung out and talked for a couple of hours then vegged out and watched about 5 episodes of “Modern Family” (have you seen that show?? It’s HILARIOUS!) It was just like old times, the three of us cracking up so hard we could barely breathe kind of moments. That night when Kevin got home from class we went out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants, CaliPhoNia (Vietnamese)…sooooo good!!

On Saturday afternoon, the four of us ventured out of the city and drove down to Santa Cruz. Jessie’s the only one who had been there before, and it was such a cute little beach town (definitely reminded us of Long Beach and Seal Beach).

Jess and mom doing the tango in our backyard

We had a little photo shoot on one of the cliffs overlooking the beach…

America’s Next Top Model, Jessie

We then drove down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk…

My mom treated us to a ride on the Giant Dipper (the 6th oldest roller coaster in the US, by the way!)…

We had an AWESOME time on the roller coaster (can’t you tell by the photo? haha).

After braving the roller coaster we treated ourselves to some typical carnival food–Jessie got garlic fries, Kevin got cotton candy, mom got funnel cake and I got a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone…YUM!!

Those are some satisfied carnies! haha

My childhood favorite: chocolate-dipped ice cream cone

Kevin ate so much cotton candy his tongue turned into sugar!

The cone says it all…

On Easter Sunday we drove out to San Ramon to meet Steve and his niece Michelle’s family (her husband Steve and their kids Morgan and Melissa).

Spring is here!

Morgan (6 yrs. old) showing off his magic tricks (he was good too!)

Melissa came out in her princess gown and quickly got tangled up in some balloons and her tiara, in true princess fashion 😉

And then she proceeded to tattoo herself up with Easter stickers

To celebrate in true Easter-style we ended our evening at The Mint, a karaoke bar in SF, and the sushi bar next door, Sushi Delight. The Delmar girls all love karaoke, so Kevin and Steve just cheered us on. 😉

A few of the songs that were sung that evening…