Productive Sunday

I got over eight hours of sleep last night, which is very exciting! I love weekends when I can sleep more. I love lazy weekends, but this weekend wasn't really that lazy. We went up to LA to bring flowers for my mom yesterday. Today we got a lot of things done!

I had some oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. Then we headed to our favorite coastal running route in Cardiff. It was another gorgeous day. You're probably sick of me saying that huh? No worries. Temperatures are supposed to drop to high 50's/low 60's later this week. And it MIGHT rain even! :-|

My right leg felt a little bit hurt and tight this week, after the interval gym class on Tuesday night. I have not been too good about stretching and doing my physical therapy exercises. That is really something I need to improve. But I ran/walked 3.07 miles and felt fine, so I'm pretty glad. I ran parts of my run on the beach because it was low tide again. I take advantage whenever I can!

Going down to the beach.


I could never get tired of this view.


The low tide from the walkway above, on the way back.


The surfer statue at the corner of 101 and Chesterfield somehow gets decorated on special occasions. He was Cupid for Valentine's Day.


After I took that photo, Todd and I got interviewed by Fox 5 News reporters on camera. Todd was funny and charming. (Must be the Toastmaster training.) They asked what Valentine's Day meant to me, and I told them it's a special day to remember my mom, who died on Valentine's Day four years ago. I'm guessing they won't be putting that downer on TV. :-| Don't get me wrong, I know it's a special day and it's about love, and that of course is my mom. But I just don't think that was what the news people were looking for. But just in case, I taped the news tonight, LOL.

After running, we went to Beach City Cafe for brunch, a place we love but haven't been in a while. I tried something new on the menu: The Son Of The Beach sandwich! Bacon and fried egg on English muffins, nom nom!


Todd also tried something new, a chicken sandwich with pesto sauce. He liked it.

I may or may not have stolen a couple of his fried potato wedges. Now I gotta put them into my Weight Watchers points tracker. :-\

We stopped by Costco before going home, where we got my favorite Fuji apples and a box of oranges. Fruits are 0 points on WW, so I rely on them for snacks in the afternoons. Costco was a zoo, but we made it out relatively unscathed, except for our wallets.

In the afternoon, we were super-productive. We vacuumed the whole house (while Noodle hid), did laundry, cleaned the master bath, cleaned off the fur in Noodle's bed, and various other chores. I love the days when I can check things off my list of to-do's. :)

And this evening, while I processed photos and blogged, Noodle crawled onto a shelf next to my desk.  Funny cat! He actually curled up and fell asleep there.


Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work, my first vacation day this year. I'm really looking forward to spending time remembering my mom, doing some crafty things, reading, and having dinner/dessert with Todd to celebrate Valentine's Day.

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Flowers For Mom

Those of you who have been reading my blog for at least a year probably know that my mom passed away from cancer on Valentine's Day in 2007. Every year, on the closest weekend to Valentine's Day, we go up to LA to visit my dad and to bring mom flowers at the cemetery. So yesterday, Todd and I left for LA in the morning.

It was a really gorgeous day, sunny and mid-80's. Actually unseasonably warm. We got to my dad and Shelly's house, then drove together in our car to go to lunch at a new-to-me Korean restaurant called Han Sang. I really love Korean food because of all the little side dishes they give you. The whole table was full of food and hardly had any space left for our plates! I thought this food was really yummy. Todd said he got too spiced-out after a while. My dad and Shelly have been once before and liked it.










You know how you know ethnic food is good? When the whole restaurant is full of people of that ethnicity. That was definitely the case at Han Sang! Everyone there was Korean and spoke Korean. I thought the food was delicious.

After lunch, we drove to Rose Hills, my mom's resting place. That phrase seems weird to me. Yes, her earthly self is buried there. But her eternal soul has gone to heaven. To me, she's no longer here on earth. In fact, visiting her there always makes me feel weird because I just don't feel like I need to go to a specific place to feel her presence and love for me, and to remember her. But I continue to go because of my dad. I want to honor his wishes.

We brought mom some beautiful flowers.








Dad asked me to say a prayer on everyone's behalf, so I did. I thanked the Lord that she is up in heaven next to Him, so joyful in His presence. She spent her life serving the Jesus that she loved, so selflessly. I'm certain her reward is in heaven. She has a special place next to Jesus. I miss her so much, but I'm joyful that she's in His presence.  I didn't cry yesterday.  I don't like to cry in front of my dad, and he doesn't like to cry in front of me.  He did get choked up though.  I'm crying as I'm writing this... delayed reaction I guess. 

The day was so clear, you could see downtown LA in the distance.




Until we see each other again, mom. Until then.

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New 52 | Week 5 Scrapbook Page + Template

I did my layout for New 52 | Week 5 today. This layout came together so easily and my creativity seemed to just flow. I think it's because I found the absolutely perfect kit to scrap my page! :)

New 52 | Week 5: miXtape

Credits:
New 52: Template #5 by me, Listgirl Designs by Christine Newman
Mixed Tape by Paislee Press @ Oscraps
Brush Strokes II: Edges by Michelle Coleman @ Little Dreamer Designs

And here's the template, available for just $1 in my store, Listgirl Designs.


I wanted to take a moment and thank each and every one of you who have been sharing your links to your New 52 blog posts with me every week. I read them all and enjoy it very much. However, I've come to the conclusion that giving myself a weekly deadline to scrap my page and put out a template is too difficult for me to keep it up. I've bitten off more than I can chew! I spend 9-5 all day on the computer for my job.  Sometimes I just don't want to spend all night or weekend on the computer as well.  It started to become an obligation on Sunday nights, rather than an enjoyment of scrapping my story. So I'm sorry to say that I'm going to drop this part of my commitment. I'm still committed to trying something NEW every week and blogging, I just can't commit to scrapping and putting out a template on time each week. I love telling our stories and scrapping, but not under pressure.  If I do scrap a page, I will share it on my blog.  If I end up making a template out of it, I will send a download to those that shared their blog links for that particular week.  I just can't say it'll be EVERY week.  Thanks for understanding!

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New 52 | Week 6: Colored Sharpie Pens

This week I actually had so many "new" experiences that I couldn't decide which one to go with for my New 52 | Week 6. We went to a couple of new places to eat: Bull Taco and The Pantry. Todd aged gracefully into a new decade. But while Todd's new decade is very exciting, it's not something I actively made happen. So I decided on my new colored Sharpie pens as my New 52 for Week 6.



What's so special about these pens, you ask? It's not exactly about the PENS themselves per se. It's more about the POSSIBILITIES of what the pens do, and the potential of the pens, that are meaningful. You see, I've long been a collector of pencils and pens, almost my entire life. Todd was so amused the first time I showed him my mechanical pencil collection in college. I had a See's Candies chocolate box (decorated with stickers) full of my mechanical pencil collection. I had all sizes and shapes. I had Hello Kitty mechanical pencils. My most prized purchases came on a trip to Taiwan in 8th grade, when I went ape-crazy at all the cute mechanical pencils sold in little stationary shops there. Back then, the only mechanical pencils you could find in the U.S. were just prim and proper functional ones, no cute ones.

But I digress. It's the act of putting pen/pencil to paper that I love. LOVE. Big puffy heart ♥♥♥.  I've kept journals almost my entire life and I still have the ones I've kept in grade school.  Writing and journaling is pretty ingrained in me.  It's how I work out my thoughts and feelings.  It's therapeutic and cleansing for me.  It's where I make lists.  It's where I go back and read my thoughts from years ago and see growth.  These new pens represent the enjoyment of writing in my journals for me.  And my Moleskine daily planner.  As much as I love the digital age and the computer, there's still nothing like putting pen to paper for me.  Which may be why I was very excited to come upon a Lifehacker article the other day about the benefits of "analog" writing with pen and paper.  (Lifehacker article:  Why You Learn More Effectively by Writing Than Typing)  I will never give up putting pen to paper, even if I do love using my computer as well.

In case you are a pen-aficionado like me, I'll share my favorite pens.

Sharpie Pens (see above) - These new colored ones are new to me. I've had the black retractable ones before and loved them because they do not bleed through to the other side of the paper, and they dry fast and write smoothly.

Pentel EnerGel Deluxe RTX Gel Ink Pens (0.7 Millimeter Metal Tip) - I love these and stock up on them. They come in many colors and write very smoothly without skipping. They also dry fast so even left-handed writers like them.

I'll leave you with a random Noodle photo, because he's cute. Todd was opening his gifts and Noodle just loved playing amongst the tissue paper. He loved making the crinkly sounds and hiding in them and attacking them.



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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.

Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the link list below. You can also post images to our New 52 Flickr Group! We would love to see what you were inspired to do.

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"Super Todd"

Sunday 2/6 was our big party combining Todd's 40th birthday celebration + Super Bowl, thus we called it "Super Todd"!

Invites went out a few weeks ago...


THE DECORATION

I knew I wanted a banner, but beyond that I just flew by the seat of my pants, LOL.
Amy helped me make the banner from scrapbooking paper.  I knew I kept paper supplies around for something!


The finished banner.


The arrival and food areas.


The living room party area.


I spread some noisemakers and confetti on the tables.




THE FOOD

There was food and lots of it!
Todd's mom made a chicken crock pot for sandwiches/chips.


We chopped up some vegetables and got some dips. Our next door neighbor, Annie, made all those egg rolls/lumpia and surprised us with them!


I made my now famous Crunchy Asian Slaw again, thanks to this recipe from Vanilla Bees.


Next door neighbor Fred (Annie's husband) roasts his own coffee beans and brought over a carafe of his awesome Yirgacheffe coffee.


We got catered Indian food from our favorite Indian restaurant, Punjabi Tandoor.

Chicken Tikka Masala + regular naan bread


Chicken Makhani + garlic naan bread


Alu Gobi (cauliflower and potatoes mixed making a delicious Punjabi style curry)


We were kind of nervous about serving Indian food for the party because we didn't know if people would like it, even though it's Todd's favorite. But it went over really well! Even Todd's dad tried some and liked it! :)

Our friend Monika bought a brownie and drew a sock monkey on it! How cute is that??


THE GUESTS

Everyone mingled and had fun chatting, eating, and watching the game.
Our neighbors Fred and Annie were one of the first ones to arrive. And like I said, they came bearing lots of food and gifts!


They gave Noodle a "dynamite"stick made of fabric and filled with catnip. Noodle LOVED it and went nuts playing with it for a long while!


Dejah and Roby with Birthday Boy


Meera, Keiji, Gilbert, Anne, and Tyler hanging out at the family room dining table.


Dejah, Roby, and Randy engrossed in conversation.


Meera and baby Keiji.


Sally


Birthday Boy and Victoria, who brought the cheesehead.


AND she brought a big bucket of gifts for Todd, having to do with popcorn!


Sally, Meera, and Todd hanging out.


Victoria, Anne, and Tyler watching the game.


The family room (where the big TV is) filled with party guests.


Birthday Boy with Karsten and Yaiza.


Monika, Meera, Keiji, and Andon.


The Super Trio of AJ, Andon, and Todd!


Look how cute Andon looked with his cape!


Monika borrowing the cheesehead, which is ironic since she hates cheese!


Half time was birthday cake time!


Birthday Boy Todd blowing out his candles. We went easy on him and didn't actually put 40 on there, ha ha!


"Super Todd" turned out to be a wonderful gathering of family and friends who mean the most to Todd. It was such a fantastic way to celebrate his 40th birthday! We appreciated each and every person who came to celebrate with us. Oh, and the Packers won, by the way. :)

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