Memorial Day Weekend BBQ & Pool Party

Our Memorial Day weekend was pretty low-key. We didn't do a lot of social activities other than having a few friends over for a mini pool party and BBQ. The usual gang showed up: Tom & Christine, Jon & Amy, and Jason & Jarrod.


Doin' what we love the most. (5/27/07)

We spent most of the day in the pool, eating all sorts of tasty snacks, including fresh-made guacamole, lobster dip and some homemade salsa. The real winner of the snacks was Jason, who made this roasted shallot dip that was mad good.


Doesn't Tim look good in a cowboy hat? (5/27/07)

We had dinner around 6:00, just as the warm sun started going away. We had grilled chicken breast sandwiches, corn-on-the-cob and various side dishes. My favorites were Christine's potato salad and Jason's couscous salad.


Christine's scrumdiddlyumptious cupcakes. (5/27/07)

Afterward we played games and enjoyed the phat cupcakes that Christine made from scratch. Dee-lish!

Disneyland with the Girlz

It wouldn't be a trip to Orange County without a stop at the Disneyland Resort. Tim went with them during the day. I met up with them after work. No need to cover a lot of detail here. I'll just post a few pictures below. You can also read Doris' blog entry about this day.


Tim and Doris at Disney's California Adventure. (5/11/07)


Tim outscored Jen on Buzz Lightyear Blasters. (5/11/07)


At least I scored better than Jen. :-) (5/11/07)

Doris' Birthday at the Angels Game

Our friend Jen from Santa Cruz was in Anaheim for some work-related training. Since we only live 10 minutes away, Doris decided to fly down to the O.C. so the two of them could spend a couple of days with us.


Three amigos at the Angels game. (5/9/07)

As it turned out, the visit coincided with Doris' 38th birthday, which we celebrated at an Angels game. A devoted S.F. Giants überfan, Doris doesn't particularly have a lot of affinity for the Angels (especially after Angels defeated the Giants in the 2002 World Series). However, as a huge baseball fan in general, it's one of Doris' goals to see a baseball game in every active baseball park in the country. So this was the perfect opportunity to finally cross Angel Stadium off her list.


Doris and her birthday goodies. (5/9/07)

For her birthday present, we gave her a goody bag filled with baseball/Angels paraphernalia, including peanuts, Cracker Jack, and an Angels rally monkey. We even managed to get a birthday greeting on the scoreboard (thanks to Photoshop, anyway). :)


Doris' "scoreboard greeting."

It was a fun night, and hopefully it made for a memorable birthday. Click here to read Doris' blog entry about this event.

Visiting the Cousins

I did stop and see my cousins Michele and Ralphie after Fiddler on the Roof. Ralphie seemed in pretty good shape for having just been hospitalized for a couple of weeks. He still has some health issues he's facing, but the improvement to date is incredible when you consider he came seriously close to dying.


Liele and Uncle Ralphie. (5/6/07)

I was also there to pick up Liele's crib that Michele kindly gave to my dad and Malena for the upcoming baby, now that Liele is getting bigger. Liele cracked me up. She didn't want me to take the crib. I kept trying to tell her that now that she's a big girl with a regular bed, it's time to give the crib to the babies. But she still wasn't happy about it. It was cute.

Anna's First Communion

I went up to the Bay Area the first weekend in May for my sister Anna's First Communion. Although Tim and I aren't exactly churchgoing types, we still support others who do make that choice. And since this was a special day for Anna, I didn't want to miss it.


Anna all decked out for her First Communion. (5/5/07)

I flew up Friday night. Saturday morning was the actual ceremony, which was fun to watch. I don't remember very much from my own First Communion other than kicking the priest afterward as we were taking pictures. I don't remember why I kicked the priest, but I do remember getting scolded for it.


John Paul and his McDonald's Happy Meal American Idol shades. (5/5/07)

To commemorate this event, we got her a stainless steel, heart-shaped jewelry box with rhinestones. We had her name, date and occasion inscribed on the top. We placed a small silver cross necklace inside. She liked it, but not as much as the Bratz dolls one of Malena's friends gave her. :)


Anna's new earrings. (5/5/07)

Afterward we had a nice lunch at Mudd's Restaurant, a five-star restaurant situated on a 10-acre garden where they grow many of the herbs and produce that they serve in the restaurant. It was a delightful way to cap the event.


Anna, family friend Luis and John Paul at Mudd's. (5/5/07)

The next day, I took Anna to her first musical: Fiddler on the Roof, which was performed by the church youth group. It wasn't bad for a school production.

Teddybears at the El Rey

Tim & I, as well as Jon & Amy, went to see the Teddybears at the El Rey Theatre in L.A. The concert was awesome!


Inside the El Rey. (05/02/07)

Teddybears, originally from Sweden, do an amazing job at blending rock and electronica. The opening band was Honeycut, who were pretty good too.


Teddybears at the El Rey, photo courtesy of Pingaling. (5/2/07)

Surprisingly, it was my first time inside the El Rey Theatre, despite having lived around the corner from it for about six years. In fact, it was my poll location whenever I voted (although the polling booths were only in the lobby).


Teddybears at the El Rey, photo courtesy of Brandon Shigeta. (5/2/07)

We had a celebrity sighting too. Well, not much of a celebrity unless you watched Top Design, the reality show on Bravo. We saw Andrea, the one with the bad hair that made it to the Final Four (she’s wearing the hat in the picture below). I kept trying to get Tim to tell her, "See you later, decorator!" the lame tagline they use when they sent a designer home, but he wouldn't do it. :)


This was our celebrity sighting of the night.

Even if you haven't heard of Teddybears, you may have heard their music, which is used in a lot of commercials. Intel Core 2 Duo, Cadillac and Heineken are some of the companies that use Teddybears music in their commercials. Double click on the images below to see some of the commercials (if you can't see the images, just click on the headers for a direct link).

Cadillac


Intel Core 2 Duo


Heineken

Flat Stanley's Tri-State Adventure

My little sister Anna's 2nd grade class recently read the book Flat Stanley. It's about a boy who was flattened by a bulletin board. As it turned out, Stanley was able to use his condition to his advantage when he realized he could be mailed to various locations across the country for adventures.


Anna wanted me to take Flat Stanley on an adventure. (04/07)

Anna's class made their own Flat Stanleys so they can mail them to friends or family members willing to take Stanley on another adventure. Afterward, we had to send him back, complete with pictures and souvenirs, so the kids can put together a presentation for the class.

And guess who the recipient of Anna’s Flat Stanley was? You guessed it.


Flat Stanley poses with the "Welcome to Orange" sign. (04/07)

We started out by taking Stanley around the city of Orange. He had fun here in Orange, but ever the adventurer, Stanley wanted to do more. So we took him to Disneyland. He enjoyed the happiest place on earth, however he still wanted to venture out on a road trip and color in a few more states on his "states I've visited map."


Flat Stanley went to Disneyland. (04/07)

To get multiple states into his visit, we took him to the tri-state area where California, Arizona and Nevada intersect. (The cities are: Needles CA, Bullhead City AZ, and Laughlin NV).


Flat Stanley in Bullhead City, Arizona. (04/07)

Stanley especially liked Laughlin, since there was an abundance of casinos for him to go to. Who knew Stanley was such a gambler? Believe me, he was throwing down Hamiltons like he was Aaron Burr! In the end, however, he was only $15 down by the time he quit for the night.


Flat Stanley with the statue that welcomes visitors to Laughlin, NV. (04/07)

Unfortunately, he lost more money in Needles, CA than he did at the casinos. The reason: Flat Stanley was driving too fast and got nabbed by the California Highway Patrol.


Flat Stanley got pulled over for speeding near Needles, CA. (04/07)

Despite the speeding ticket, Stanley had a great time. We even made a YouTube movie of his adventures where you can see lots more photos. Click the image below to watch it! (If you can't see the embedded image below, click here for a direct link).

Flat Stanley YouTube movie