Blue Skies

Days Go By

It's been a good month.

Since last I wrote, my mom returned from her trip (with bags and bags of delicious Taiwanese candy), Emilie visited for almost a week, and Regina came down for a weekend in celebration of her birthday. I've also updated my website and written some more Yelp reviews.

Other highlights include: Discovery Science Center, Thanh, Cha, bowling, Wednesday night dinners, Disneyland (including Fantastmic! and an early birthday lunch at the Blue Bayou :D), game night, riddles, bread baking, Balboa Island/Peninsula, Spaghetti Factory, Orange Sushi, soccer games/practices, coffee with Ryan, Albatros (and a DELICIOUS food coma/pain inducing burrito), Rutabegorz, downtown Fullerton/street fair, Phase 10, Thai Cafe, Mario Kart domination, TiMER (I keep re-watching this movie, haha), open mic at Paradise Perks, catching up with Jackie, running into a friend I haven't seen in a decade, Weinerschnitzel, Irvine Regional Park, bike riding, Zombie Fluxx, sunrises, karaoke, Del, Old Town Pasadena, 21 Choices, Nucleus Gallery, Sushi Momo, baking Lemon Cheese Squares, Easter Brunch, Scattegories/Catch Phrase, egg dying, a nostalgic tour of Irvine, Curry House, more Zombie Fluxx/etc, The Secret of Kells, another day at Balboa Island/Peninsula, grapefruit gummies, Ruby's, Laguna Beach, Gelato Paradiso, the Koffee Klatch, Desperate Housewives, good conversation, memorable moments, and happy days.

These past few weeks I kept making mental notes to update this blog, but I really haven't had the time to until now. Which is awesome. I love when friends come to stay with me, it's always so much fun. I'm excited to set up the media room so my guests will have a more comfortable living space. They'll basically have their own room/bathroom when they stay. In fact, the small bathroom that will essentially be theirs is nearly done. The shower and toilet are in working condition already. It looks SO nice. :)

Anyway, I'm going to try and do more specific/detailed posts in the future (versus these blanket recaps). I might put up a few picture posts later.

Sunny Days

This past week featured warm weather. Finally. Every free moment I had I tried to spend outside in the sun. It was nice. :) The following pictures were taken in Laguna, Balboa, and at the Great Park in Irvine.

Winning is Fun

Today was the second game of our Spring season and... we won! Again! We were playing one down the second half (not for lack of people showing up but because one of my girls had a really bad allergic reaction to something (?) at half time and had to go home :/) and while it was more of a challenge (our opponents weren't a bad team and they had some pretty ogre-ly tall guys playing as forwards) we were still able to keep the score 3-1. Woo!

Since it was an afternoon game and I had no plans afterwards, I also brought Fred along. Eeee I love bringing Fred to my soccer games. At any lull during the game I can glance over to Fred (and my Dad who graciously watches Fred while I play) and be delighted to see him staring at - not the movement of the ball or the people surrounding the ball, but - ME! :D He just kind of watches me with a super cute/happy expression hahahah. Except today he did more than just watch me; he somehow got unclipped from his leash and ran onto the field. Luckily his goal was to run straight TO me and not AWAY from me (as he sometimes does in an attempt to start a riveting game of chase...) so I was able to scoop him up really easily. And then I got reprimanded for holding the other team on side as I returned Fred to my Dad/tried to figure out how he got loose in the first place hahaha. Good times.

In other news, I'm accumulating too many "To Review" places on Yelp so I've been trying to set aside a little time to write. Here are some of my most recent reviews: Orange Sushi, Roman Cucina, and Max Blooms Cafe Noir. More to come soon, hopefully!

Finally, highlights include: Joe visiting, Roman Cucina, the dollar theatre, brunch at IHOP, Peet's, shopping at the Spectrum, Kim's birthday, catching up with old friends, Orange Sushi (chef Neo sent over a free dish [baked snapper of deliciousness] because he appreciated my Yelp review so much!), Postcrossing, Wordfeud, home-cooked meals, It's a Grind, and Jamba Juice. Pretty standard stuff. Oh also they started the bathroom remodel project and I finally wrapped up the last bits of a property deal! So it's been a nice mix of productiveness, fun, and relaxation. :) Still haven't had time to really work on my own life goals list, but I'll get there...

Busy Life

In general, Wednesdays are my busiest days. This past Wednesday was particularly stressful, in part because I had the sudden realization that I, without realizing it, managed to accumulate a LOT on my plate.

The big things are: handling my mom's real estate properties and transactions (showings, middle man-ings, move in prepartion-ings, etc), overseeing the remodel of our two bathrooms, trying to prep our soccer team for our third back to back season (aka trying to finalize our roster and our new jersey prior to our first game this Sunday), and dealing with Fred's ear infections (both the cost of repeated check ups/treatments and the actual administering of the medication - it's hard to do! He's wiggly!!). I'm also a little stressed about my own potential hairline fracture on my right leg, a battle scar from our last game. I'm hoping it's just a really bad (really swollen) bruise. In fact, I'm going to assume it's a really bad bruise because a) I don't want to stress about it and b) with car insurance due in a few weeks, I don't want to pay doctor's bills and what not if I don't have to. Because the big things are all in addition to the usual things (teaching, errands, etc), these past few weeks I was pretty much left with no time to check off all the things/goals that directly benefit/further my own life. Next week, I suppose.

Miraculously, I've still managed to squeeze in a bit of fun/productive fun. For example...

Last Monday I headed up to Hollywood to take some head shots before spending a lovely afternoon/evening/night in LA at Bricks and Scones and (later) Versailles.

I'm still doing Wednesday night dinners with my Dad, which is fun/relaxing. This past Wednesday featured WAFFLES!

On Saturday morning I had an audition before overseeing a supplies delivery for the bathroom remodel.

Tuesday was a delicious lunch with Kim at Bamboo Bistro in CDM before heading down to Gelato Paradiso in Laguna for some delicious gelato (Sweet Cream and Cherry) and sorbet (Mango). Afterwards we walked over to LF where I somehow left with a whole new outfit. :X After getting a bit of work done, I had a yummy dinner at Orange Sushi. Good conversation and a bit of Smash filled up the rest of the night.

And yesterday (after a wax appointment, a day at Balboa, and soccer practice), I ended up at the Dubliner for St. Patty's Day where I managed to get quite tipsy, quite fast. I blame the early/small dinner hahah. Good times.

Needless to say, I'm pretty tired. Today was another long day to cap off a long few weeks and I think I'm going to skip the festivities and stay in, snuggle with Fred, and watch Bones. See below for a few pictures from my most recent LA excursion. I might post other March pictures later. We shall see!