Seyla Moments

Seyla has this makeup case with lipstick and eyeshadow. She asks if she can put lipstick on me and of course I agree. She then puts lipstick on herself and smacks her lips together. She then says to me: "We're so stylish, right?" Oh boy. I did not know that this stage came so soon. She's only 3!!!

The other night she had her hair in a ponytail. She pulls the rubberband out of her hair, shakes her hair out and puts her bangs so that it forms a side sweep and says, "See, I'm like you!" ...and then again the "We're so stylish".

And then starts chanting: "Girls are smart, girls are fun, hit them hit them, Number one!"

I don't know where she got that chant but I assume it's daycare.

Again, she's only 3...but in January she's turning 16. =)

Silly Seyla.

Engagement Announcement

My cousin April from Houston, Texas got engaged and is planning a wedding on May 19, 2007. We're all so happy and excited for her. Looks like the plans are under way. Her rehearsal dinner will have a Houston flare: jeans mandatory, cowboy hat and cowboy boots optional. yeee-haaa! I can't wait. Houston, here we come!

Congratulations April and Brotha John!

October Birthdays

We had our usual potluck get together to celebrate the October Birthdays: Christine, Michelle, Elaine and me.
This time we had it at Elaine's place to give Jo a feeling of "going out". These mothers don't get out much but that's because they're so amazing at being mothers that they forget about themselves. This time the boys were allowed to join us so I had a chance to meet Mark - Christine's boyfriend and soon to be father of her child. As usual, it's always nice when we come together. Tonight we were in stitches talking about the colours of lipstick we all used to wear. Toast of New York was a popular one. We all shared lipsticks back then. Even coloured contacts. We had no clue how bad it was to share those type of things. How fun would be it to be young again!

Go Fish

Gerwyn's turn to cook dinner last night. He decided on Di's favourite things: fish, mushrooms, and mango tasting ice cream. We all enjoyed it - the fish was perfectly cooked with a touch of the Begonia spice. The fish was paired with basmati rice and grilled veggies. The appetizer was a croissant with prosuitto, lettuce and olives. Delicious but way too big for me to eat as an appetizer. The grand finale was a bowl of mango indian ice cream. That was fitting because I know how much Gerwyn loves mangos. Di only likes the "real" mango, not mango tasting stuff. Don't worry Ger, I loved your dinner.

I await the cheque you put in the mail.

Weekend Review

Since last week was so hectic, we decided to bring it down a notch. This weekend Norm's cousins took me out for my birthday. This birthday thing has turned into birthday month it seems. But I'm not complaining. We were supposed to head down to Grove City but after I spent $200 on getting my hair straightened, I just couldn't bring myself to spend more. Besides, I was looking online and saw that they are going to have a huge Thanksgiving sale in the outlet malls in the US. So Han, Can we PLEASE hit the outlets on Friday? Puleeze!

Oh yeah, back to my weekend review. We also met up with Cindy, Marcus and Jarez at Fredericks (again for my birthday). Fredericks is a hole in the wall restaurant but their food is so amazing. Luckily Cindy is Hakka so she did all the ordering. Did you know that when you order "Hakka noodles" you won't get the same thing as when you order the same thing but in Hakka (Pho Me Mein). Weird, I know. But the noodles are totally different. It's sweeter and a little spicy. For my birthday Cindy gave me a small Coach purse....I know!

On Sunday Has and his family came for a visit. Ev also came to drop off Kaluha while she entertained clients at the game. As you can imagine, the kids loved Kaluha! I didn't want Ev to take her home. She's so precious!

I forgot to mention, I bought myself a pair of shoes with the gift certificate I got for my birthday. At first I was looking for a pair of boots but I couldn't find one I liked. I then ran into these cute patent leather ballet slippers at Nine West and immediately bought them. With the remaining balance I bought a leather pouch at Roots. Thanks guys!

Good Ol' Roast Beef

It seems like I'm always blogging about food...but I guess that's one of my favourite past times: cooking and eating! Anyway, last night was my turn to cook dinner and I made Mom's good old roast beef and paired it with asparagus and a rustic mashed potato. The rustic mashed was basically small red and white potatoes that were roughly mashed so it has texture and we left the skins on for colour. It's something the Barefoot Contessa does but I think she's just lazy. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Diana was still recovering from her gastroenteritis so she said she did not want to eat much. Yeah right...once dessert came she had 2 servings, but who can resist a chocolate skor trifle? Layers of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, whipped cream and skor bits. Norm also stopped by the chinese bakery and picked up some Boji balls (?) and I packed those up for Ev to take home and gave the chocolate loving couple the rest of the chocolate skor trifle. Who knows what they did with that last night?! Crazy kids.

Vancouver, here we come!

We bought our plane tickets to Vancouver and now I'm getting excited. There's so much to get excited about: first off there's the actual wedding. Allan will officially be our brother in law. Who could ask for anything more? This trip is also a family reunion since we'll be able to see our South Carolina family again as well as the Sumalings who I have not seen since leaving BC. In saying that, this will also be a chance for Norm and I to revisit the island...or as Norm puts it, our island. We've been wanting to go back to visit but our busy work schedules did not allow us to. This is our chance so we're spending a total of 11 days in BC and we're going to enjoy every minute of it. It's just too bad that Junior couldn't be with us.

Hannah's Weekend

As you all know, my sister was in town so this weekend was dedicated to her. It was funny because just as Hannah stepped off the airplane, Buffalo was blowing some weird weather our way. I'm convinced Mother Nature was just trying to give Han some early snow since they lack the white stuff over on the West Coast. On Saturday we were supposed to get an early start but Han was out the night before and did not come home until 6am that morning. We picked up Ashley and Allyssa but not before going into their new house and catching up with Em, Alexis and Lyn. How fast time flies. After searching for Jr. Bridesmaid dresses, we took the girls out to lunch and hurrried back home to get ready for an early dinner with Han's friends. But somehow I managed to find time to run (literally) to Eaton Centre to buy Godiva give aways (couldn't resist...the boxes came in her colours. It was too perfect) and to buy some prizes for some games we played at her bridal shower. The dinner party was held at Autogrill and we were all to meet up later that night at Tangerine. WELL...both my siblings showed their true age and were both too tired to go out. Understandable. But that didn't stop us from partying without her. It was a lot of fun but it would have been fitting if Han was there since she was the one who introduced me to House Music when I was in grade 8 and just came from South Carolina where house music was obsolete. Anyway, we made our way home and I prepared for the following day events. At 10AM on Sunday we had a Bridal Shower brunch at Richtree. Sorry Has, girls only. It was non stop eating, games and more eating! After the shower Hannah headed straight to the airport and made her way back "home". I myself went home and took a quick nap before going to Big Daddy's for a birthday dinner with the gang. The following evening on my actual birthday, Norm took me shopping and then dinner for two at the Keg. Sweet. Tonight as I type this blog my eyelids feel like they weigh 20 lbs. I worked until 8pm tonight since tomorrow we have Salsa, Thursday we have Wednesday night dinner, and Friday to Sunday hope to get away for a few days. Gosh, I feel like the energy bunny that keeps going and going and going....

Thanksgiving at Ev's

Last night we had Thanksgiving dinner at Ev's place. She was so nervous and stressed about the whole thing but in the end everything was perfect. She had a 10 lb bird, sweet potato mash, peas, potatos, stuffing and biscuits. Her dessert was her very own home made apple crumble pie. Everything was delicious! I think we were all affected by the trytophan because we were all sleepy and did not have the energy to move.

Kahlua on the other hand was trying to get our attention by going poopy on her poopy pad but then eating her very own poops. How gross is that? I guess little Kahlua has still lots to learn. She's only a baby. A very cute baby.

I think my sister is in town...has anyone seen her?

Wings and Kahlua

The long awaited St Louis Wings opened up near Ev's condo so we made plans to meet last night not only to eat wings but to also meet Kahlua. Let me just say I've never seen a cuter puppy than Kahlua. She's half shih tzu and maltese and she really is the cutest thing. She's only 3 lbs and will grow to maybe 5 but that's about how big she'll be. Mommy Ev is doing well. She's a bit tired from the early morning crying but she's doing well and looks like Kahlua has changed her life already. I called her at 5:30 and she was actually home...not at work, not at the mall, not at Costco's...she was actually at home. I think Kahlua is going to change Di's life as well. She has always wanted a dog and now she can share Kahlua and maybe even steal her on the weekends. Afterall, Gerwyn has a pet lizard to play with Kahlua. The lizard is probably bigger though.

Welcome home Kahlua...and cheers to St Louis Wings! Half price Tuesdays...yipee!

Thanksgiving weekend

On Saturday we went to the Cruzada housewarming/retirement party for Uncle Ray. There were tonnes of Karoke freaks singing until the wee hours of the morning. Both Tim and Paul made an appearance. What are the chances? Finally saw Marie - she just came home from Cali that morning. The gang decided to choose a wedding date for her. We decided on October 6, 2007. Cali...here we come!

Sunday was Mom and Mike's birthday. Went to the Santos' household for Mikey's birthday / Thanksgiving. I think there were too many of us in the house but it kept us all in the same room and we were forced to play together. Yes, we like to play games (don't tell Di)....so out came the Jenga! How nerve-wracking. Soon after Francis brought out the colouring books and it was time for a colouring contest! This is how the parents kept them busy and quiet when they were younger. Ate Queenie always won the contest so Francis wanted a rematch. I coloured with Grandma and we won 2nd prize! Yay! (Ours is the one of Ernie walking behind the tree) The prize was a bowl of belou-belou. ha ha!

Today is Monday and we are off to brunch at the Barrientos' and later dinner at Has and Flo's. Thank goodness we're not in charge of the turkey but I still woke up early to cook the roasted pepper and potato soup and a vegetable casserole.

Am I exhausted? Absolutely. But is it worth it? Absolutely.

Early morning trip to the market...

This morning we woke up early and headed to the market. At 8:00 am it was already busy, bustling with families shopping for all sorts of stuff to put on the table for Thanksgiving dinner. The vegetables were so beautiful, so many colours! I was tempted to buy one of each. I have a little red buggy that I find so useful but once that's full, it's time to go home. I bought leeks, carrots, cauliflower, red and yellow peppers and zucchini. We also bought roast beef and fresh bread...who can resist fresh bread? I was tempted to buy butter tarts and fresh croissants but I'm trying to lose weight for my sister's wedding - or should I say, I'm trying not to gain more weight. It's going to be hard this weekend, that's for sure.

Deeleecious Dinner

Last night it was Di's turn for Wednesday Night Dinner and as expected she turned it into a game. Guess the theme was the game. Well, to start she had stuffed mushrooms. They were enhaled in 2 seconds. Her main dish included stuffed chicken and a stuffed tomato with rice paired with a simple salad with asparagus (not stuffed). For dessert she blew us all away with profiteroles stuffed with ice cream with chocolate sauce, strawberries and hand whiped, whipped cream. Di decided to combine the left over whipped cream and chocolate sauce together and eat it right from the bowl. Who does that? Well, Gerwyn joined in...but other than these two weirdos, who does that?! Like that wasn't enough, Di put down her spoon and started using her fingers to lick the bowl clean.
Oh yeah, back to the theme...can you guess it? That's right: stuffed everything.

It would have been a perfect night if Diana had decent cable TV. Can you believe we missed the first Leafs game? We tried to watch it from afar - someone across her building had it on a massive TV. It didn't matter because we lost anyway...but I'm convinced it was because we were not supporting our team. I'm watching tonight and so far we're winning 4-0...that's right....ZERO. Sorry Di, your team is choking once again.

Go Leafs Go

Vancouver Island, here we come!

We're starting to plan our trip out west for my sister's wedding and we were thinking of tagging some days in the end for a mini vacation. We had thought about Vegas as well as San Francisco but last night during dinner Norm mentioned our island. Vancouver Island that is. We both had such busy summers and really did not have a real vacation since last December when we went to Disney World. Sure, we went to South Carolina for my cousins wedding but that was more a weekend thing and everything felt rushed. When Norm suggested hanging out on the island I was so happy. It's a perfect idea. We started looking into accomodations and Norm got a little excited in the planning because his itinerary included Victoria, Nanaimo, Tofino and then off to Whistler for some skiing. I don't mind where we go but I'd like to spend at least 3 days on the island. How relaxing does that sound?