Happy New Year

It has been a happy year for some, but a hard year for others. Personally, it has been a tough year for us but we are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year. And yes Bigdog, I made it to my 90th blog entry. Woo hoo!

New Year's Eve

Food, food, food

Food is a big thing for us and even more so when we're on vacay. There are a couple of stops we need to make when we are down south. Chick-fil-a is a fast food joint similar to McDonald's that serves chicken and waffle fries. We discovered that they opened a restaurant in Pennsylvania. Only 4 hours away from TO! Zaxby's is another fave. When we get home from the airport, we usually have Zaxby's Wings & Things waiting for us no matter how late we come in. Along side the chicken comes some texas toast all buttered up. Not sure why but without the toast, it is not complete. Yesterday morning we made our way to IHOP. A trip to the US of A is not complete without a visit to the IHOP. My little cousin Josh who lives here has never been and it's ironic because he is a pancake fanatic. Anyway, he ended up getting a meal that did not include pancakes! NOOB! In the end we managed to inherit the pancakes that came as a side with his Dad's meal. And then there's Okra Grill where they serve lowcountry, southern food. Think Paula Deen, ya'll. Then there's a new one we recently discovered called Fat Hen. I think the name says it all. Now that I am 10 lbs heavier, I think it's time to go home.

Island Hopping

Without Ann, we are all lost. We depend on her to plan out the activities for the day including where we're having breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ann left for Maui so we were on our own. What did we do? We made our way to Mount Pleasant for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Not sure if this restaurant orginated in Clemson but I remember cousin April introducing it to us a long time ago. After lunch we noticed that the sun was shining so we made our way to beach at Isle of Palms. We parked right in front of a few rental bikes and before you know it, we were riding along the beach and over the bridge to Sullivan's Island. Going there was a piece of cake but coming back was a bit hard. We were fighting the wind and an uphill incline. After a great workout, I decided I earned a shopping spree reward so off we went to the mall. So Ann, we did okay without you but I'm surrounded with boys and miss you dearly.

Myrtle Beach

It's been awhile since visiting what my Auntie Melba coined as "Beyond" (aka Myrtle Beach). It was a place she brought us to every time we came to visit. Usually we would stay at Shorecrest, a condo she co-owned with her best friend. Other times we would go just for the day to shop. I always enjoyed the outlets but what I loved most was the time spent during the 2 hour drive. It's hard to believe that Auntie Melba is no longer here but as I was standing on the balcony awaiting the sunrise, I felt her presence.

Modern Family

Chucktown

Every trip to South Carolina must include a trip to downtown Charleston to visit the holy grail: the pineapple fountain. We had lunch at a southern resto called Magnolia's where I had shellfish over grits. It was the best shrimp and grits I have ever tasted. After lunch we walked over to the park and strolled along the boardwalk before Zane and his parents went back to Greenville.

White Elephant

The only rule was to buy a $25 gift but not everyone stuck to that rule which is why there was a lot of stealing and fighting for the 'good' gifts. Luckily there were numerous gift cards to choose from but because a gift could be stolen three times, there was a good chance you might end up with one that you don't like. For example, a $7.00 redneck calendar or filipino kosher salt (Pangasinan salt). In the end, I was happy with my $25 gift certificate to an italian resto and Norm managed to steal a $25 Target gift card. We just have to find some time to use them before we leave SC.

Merry Christmas to All Ya'll

We made it to South Carolina despite the big storm that caught everyone by surprise. Pearson was packed with stranded passengers who patiently waited in line for an agent to re-route them to the next available flight. Luckily our connecting flight was in Atlanta so we were problem-free. We've been here for a week now and it feels awesome to be home. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! See you in the new year!

Zane

Meet Zane. He is my cousin's 5 month baby boy. Today we are spending time kicking around at home babysitting Zane while his dad is at work and his mom is running around in a bikini doing a photo shoot. He's a pretty chill little fella and has the most amazing smiling eyes. It's kinda surreal because I took care of my cousin Brian when he was a baby and now I'm taking care of his little boy. I bounced him around and sang the filipino song that my Grandpa sang when he put us to sleep...and it worked like a charm. Not too sure how much time I have before he wakes up so better go and take a little nap myself.

Ella Mae

As much as many people dislike Facebook, it has allowed me to connect with my old friends in South Carolina. I have not seen my friend Ella Mae in 22 years and yesterday she so kindly drove down from North Carolina to have lunch with us. She now goes by just "Ella" as she refers to it as her adult name but I still call her Ella Mae since that's how I've always known her. When we met, it was non stop talking, laughing and eating and no weird, quiet awkward moments as you might expect when you meet someone that you don't really know. Its funny how we can just pick up from where we left off 22 years ago...

(picture to come)

Santa's Helpers

Merry Christmas from Santa's little helpers

(Eric and Dylan)

Drink and Be Merry?

Last night I attended a work holiday party that included wine...lots of wine. The party was held at the hospital which has been a holiday tradition for over 20 years. We transformed the cafeteria to a semi-formal dining area, complete with DJ and a bar. After dinner we made our way upstairs to the auditorium to sing carols and to watch the holiday skits put on by a few brave souls. Having the party in-house works well because staff that are working can still join in or we have food delivered to the floors. Anyway, last night I was busy playing photographer and did not pay attention to how many drinks my colleague had. She had way too much wine which resulted in loose lips, almost falling down the stairs and our Chief Operating Officer ordering her a taxi to get home safely to Mississauga (using her personal credit account). I'm all for having fun but I guess the rule is: drink and be merry in moderaton at work functions.

Featuring Francis & Tracy (Part 2)

The dynamic trio visited us when we lived in Vancouver Island in 2003. This picture was taken at Cathedral Lake en route to Tofino. We did not actually make it to Tofino but we were happy to have shared a sneak peak of the island we fell in love with.

Photography 101

So you know how much I love my new Nikon D90 but I know I was only using 20% of what it can actually do. Yesterday I attended a photography class at Vistek that was specific to Nikon users. It was great! I've always hated using flash but as a result I would get blurry pictures. Here he taught me how to manipulate my ISO and exposure to eliminate the need for flash. The only time we should really use flash is when the sun is directly on top of the subject. Who would have thunk? The fill flash that you mount on top of your camera works better as it is not as close to the lens and you can turn the flash sideways for indirect lighting. I also learned about how to manipulate my metering mode depending on what shot I'm taking (matrix works best 90% of the time). We also touched on how to use our Focus settings: single area, dynamic and 3D tracking. Dynamic is his preference because you tell your camera what to focus on versus the single area which focuses on a spot/major subject in your viewfinder. Anyway, it was a very informative class and am looking forward to trying out my new skills. Is anyone willing to be my photoshoot models? Perhaps someone getting married next year that rhymes with Trancis and Fracy?

...Back to Frank & Trae

As stated in a previous blog, I was going to feature this Rock the Boat couple but was sidetracked with all the weddings and baptisms. This picture was taken in December 31, 2004 when we went for our traditional new year's eve steak dinner at Barberian's. One thing that we share with this couple is the love of dining out and trying different restaurants. And when it comes to steak, we will pay a pretty penny to try the best beef TO has to offer.

Brownie Tower

Its been awhile since I've posted a food blog so here's my brownie tower. It looks good but I'm not a big fan of brownie mixed with whipped cream and fruits. I like my brownie on its own - perhaps baked with nuts and a drizzle of caramel. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

High Tea at Windsor Arms

It was nice to get away from work a bit early and enjoy high tea with the girls at Windsor Arms hotel. So far I have tried high tea at Four Seasons and King Edward Hotel but Windsor Arms takes the top spot with bigger and better scones, great ambiance and the strawberries and cream ending. I just love a 'girls only' gathering and am wondering if that stems from my all-girl highschool upbringing. It was fun watching Joy in her high tea character: sitting up straight, eating with her hand over her mouth and sipping tea. I'm not sure what they put in that tea but it makes you full to the point where you cannot finish the little, tiny niblets they put on the tiers. As we discussed, we could inhale the food if we were at home sitting on our couch and watching TV but when we're at the hotel in our high tea mode, we always seem to go home with a doggie bag. Since Grandpa loves scones, I managed to bring him two along with the jam that Lou so nicely baoned for me (Go Lou!).

(This was the only picture I had taken on my iPhone. See my fellow bloggers for more pics)

Eric's Baptism

Happy Baptism to Baby Eric and proud parents Evelyn & Stuart.

House Music All Night Long...

There was standing room only at the D&G house party. This party was reminiscent of the house parties that Gerwyn had in highschool. It was great to see old friends - friends we have not seen in over 10 years. The union of D&G and the reunion of friends made for a very special night that ended in the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure there will be many more parties to come now that we know that the D&G mansion can hold 100+ people.

Congrats to our friends D&G who met at our wedding, reunited at our cottage and is now Mr & Mrs Begonia!

D&G Wedding

Although we missed the ceremony we were happy to have made it to the D&G reception held at the Archeo Trattoria at the Distillery District. We were just in time to see the beautiful bride in her hanbok, a traditional Korean dress but later changed back to her lovely wedding gown. It was easy to find our seats as we were sitting in the "apple" table. What a great and simple idea. Cupcakes were made by yours truly which was a pleasure to make for such a laid back bride. We barely discussed the details and in the end the bride and groom were happy with the outcome (whew). After the reception, we went home and took a nap before heading to the D&G house party...

(see next blog)

Taguibao Wedding & Baptism

I am happy to have witnessed a beautiful and intimate ceremony for Eva's baptism that was sealed with a kiss with the sacrament of marriage. As I watched from a far (as i played amateur photographer) I could not help but feel joy and happiness for the couple as they held hands with their daughter and son who were the maid of honour and best man. It was a picture perfect sight that even photographs cannot capture. Congrats to the Taguiboa's! I'm glad I didn't miss it...