Friday, October 29, 2004
12:35pm Trick or Treat!
Thanks to a certain very hip aunt and uncle, Jessica was looking quite glam dressed as Sleeping Beauty in the Halloween Parade at school today. All the kids had on incredible costumes, very much unlike the ghetto plastic ones I remember growing up with. Unfortunately because of the privacy policy the school has in place, I wasn't allowed to take pictures.
Jessica enjoyed the parade, treats and the witches brew. The kids all got to take home a little bag of loot. She's looking forward to wearing her costume again on Sunday for a little trick-or-treat action in the neighborhood.
To all the pretty Cinderella's and cool Harry Potter's out there, have a fun and safe Halloween! Hoping that the weather is warm in your corner of the world, so that your parents don't freeze while standing around waiting for you munchkins as you run from door to door. I should be so lucky! Oh and don't forget to save me the Skittles, Twizzlers and gummy bears - I like those. *wink*
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
9:48pm Ouch!
The price of gas this morning was $0.86 / liter. The price dropped to $0.75 / liter this evening. That's been the case for the past few days. What gives! A full tank of premium gas set me back by $53.00. That sucks! Apparently Toronto is so not the city to be driving an SUV in.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
5:30pm The $20 Conversation
The new $20 bill recently issued by the Bank of Canada found its way into my hands today. In efforts to educate my daughter on all things Canadian, I showed her the crisp new bill. Jessica was born in Canada but has lived the majority of her young life south of the border. She was 15 months old when we moved so many things about this country are foreign to her.
Me: Look sweetie, have you seen the new $20 bill?
Jessica: It looks different from the $20 bill I have at home in my wallet and I can't use it here. (in reference to the US $20 bill Uncle Adolfo gave her at lunch last week).
Me: Well yes honey, that's American money and you can use it here, but we'll save it until our next visit to Auntie Cindy and Uncle Norman or when we go visit Brianna in New Jersey.
Jessica: But don't you think it'll expire?
*smile* Its a good thing money doesn't expire. And even if it did, its not like money would stay in my wallet long enough to ever exceed its prime.
Jessica got to wear her new Sleeping Beauty costume to drama class today. Thanks to a Disney Store splurge with her Auntie Cindy, she was the fanciest Sleeping Beauty in the house. She loves it so much that she still has the royal jeweled tiara on.
9:26am Toe, Toe, Heel
Jay and I caught a late show of Shall We Dance? over the weekend. Well truth be told, I had to beg, plead and (drag) Jay to go see it with me. My valiant efforts paid off in the end and he finally agreed.
I've been trying to get Jay to take dance lessons with me for a long time now. Of course, he balks at the thought. As all luck would have it, Arthur Murray Dance Studio is running a promotion in conjunction with the film and we were given vouchers to attend a free dance class. Of course I have every intention of using them. But let's not tell him just yet or he might try to find some excuse to stay in Atlanta longer than he needs to. Cha cha cha!
Caught up with Jay's old high school gang on Sunday afternoon at the christening of Nathaniel and Angie's daughter, Kennedy. We haven't really gotten around to contacting all our friends to let them know that we're in the process of transitioning back to Toronto, so it was nice to catch up with everyone. We've moved around so much that some people have had a difficult time keeping up with our whereabouts. Phone calls to friends often begin with "oh hey, where are you calling from?" Now its general knowledge that we're back, for the most part, in the Toronto area.
On the currency front, the CAD is still hanging on strong. Jay and I are waiting with bated breath to see what will happen to the USD after the elections next week. And speaking of US politics, I finally got around to renting Fahrenheit 9/11 and now I just need a spare moment or two to actually watch it.
Friday, October 22, 2004
5:25pm Terminally Sick
In other news, *gasp* (you're thinking how could there be possibly any more news after her long-ass post last night) this must be the week for terminal illness because Jay has certainly clocked as many hours in airport terminals this week as he has at the office this week it seems. In addition to his west coast flight drama, Jay's return flight to Toronto last night was delayed for a few hours due to one of the flight crew members getting sick.
If my best friend thinks she IS the drama, then my life must be the drama on speed. *wink* But on a brighter note, I got to pick our brick and exterior package for our new home this past week. I'm playing telephone tag with the Design Studio to nail down a date in December or early January for an interior color and fixture consultation. Nice!
When was the last time you received a handwritten letter? You know, the kind of correspondence that does not involve turning on your computer and clicking on the send button. It's certainly a rare treat these days and even more special when its on Hello Kitty stationary from Japan. I was so inspired that I actually took the time to write four handwritten notes today. There are four lucky souls out there who should keep post at their mailboxes. Enjoy - that short burst of motivation doesn't happen very often these days. Hee!
Thursday, October 21, 2004
11:41pm California Dreamin'
Disclaimer: This blogger is not responsible for any super-long blog entry induced fatigue, nausea, or blindness that may occur. Please read at your own risk.
Bienvenue à Toronto - as in welcome back to the chilly temps and a rather ho-hum kind of ending to a wonderful 10-day California and Vegas vacation. The weather was perfect last week with temps hovering between the 80s and 90s marks. We certainly lucked out because its been raining cats and dogs since we left.
Jay's flight from Atlanta arrived an hour-and-a-half before ours so he nestled down in a cozy little Hotspot with his laptop and caught up on a few emails while waiting. Our vacation began with my brother-in-law meeting us at the airport in their sweet new ride. Cindy greeted us at the house with a freshly prepared dinner.
First, I really have to say that their house is absolutely unbelievable. They've certainly turned it into a beautiful home since we last saw it in its pre-occupied stages during the final walk-through with the builder a little more than year ago. I love the colors, the crown molding, the personal touches and the professionally done patio and landscaping. The guest suite was certainly a treat with an incredibly comfortable bed with high thread count sheets, its own sitting room complete with flat screen TV and ensuite bathroom. My sister has impeccable taste and I definitely think she has a future in interior design if she ever tires of her current profession. Ahem - there is an available project manager right here sis!
Cindy and Norman had to work the following day and Jay had to work from home which gave Jessica and I time to relax and enjoy the house and patio, lay out in the sun and make use of the community pool and hot tub. After Norm and Cin got home from work, we had dinner at the new Macaroni Grill and spent the evening talking and laughing.
On Saturday, after a late morning start, we caught the tail end of the church service at the Loma Linda Filipino Church. We met the Cardona clan for a potluck lunch at Auntie Joven's home before the cousins cut out for some boba at Lollicup. I'm officially addicted to Green Apple Slush and Strawberry Snow with bubbles. Yum!
We hightailed it back home to change before heading out to Joyce and Eric's baby shower at their estate-esque home in the hills with views of San Bernardino. Coincidently I received a call from Margie in New Jersey who found out we were in California and wanted us to say hello to her cousin Joyce if we ran into her. Oddly enough we were just a few hours away from heading to Joyce's home. Congratulations to Joyce and Eric upon the birth of their new little boy. Their baby was born premature at 32 weeks and had to remain in the hospital for a few weeks after his birth. He was able to go home with his parents a day before their baby shower. It was a little early for the bundle of cuteness to take visitors, but we all got to meet him through the master bedroom windows. We enjoyed the awesome buffet prepared by Joyce's chef brother and catching up with the proud new parents in their sleep deprived state.
We woke up Sunday to more hot sunshine and took a drive to Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, a picturesque spot along the Pacific coastline. Now I remember why I loved living in Northern California - nothing beats warm sunshine, balmy winds, the ocean air and gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. Definitely an idyllic way to spend any given Sunday. Norm pointed out a coastal scene which rolls in the opening credits of the television series, The OC.
We drove through the chi-chi neighborhood of Newport Coast where Kobe Bryant lives. Go Lakers! Jay had to catch his flight back to Atlanta so we popped into In-N-Out at UC Irvine for a quick bite before dropping him off at the airport. We spent the afternoon running errands for Norm's parents wedding anniversary and then had a quiet movie night at the house.
It was another day in the OC with shopping at the upscale outdoor shopping destination with a view of the Pacific Ocean, Fashion Island and then South Coast Plaza. Jessica got an ultra-cool red Newport Beach Lifeguard hoodie from her Uncle Norman as a souvenir of a day getting dragged around the malls by her Mom and Auntie Cindy.
We had the opportunity to watch my cousin, Roxanne, perform with the Chamber Choir of her college, at the Tuesday night Fall Choir Concert. Then we made a boba run before heading home.
We had made plans to visit The Getty Museum but decided it was too beautiful a day to waste inside and spent an afternoon at Huntington Beach making sand volcanoes, wading in the water, and shell-hunting instead. We had a fabulous Mediterranean dinner at Open Sesame which served up great hummus and lentil soup. Jessica isn't quite into that kind of exotic faire just yet and was happy with her Jamba Juice and apple-cinnamon pretzel.
Burned some midnight oil designing the programs and hot gluing silk orchids to place cards for Auntie Susan and Uncle Adolfo's anniversary celebration. Seems like everything we did had a good dose of jokes and lots of laughs to go along with them.
Thursday was girly-girl prep day with hair and nail appointments to keep, last minute program edits and seating rearrangements, and then late dinner with Hazel, Trey, Al and Paul at Maggiano's in Costa Mesa. Great times, great company, great food! Oh and hey when are you guys leaving for Vegas? *inside joke, wink* After dinner, we scored an impromptu (with a hint of let's-invite-ourselves-over flavor) invite to Al and Sherry's new home. They gave us the grand tour - we shared a few more laughs standing around their corduroy pieces and the computer armoire. Awesome home in a beautiful neighborhood!
We drove to Vegas for the weekend last Friday afternoon. My cousin Ed came along for the ride so you can be sure we had jokes the entire time. Cindy threw Rex Navarette's Husky Boy into the CD changer for some extra added laughs. We checked into our hotel and hung out until Jay's flight got in. Vegas is Sin City and gluttony was our vice all weekend starting at the Carnival World Buffet in the Rio Hotel & Casino. Yummy fruit tarts and chocolate éclairs. Our busboy was friendly and gave us the lowdown on The VooDoo Lounge. Hee!
The next morning we met Auntie Susan, Uncle Adolfo and their friends for lunch at Salo Salo, for good ol' authentic Filipino food. The cantaloupe juice and the barbequed chicken skewers were masarap! And apparently some of us need that Intro to Tagalog class, plis and thank you very much. *wink*
We rushed to The Bellagio so that Hazel could meet with the catering sales manager and do some last minute detail checks prior to party start. We chilled upstairs in Auntie Susan and Uncle Adolfo's gorgeous suite before rushing back to our hotel to get fancied up and then rushing back (as quickly as you can possibly rush in traffic along The Strip on a Saturday evening) to an elegantly transformed ballroom in hues of gold and burgundy. The venue was certainly befitting of the event. Cindy and I couldn't stop admiring the beautiful kaleidoscope effect of Murano glass flowers set in the ceiling of the main lobby.
The Bunoan 35th Wedding Anniversary Event was certainly a memorable evening that celebrated a love relationship and marriage that has lasted much longer than the total years of all Hollywood weddings put together. No seriously! Friends and family paid tribute to a couple whom they admire and love which definitely brought tears to many an eye in the room. Apparently, even as a child Norm had a close affinity with Bank of America (our banking institution of choice), dressing up as a little cowboy and going into the branch and pretending to shoot at all the tellers. Yippity yackity dude! Ha!
My sister, the beloved daughter-in-law, featured a presentation of excerpts from love letters they had written. Uncle Adolfo was the mac daddy back in his day. Some of those quotes were so slick that my cousin Ed is going to borrow some for his next date! Hee!
The flamenco dance presentation and the flamenco guitarist were awesome. Guess who got dragged up on that dance floor to learn some flamenco steps? Yup!
Leo, our favorite DJ (and Jessica's too) who keeps it real by refusing to spin anything but vinyl, kept the party hoppin'. Always in the it-scene, he's been cast as an extra in The OC and a few other popular TV shows so keep your eyes peeled.
After the party, as tired as everyone was, they indulged my whims to walk the Vegas Strip to take shots of Sin City by night. The whim didn't last long and the cool desert winds had us back at the hotel after an hour.
The next morning we got up early to pack and check out of the hotel before noon. We stumbled on a Todai Japanese Buffet and decided to eat there instead of fighting the crowds at the hotel buffets.
We had some time to kill before the matinee showing of Mystere by Cirque du Soleil so we left the car with the valet at Treasure Island. Cindy and I picked up a few best sellers at Sephora in The Venetian while Ed took a seat by the entrance with Jessica to catch better views of the eye candy. Jay and Norm wandered off to try their luck at becoming instant millionaires.
Mystere was a fantastic show filled with humor, displays of mind-boggling total body strength (just think about how many pull-ups you can do!), exotic costumes (or the lack thereof), and beautiful sets. Now I'm on a mission to watch other Cirque performances.
Jay had some major drama with his flight back to Atlanta and missed a few because of a freeway shutdown due to police activity, then because of traffic backup as a result of that shutdown, then because of inclement weather (translation: rainfall). Only in Southern California!
Had one more lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant with the Bunoan family and talked and laughed about the anniversary party. Apparently, the guests are all still buzzing about the event. Our final Cardona family dinner out west was at my cousin's new home. I loved the courtyard and separate maid's quarters. It used to be easy to get-together with everyone because we'd all meet at one house. Now there are several houses we need to visit because everyone has purchased a new home since our last trip.
We left last minute "we're on our way to the airport" voicemails, said our goodbyes and gave out hugs and kisses as Cindy and Norman dropped us off at the airport. Things were going smoothly until the ticket agent ripped our I-94 cards out of our passports as I stood there thinking "Oh hell no she didn't just do that!" Needless to say, I didn't leave that counter until I got them back. I still have to figure out how airline ticket agents feel like they have the right to do that. Is that not an INS issue to deal with? That's a discussion for another day.
Jessica waved goodbye to her favorite aunt and uncle in the world until she could no longer see them. On the plane, she asked me why we couldn't just make California our home and live all together with Auntie Cindy and Uncle Norman. My thoughts exactly! And until then, I've got all the pics in the Family Gallery to reminisce upon.
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
11:23pm We're Goin' to Cali
I think most native Californian's hate it when anyone refers to their state as CALI, probably just as much as San Franciscan's hate it when you say FRISCO. It sounds so ghetto rap star. I think you're safer to refer to it simply as CA...or better yet speak in airport code, like ONT, LAX, SFO, or OAK. But whatever you decide to call it, that's where I'm going tomorrow evening.
I'm giddy with excitement because I'm less than 24 hours away from a much needed vacation. I think Cindy is just as excited because she's called me twice within the last half hour to tell me to bring my flip-flops and to remind Jessica to bring her UNO game so she can show Uncle Norman her extremely competitive side. Believe me, Jessica can certainly throw down when it comes to UNO.
We've been planning this trip for at least the past year. Auntie Susan and Uncle Adolfo gave us plenty of notice so that we wouldn't miss their 35th wedding anniversary celebration in Vegas. It's going to be one awesome party.
I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be doing out west since I decided that my laptop won't be joining me on this trip. But in true chic-wife-of-a-geek (but a very cool geek) fashion I'm toting my files on my USB flash drive and throwing it into my purse.
Oh and word has it that there'll be one fancy ride waiting curbside at ONT when we get there! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
Monday, October 4, 2004
10:26pm Crisp Autumn Days
The weather has taken quite the down turn and its been quite chilly since Saturday. Time to pull out the leather jacket and the warmer digs. Brrr!
I had to dig up Jessica's ski jacket last night to make sure she kept warm during her field trip to the Pine Farms Apple Orchards this morning. She enjoyed the trip and the free samples of apple cider and fresh apples. I was secretly hoping to be asked to chaperone this trip, so that I could pick up an apple pie at the orchard store.
Spent an hour at the local bookstore browsing through Better Homes & Gardens and Style at Home for some design ideas for our new home. I'm very much ahead of the game here. I dragged Jay to the builders design studio a few weekends ago, long before the conditional was even lifted on our offer. The selection was overwhelming and his head was spinning at the thought of having to pick out fixtures, tiles, cabinetry, hardwood flooring stains, broadloom. He says he will gladly turn that task over to me when the time comes.
Happy Birthday wishes and warm vibes to my dear cousin Ed and to my friend and Jersey blog-girl, Sharmaine. Hope you guys had a wonderful day!
I suppose I should get off my tush and start packing for our trip now. As much as I love going on vacation, I hate the packing big time.
Update: My sister just scored some last minute tickets to Mystere by Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island in Vegas for the Sunday, October 17 matinee. Very cool!
Sunday, October 3, 2004
10:12pm The Cuteness Factor
Jay and I got to spend a few extra hours together this weekend due to his afternoon arrival last Thursday. It was nice to have the luxury of taking Jessica to her first AquaQuest Level 3 lesson together for a change. Usually I take Jessica to lessons solo. With Jay being out of town most of the week, we've come to appreciate our time together much more. Although on most weekends it doesn't seem like we have much time at all having to rush from one obligation to another. I try to keep our weekends open so we can enjoy family time without having to glance down at our watches constantly. We didn't make any commitments for Friday night and it was nice to just stay home and not have to feel like we were expected somewhere.
After an exchange of a dozen or so emails to figure out a date that was good for us to visit, we were really happy to have the opportunity to visit with Leo, Deb and Arielle in their new home in Burlington on Saturday night. Derek tagged along with us so it was a nice little reunion of old friends from the old Brampton neighborhood. Arielle is quite the conversationalist for a 3-year old. We're still astounded that she knows the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque. I think its safe to say that they have genius material on their hands there.
Leo and Deb are quite the inspiration to Jay and I. Time with them is always time well spent because we receive such a blessing each and every time. Now that the nights are getting quite nippy, we've made a date to spend another evening with them in front of their wood burning fireplace in the not-so-distant future.
Sunday's in the Gamez scheme-of-things are always a mad blur. Today was definitely no different as Jay repacked his luggage to accommodate for the fact that we'll be away for the next two weeks and then rushing to the builder's office to sign off on paperwork for the house. Luckily, Jay's parents were able to come pick Jessica up on this end instead of us having to drive her there so they could spend some time with her today. That was a huge help and saved us at least two hours today.
Before Jay caught his flight this evening, we had to rush over to my aunt's home in Mississauga to attend the christening celebration of my cousin's brand new son. Congratulations to Chris and Patricia on the newest addition to the clan - deliciously chubby, AJ. Great to see Cliff and Aileen and their cute Alyssa too. But see, it's always at family parties where rumors have the dangerous potential of getting started. My cousin Cliff and I were chatting and my aunt came over to offer her congratulations. Cliff turned to me to ask if I was pregnant and gave me a look like "um hello - we've been sitting here for at least the last hour and you haven't told me the news yet!" I had to quickly diffuse that situation by telling him that this was about the new house...not a new baby. Holy dangerous family get-togethers!
So this was one cute-kid filled weekend! Now what was I saying about keeping our weekends open?
I know she doesn't read my blog, but I think my cousin Lizelle does once in awhile, so Happy Birthday Auntie Glo! We miss your home-cooked dinners (roast beef with fingerling potatoes) in Manhattan. Hope you had a terrific day!