Summer Deja Vus

Today, I did two things that I haven't done since nearly a decade ago.

1. Work on a jigsaw puzzle.
2. Pull weeds.

I had a blah day so the only thing I felt like doing was something mundane but calming...so I pulled out a 1,000 piece puzzle that I received many years ago but hadn't put together before.

When we were younger, we always spent summers at Gramma's. Summers meant watering the fruit trees and rose gardens, picking peaches and plums (and Asian pears for 2-3 summers), cutting roses to make fragrant arrangements for the kitchen and my bedroom, playing the piano, journaling, pulling 100s of weeds, and putting 1K or 5K jigsaw puzzles together.

During my H.S. years, I spent summers completing 1,000 and 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzles. I believe my interest in them stemmed from staying over at Mom's. She really enjoyed putting them together. Once, I helped her put together a 5K piece of a tiger (her favorite animal).
Much to my dismay, it was missing 3 pieces when we were done.

I ventured forth in my puzzle endeavors (pre-3D days). I marveled at how I could sit literally for hours and work on them. A friend once said, "Puzzles teach patience." To this day, I still believe that.

(Update: 7/15/07: I finished the 1,000 piece puzzle literally the minute before we left Rancho! It's missing one piece, though. Argh! Now, if only I could get paid to put puzzles together...)

The majority of my summer memories also consist of pulling weeds. Gramma's backyard was a jungle of weeds every summer, because she had no landscaping done. From 5th grade to maybe 11th grade, my bro and I pulled weeds every summer. Like multiple Hefty bags full in the Inland Empire heat. By about Junior year, Gramma gave up on the weeds. They had taken over and there was no fighting. I thought weed-pulling days were over.

Especially when Gramma finally landscaped her backyard a few months ago! The first time I saw her backyard was a few weeks ago. We had gotten home late the night before so when I woke up, I looked out of my window and gasped at how beautiful and serene the backyard looked. The fruit trees were bigger than ever, and there was now lush grass spanning from one end to the other and over 60 rose plants lining the rear wall.

Unfortunately, there was less admiration today when I got down to pull weeds from one end to the other. I thought my weed-pulling days were long over. Alas, I was mistaken. (I can't imagine how much more disappointed Gramma is at the fact!)

Some things truly don't change...

Movie Date

BF and I haven't gone to the movies together in at least two years. I think the last movie I saw in the theatre was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But for once, we planned a movie date, and boy are we glad we did! Today, we went to the Promenade and ate at Island's. My bro met up with us for about 10 minutes, before he headed back upstairs for work. Afterwards, BF and I went to the Rack to kill some time, before we watched ...[drum roll] Transformers! More than meets the eye! 0/~ (Yes, you bet I've been singing it all day.)

What an awesome movie! I laughed through a lot of it (I am a corny person who likes corny humor) and oohed and aahed like it was all real. I think a part of what made this movie so great was the nostalgic factor. It brought back some vague childhood memories for me and some great ones for BF. I was pretty little, but I remember playing with my bro's Transformers (I wonder if I broke any?) and watching the cartoons.

It's funny how some things can make us feel and act like kids again. Actually, it's wonderful.

The Small Things

This is life~

Waking up to a nice breeze to have a tasty breakfast of a gourmet cupcake (compliments of bro's friend) and my favorite drip coffee, Starbucks Christmas Blend.

My coffee is even black and in decaf, something very new in my book.

45 Degree Angle

Lil F has been sleeping in a weird position lately. It's like she is sitting and then falls asleep. It's both funny and creepy at the same time. Is she crazy, talented, or both?

She also continues to baffle us by climbing onto her dock after-basking-hours to go to sleep. After 2.5 years, she is still surprising us with new shenanigans!

Happy Chinese Birthday to Ama!

Tomorrow is Ama’s Chinese Birthday (this year), but this year, we are celebrating Gramma Pearl’s American birthday (August 12) instead, when most of the family will be in sunny So. Cal.

As a mini-celebration, we traveled up to Santa Barbara for a day trip! Ever the perpetual party planner, Bro suggested yesterday that we go to SB today, since Ama’s simple wish was to go to the beach for a relaxing day. Dad and Ama got to the Westside around 8:30, and after a necessary Coffee Bean stop, we were well on our way. We hit a small bump in the road (when bro got caught for speeding!), but the rest of our commute was seamless. We arrived at Stearns Wharf a little after 10 AM, and sat down for a quick brunch. (Dad packed some fresh Vietnamese sandwiches and spring rolls. Here is a picture of the HUGE bird -- the size of a turkey, my bro said -- that kept an eye on us/our brunch.)

NOTE: My dad is like a wanna-be National Geographic photographer. He is always taking pictures of birds, wherever he goes! This time, he actually tried to take a picture with this sea gull, but he accidentally scared it off before the Kodak moment.

We spent about an hour checking out the souvenir shops on the Wharf. I'm not big on souvenirs (I have long since quit collecting shot glasses), but I happened to find a beautiful magnet of a sea turtle printed on a mollusk shell. I got my bro's second opinion and quickly purchased that and an ornament for Gramma.

2nd NOTE: Our fridge magnets are soOoOOooO tacky. We have about 8 Panda Express, 4 Lucille's Steakhouse, 2 RESET, 5 non-profit organization magnets...and then 2 souvenir magnets (Hawaii and France). My new, ongoing mission is to replace those ugly magnets with nicer ones. This is a great start. BF even noticed right away (and then called me crazy, as usual).

Afterwards, we hopped on a city shuttle for fun. It cost just a quarter per person and we got a ride from the Wharf, all the way to Downtown and back. We hopped off a little earlier to do some window-shopping, and then trekked back to my car and drove up literally a block and a half to go to the SB Winery. We didn't know it was that close, plus we fooled Gramma into thinking that our car was 2 blocks away, when it was really 5 long ones.

The winery was when things got wild! Well, for Birthday Gramma. :) Bro and Gramma sampled a variety of 6 wines...and Gramma got lovely tipsy between the 2nd and 3rd sample. It was too cute for words. She even posed a few times!

We left shortly after and headed to Brophy Bros. for a late lunch/early dinner. The wait was a crazy 45 minutes, so we checked out the shops there and Gramma tried on a few hats, but didn't find one she liked.

Our meal was a hefty, yummy one. Between all of us, we family-styled the following: hot combination platter of appetizers (including baked oysters and clams), seafood medley chef's salad (it wouldn't be me if I didn't order some type of seafood medley!), and a calamari entree. It was soOOOOOOoo much food!

By then, we were pretty tired and headed back home. Good thing, b/c it took us 2 hours to get back to West L.A. There was soOOOOooo much traffic. :( All in all, we had a wonderful day at the beach...just a little farther North than Gramma expected. :)

4th of July

I've been asking BF about 4th of July plans since last week b/c I love BBQs and fireworks. Since we just got a grill, he said, "no promises, but if anything, we can just grill here." So at first, the party was just gonna be us two, but then we invited a few homies (who invited a few homies). Turns out that today was the biggest gathering at Chez C&C, yet! :)

We were so delighted that everyone showed up. First was FBM and BF's Godson, then bro, Rose, & Lynnielove, then bro's friend and adorable 2 y/o son, and last but definitely not least, BSILF and hubby! They stayed the latest, which was nice; after a frenzied day of hosting, it was relaxing to end on an intimate setting with great friends. It was a great day of laughter and yummy food. I even grilled mushrooms, white corn, and drumsticks for nostalgic and appetite-satiating purposes.

By the end of the evening, BF and I were pooped! We ended our evening doing our typical 4th of July viewing of fireworks from our balcony. Unlike last year, we barely caught sight of 3 firework fanfares (vs. 5 last year). There is something nice and peaceful in us two viewing fireworks from the privacy of our balcony...and then walking 3 steps to get back home.

All in all, my bro said, "you pulled off a very successful BBQ." I could definitely get used to hosting more parties/BBQs. :) I've been watching a lot of TV and those s'more commercials are definitely taking a toll on me...!

A Ladies' Nite In

I can't remember the last time I saw my 2 GFs, but I know it's been a while (especially since this is the first time I am "introducing" them on this blog). I met both GFs during orientation of freshman year at college, when we were a bunch of lost souls taking the first step towards individualization. It wasn't until a quarter later that I began developing a friendship with BGF (since we had sOoOo many classes together) and then the following year with JuneBug. After living together for ~2.5 years, we quickly developed wonderful friendships living, partying, crying, laughing, and stressing together.

Tonight, we had a glam reunion at Chez Chanel. A bottle of wine and a faux Mediterranean dinner later, we caught up on the last year until it was time for the ladies to head out. I had no idea until tonight that the three of us feel that our sophomore year (the one year that all 3 of us lived together) was the best year (a.k.a. "the funnest year"). We'll just leave it at that... ;)

It's truly amazing -- and fun -- to see how much we've gone through and to see where we're at now. More than once, GFs and I concurred that it's amazing that we are still alive (and normal). (I mean, Jungle Juice; wth is that made of?) JuneBug obtained her MPH after we lived together post-college, and now she has completed her 2nd year of med school. BGF, hubby, and 2 doggies are moving into their new house in September, and when the time is right, they will have children. As for BF and I, (depending on 100 conditions and factors) we have big plans for next year...!