Archive for "Family"
26th Annual Filipino Ball
Posted on June 24, 2013 by Ching under Events, Family.
Brian got some awesome panoramic photos at the ball the other night.
Our entire family got a table to ourselves. It worked out great.
We had a great turnout. Tita Tessie said this year had the best attendance ever. Over 350 people attended. For us, I think this is the first time in eight years that our entire family has attended. It was also Jennifer Cannady’s first Filipino ball.
Here are some more of my favorite pictures from the gala.
My goofy husband (above) and our adorable nephews (below).
Mom and dad.
Eli and Brian.
Logan and Jenni.
The three debutantes.
QQ.
Jenni and mom.
Brian’s barong came off before the evening was over.
Tita Rose and me.
With Tita Tessie and Tita Ellen.
With the two Jennifers. The only one missing was Jen Teves.
I still remember my very first ball. We had just moved to Kansas and I got roped into participating as a debutante. I borrowed one of Victoria’s dresses (one of Tita Lynne’s daughters) so that we wouldn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to buy a ball gown. Tita Esper, another one of mom’s good friends, was nice enough to volunteer her son Victor as my escort.
The dance floor seemed so huge back then. It’s amazing how things that seem big when you’re young get smaller with age. Kind of like the Big Mac.
Anyway, the dance floor was like a postage stamp on Saturday night. There was barely any room to move. Maybe it’s not just my imagination. Maybe the dance floor really did physically get smaller to allow for more tables because of this year’s record-breaking attendance.
The dancing went on all night. Here’s a picture that Brian took.
Tita Tessie hired The Source. They played lots of contemporary music and did a great job overall. Even when they were on break though, the dancing never stopped. At one point, Brian and I got pushed toward the stage when a line dance broke out. This one woman who I’d never met before (who may or may not have been intoxicated) fell backwards at the edge of the dance floor and grabbed Brian’s jewels. I asked Brian afterwards if that woman copped a feel and we both laughed at the thought. Of all of the places she could grab to steady herself, she decided to grab his crotch. LOL. Brian said she seemed pleasantly surprised rather than startled when it happened. It was more like, “Ooh la la!”
I had forgotten how much fun the balls can be. They used to bore me to tears when I was younger. Now that I’m officially one of the oldsters, I actually enjoy myself more. That could be because I can drink now. That always helps.
Brian and I danced a lot. I’m glad that I brought dancing shoes. I never would have made it halfway through the night if I stayed in my WH|BM heels. By 11 pm we were both danced out and were ready to call it a night. Having both done some drinking, we were grateful to live just around the corner from the Marriott Hotel (yet another unexpected perk of living in the wrong part of town, or so we thought when we originally bought our house; our house is really growing on us though).
Check out my Annual Filipino Ball collection on Flickr for more pictures from the 26th Annual Filipino Ball and previous ones. Enjoy!
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My Mom Cracks Me Up
Posted on June 18, 2013 by Ching under Family.
Mom went to brunch the other day with an XS sticker still on her top. She had no idea it was there. I didn’t notice it until after brunch. LOL.
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Father’s Day Brunch at Granite City
Posted on June 18, 2013 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
Here are some pictures from our Father’s Day brunch at Granite City.
Grandma and David
My Eggs Benedict with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Bloody Mary and Mimosa
The Dessert Tray
Granite City capitalized on Father’s Day by charging $2 more for their regular Sunday brunch which is usually $16.95 (had no idea it was that much). It would have been cheaper to go to Legends. LOL. Even Hereford House only charged $17.95 for their Sunday brunch on Father’s Day. We’ll know for next time.
Other than the price, the food was pretty good. Granite City offered several options, including salmon (which was good, but not as good as Newport Grill’s salmon). The only thing I missed was rice. I guess I could have gotten rice if I had some of their jambalaya, but mom said it was spicy. I enjoyed what I had though. And we had wonderful company.
The dad’s seemed to like their presents. We got Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Star Trek I, II, III, IV, V, VI + The Captain’s Summit Bonus Disc) [Blu-ray]
For Brunch next year, Brian and I decided that we can save money by serving brunch at our house instead of going out to eat. We just have to remember not to throw a party the night before so the house isn’t a mess. LOL.
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Brian’s Birthday Lunch with Grandma
Posted on June 14, 2013 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
Brian’s birthday is on June 13. Grandma’s birthday is on June 19. Ever since Brian was born, they’ve always celebrated their birthdays together. This year is no different.
Brian took Thursday off and took Grandma out for birthday lunch. The two of them went to Brint’s Diner because that’s where Grandma wanted to go. I didn’t get to go because I had to work yesterday. Plus, it was a good opportunity for grandma-grandson bonding time.
Brian had biscuits and gravy and hashbrowns.
He said his biscuits and gravy were good. The large homemade biscuits were light and fluffy, not dense. The hashbrowns were just your typical hashbrowns. Overall he thought it was just okay. He was glad that they served them breakfast though, because they quit serving breakfast at 10:30 AM. He and Grandma arrived around 11 o’clock, thinking that the restaurant served breakfast all day.
I’m not a huge fan of Brint’s Diner. I’ve been there a few times with Brian (it’s been several years though) and the times that I went it was just okay for me too. Some people really like it though. Check out Urbanspoon for more reviews.
The main thing is that Brian had a great lunch with Grandma, and I think Grandma had a great time too!
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In-Laws’ 40th Wedding Anniversary
Posted on June 5, 2013 by Ching under Events, Family.
Brian and I worked with his brother Kevin and our sister-in-law Kasey to throw a nice anniversary party for my in-laws. Brian’s father David is a member of the board of directors of the Kansas Museum of Military History (KMMH) in Augusta so we were to use their facility for the party. Brian put Kevin and Kasey in charge of decorations and then Brian and I were responsible for the food.
Since neither of us are great cooks, we naturally outsourced our portion. We’d had used Tuffles Catering at my work for some of our events so I was familiar with them already. We splurged a little on the catering (slightly going over budget), but how often do you get a chance to celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary these days?
The menu we put together consisted of salad with mixed greens with apples, feta cheese, sweet red peppers, walnuts, and red onion; chicken teriyaki (everyone seemed to really like that one); roast beef; rice pilaf; and green beans (which were surprisingly very good — even better than the ones I’d had at work). Truffles also provided rolls and butter to go with the meal, and cookies and brownies for dessert. The cost of the catering also included iced tea and lemonade.
We ordered catering for 35 people, but I think Truffles gave us extra food because even with JD present we still had plenty of food left over. LOL.
Here are some of the pictures of the food.
Chicken Teriyaki
Roast Beef
Rice Pilaf and Green Beans
Thanks to Denise at Truffles for coming to do the delivery and setup for our event.
Thanks to the guys for setting up the tables and chairs and thanks to Kasey for providing table covers and decorations. The tables looked very nice.
Here are some more pictures from the event.
Here’s a picture of Donna and David opening the anniversary present they received from Cousin Tracy before everyone showed up.
They seemed to have a great time. Brian and I did too. We hope that everyone else did as well. Thank you so much to everyone who came and celebrated David and Donna’s special day. See you all again in 10 years!
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