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Black Friday 2009

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Ching under Family, Things to Do.

Black Friday was a ton of fun. We had to wake up at 5 AM to pick up Brian’s parents by 6 AM and make it to Legends by 9 AM, but it was all worth it. I think we wore David and Donna out. LOL.

Brian and I got a $250 gift card from our credit card rewards points a few weeks ago so that is what we used. We figured that it would go a longer ways with the Black Friday discounts. We had a couple of things going for us: outlet store prices and huge Black Friday discounts.

As soon as we got there, I was in serious shopping mode. I had to slow down for the old folks. LOL. We didn’t get to hit all the stores I wanted to hit, but we got to shop at all the important ones.

I only have 2 pairs of jeans left that fit me so I was determined to get some jeans out of the trip. I got 2 pairs of jeans at the Levi’s Outlet for $40. Not bad. I also got some work clothes from the Ann Taylor Outlet, my favorite store at Legends. They were doing 50% off everything in the store, including clearance items.

Brian and I are proudest of our Nike Outlet loot: a pair of running shoes for him (he wanted some new ones because his Shox are worn out and don’t provide good support any more), two pairs of workout pants for him, a pair of workout pants for me and a workout top for me. We got all of that for about $100. Can you believe it? Usually $100 only gets you a pair of shoes.

There was a bag at the Wilsons Leather Outlet that I wanted, but Brian talked me out of it. I also wanted to get some sweaters from the GAP Outlet, but we skipped that store altogether. I could have kept going, but my companions were getting tired and Brian was starving.

Lunch was at Dave & Buster’s. That place is so much fun. Donna had never been to one and it had been several years for Brian’s dad. The food there is so-so, but you don’t really go for the food. You go for the arcade games.

The machine gun thing was my favorite; this time around anyway. Time flies when you’re at D&B. Two and a half hours later it was time to go. Brian wanted to make it home in time for a short nap before we went to The Alley for Becca’s birthday party.

So that’s our Black Friday adventure for 2009. How about you? How did you spend Black Friday this year?

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Thanksgiving 2009

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Ching under Family.

Mom decided that she was going to host Thanksgiving this year so Brian and I ended up with two Thanksgiving dinners the other day. Our first one was at 2 PM at Brian’s parent’s house. It’s our traditional Brubaker Thanksgiving, complete with Phase 10 post-grubbing.

I have no idea why my father-in-law is making that face. Don’t ask. LOL.

Thanksgiving at the Brubakers’ consisted of grandma and grandpa Brubaker, Brian’s parents, Chad, Brian and me. We held Chad hostage that day (sorry Cory and April — that is why he didn’t make it to you guys’ place) and took him to my mom’s turkey-less Thanksgiving so he could try some Filipino food, which he said he never had before.

Jenni, Jen and Armando were there. A couple of mom’s friends joined us also. Sadly, the Cannadys couldn’t make it because they were already stuffed from multiple Thanksgiving feasts themselves. Apple and Andrew were in Louisiana, and David and Donna opted not to come because Donna had a headache.

Oh, and we didn’t end up being turkey-less at mom and dad’s after all because Armando brought Cajun turkey from Louisiana. That’s how it looked above after it was carved and ravaged. LOL.

This is supposed to be humba, but the picture is too dark.

Chad didn’t mind the pancit. He actually likes vermicelli noodles.

Dinuguan is pictured above. Yum! Made Chad eat it without telling him what it’s made of; I’m mean, I know. He didn’t like it too much, I think.

Lumpia is a popular favorite. No Filipino feast is complete without it. I had a picture of the sisig too, but I guess it didn’t make it to Flickr. Bummer. I personally don’t like sisig. I managed to talk chad into trying it. He didn’t mind the flavor as much as the texture. It is a bit weird.

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving last year. We played Phase 10 then too, as we do every year.

How about you? How did you spend Thanksgiving Day?

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Pacquiao Squashes Cotto

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Ching under Family, Life, News.

Jen and Armando invited Brian and I to watch the Pacquaio vs. Cotto boxing match at their place, a huge HBO pay-per-view event that I’m sure all Filipinos watched all over the world. I’d never been a huge boxing fan until now. Actually, I don’t consider myself a boxing fan. I’d never watched boxing before. This was the first boxing match that I’d watched from start to finish. And I wouldn’t have watched it if not for Manny Pacquiao. I guess I am a Pacman fan, not so much a boxing fan. LOL.

Mom and Dad were already there when we arrived. Brian and I felt bad because we had dinner at Red Lobster before hand. I guess I misunderstood. When Jen said she had food, I thought she meant snacks. I didn’t realize that she actually cooked!

Of course, the first thing that Brian does when we get there is check his farm. I can’t pick on him, though, because I had to check my farm too. LOL.

Mom and dad left early, even before the match began. I think this might have been so that Jenni and her boyfriend could come and not feel the pressure of meeting the parents. LOL. Jenni never showed, though.

Apple and Andrew came. They arrived just in time for the Pacquiao-Cotto boxing match. None of us were really interested in the pre-fights.

We were all there to cheer for the Pacman.

I have to post Armando’s “Team Pacquiao” shirt because it is awesome.

I was worried about Pacquiao at first because he is much smaller than Cotto. Pacquiao actually had to gain weight in order to fight in this weight class. After the fourth round, though, I knew I had nothing to worry about. Pacquiao is amazing!

I’d never been excited about boxing before. He had all of us screaming and cheering. It was super exciting. We were so loud (specially Jen, Apple and I) that Brian was worried Jen’s neighbors would call the cops on us. “I should have brought ear plugs,” Brian exclaimed at one point during the evening. LOL.

Thank you to Jen and Armando for inviting us over. It was the first boxing watch party I’d ever attended. Thank you for making this first a truly memorable one.

Thank you to Manny Pacquiao for another amazing victory. He did not disappoint at all. He delivered an exciting match and another boxing title that all Filipinos can be proud of… He is a true national hero!

If you missed it, here is a round by round recap on the LA Times. I’m sure there are video clips on YouTube also. I will try to find those for you guys. Enjoy!

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Family Celebration at Legends

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Ching under Family.

I can’t believe I forgot to post the pictures we took a couple of weeks ago when we were at Legends at the Airport Hilton celebrating my birthday, Grandpa Clark’s birthday, and Grandma and Grandpa Brubaker’s wedding anniversary.

Grandma and Grandpa Brubaker’s wedding anniversary actually falls on the same day as Grandpa Clark’s birthday, which is on October 12 (Columbus Day is how I remember it – LOL). It works out because Grandpa will never forget their wedding anniversary, since it’s the same day as his birthday. Grandma is clever like that. LOL.

My birthday is on the 30th, the day before Halloween. Since these dates are pretty close together, we always celebrate together. This year, however, we couldn’t celebrate until November 1 because mom, dad, Brian and I were in the Philippines for the first part of October and then I’d been in and out of town for work as soon as we had arrived back. Weekends involved coming in to the office to review and approve time tickets and packing for the next trip.

Instead of putting it off longer, which will run into Thanksgiving, Brian and I managed to find a small window on November 1. The date worked for everyone so were able to get together for brunch.

Here are some of the pictures from that day:

Jenni and Donna, chatting. It was warm enough that day that Jenni was able to wear the Cebu souvenir shirt that Brian and I got for her.