Archive for April 2011
My Favorite White Dress
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Free Stuff, Health.
I have to thank my mom for giving me back my favorite white, eyelet dress. I brought it to the Philippines when we went in 2009. I think it was the dress I wore to the sementeryo. Oddly enough, I can’t find any picture of me in it. Probably because I was always the one behind the camera, taking all the pictures. We need to change that. Anyway, I had given it to mom after the trip.
A couple of months ago, while I was over at their house, she said I could have it back. I was so happy too because it’s my favorite white dress. I like it because it makes me look wholesome. LOL.
I have several things that I wish I never would have gotten rid of… Not that I can fit in them again, because I’m a long ways away from fitting in XS or 0-2 stuff. I mostly just regret getting rid of them because there are some things that you just can’t buy (much less find) any more. I had this orange A&F tennis skirt that I wish I still had because they match my orange and white Nike IDs. I think they were XS, though, so even if I kept them, it wouldn’t have done me any good.
I guess you can’t really keep things forever. I mean, there’s only so much closet space. You have to get rid of stuff to make room for other stuff. Unless, of course, you’re my mom and you have an entire bodega. It’s hard for me to believe that she still has all of these things even after several boxes of giveaways to the Philippines and making several donations to Goodwill.
I really shouldn’t pick on my mom too much. I actually like giving her the clothes that I’ve outgrown because then there’s a 50-50 chance that I might actually get them back. My closet consolidation/reduction strategy has always been to give all the things that I don’t want and can’t fit in anymore to charity; and then all the things that I can’t fit in anymore but still want go to mom and Jenni (depending on the size and style). If I still want it, there’s a good chance that they might like it.
Speaking of dresses… I hope that the dress on the right found a good home. It was my most favorite dress — out of all of the ones that I’d worn to all the Filipino balls. I hung on to it for a long, long time hoping that I could squeeze back into the Jessica McClintock size 3, but when I finally started wearing size 10 dresses, I realized that it was time to give up the dream. Oh, to be young and skinny again!
I have a plan, though. It might take a couple of years to achieve, but I’m on a mission and I know I can do it. Step one is to switch gyms. Also, my hobbies need to be conducive to a healthy, active lifestyle (e.g. dancing, racquetball and frisbee golf are good hobbies to have; poker not so much). I need to figure out what to do about my eating habits because that’s something that has been really difficult for me to change. I cannot diet at all to save my life.
Anyway, let’s mark this day on the blog as the day I make a commitment that by the time I’m 35, I’ll be in the best shape of my life. Not to count my chickens before the eggs hatch but… Dear future self — Congrats! Using a little bit of The Secret because sometimes exercise just doesn’t cut it. Jay knows what I’m talking about. It works. (It’s available on Netflix’ Instant Watch, by the way.)
Wow… I got totally sidetracked. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. The white dress. Thanks for keeping it safe and giving it back, mom. There’s actually another white dress that I will soon fit back into (when I achieve my goal in a couple of years). It would be great if, when Brian and I renew our vows for our tenth wedding anniversary, I could fit back into my size 4 wedding gown and look even better in it this time around.
I can totally do this! Wish me luck!
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Easter with the Brubakers
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Family.
We had Easter lunch at Cherry Creek today. Everyone agreed it would be easier on Grandma and Grandpa if we just brought Easter to them. I think it worked out great. Here are some of the photos we took…
Kevin and Kasey
I am so grateful to Kasey for bringing Kevin back into the family.
Kasey and Kendra
Chad and Grandma
Kevin, David and Brian
Feifel, Brian, Kevin and Chad
Feifel and Ethan
Kevin and Grandpa
Kasey and Donna
The next series of photos are just me playing with the front LCD and self-portrait feature of the new camera (because I’m a nerd with a new toy).
Yeah… I got a little carried away.
This last picture taken while Brian and I were waiting for everyone else to arrive. We figured that we’d get there early to help unload and set up lunch. Either way, we’d have gotten there early. We’re just quirky that way. I can’t even describe us as punctual because we are always super early to everything.
You know how people try to be on time to stuff, otherwise they’ll be late? Well, we are the opposite. I always try to make us on time for stuff because we’ll be too early otherwise. If it were up to Brian, he’d be an hour early to everything. I actually have to make an effort to stall us so we are actually on time and not early. Is there a word for that? Punctual doesn’t quite fit. LOL.
Anyway, we had a great time at lunch. I hope everyone else did too!
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Happy Easter!
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Babies.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday.
Brian and I did some planting today. One of the best things about living in our apartment complex is that they give us free geraniums every year. Last year I got a couple of red ones. This year I got a salmon colored one (above). Isn’t it pretty?
Anyway, while we were off work on Friday, running around, doing errands, I found out that they had some more geraniums left over. They had several shocking pink ones. I guess those weren’t very popular. It worked out for me because then I got a few more. So this morning, Brian and I repotted all of our additional geranium plants. I don’t have any pictures of the new ones because they don’t have blooms yet. They’re not much to look at right now. I’ll take some pictures in a week or two.
The one shown in the photo above, I got and repotted about a week or so ago. I had a glass pitcher
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Sabado de Gloria
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Family.
Brian and I had great massages at Bohemia Healing Spa. (Thanks for the suggestion, Darcy!) We both had 90-minute massages at a really good price. Their rates are lower than Serenity (Brian’s favorite place for massages). The only downside for me is that they don’t have any couples massage rooms so we have to be in separate rooms. I really like it when we can get massages together so Brian can tuck me in. It’s kind of a pain to cover myself up when the massage therapist wants to start with me facing down. When we’re in the same room, I can always ask Brian to cover me up after I hop on the massage table. I bet Brian probably prefers getting massaged in a separate room from me. I’m prone to falling asleep in the middle of massages and I, inevitably, start snoring. =P I don’t hear it because I’m asleep, but I’m sure it takes away from the whole relaxation experience for him.
Brian never falls asleep during massages, but the massage therapist managed to put him to sleep this time. I guess it was so relaxing that she actually achieved it twice. Although, as good as she was, he said that he still prefers Crystal at Fresh Spa Market because she rubbed his pecs and wasn’t at all bashful. I guess Maria was pretty timid. He also liked Janell at Individually Yours (she’s at Brown Chiropractic now). As far as spas go, though, he likes Serenity.
My massage therapist was pretty good. Though, after the massage I got from Michael at Sveta’s earlier this year, all other massages don’t seem to measure up. Sveta’s prices are a bit higher than most places, but I think I’ll just have to bite the bullet because Michael is totally worth it. I just need to quit being cheap.
After our massage, Brian and I met mom, Jenni and the Cannadys at Applebee’s for Jenni’s pre-confirmation dinner.
Mom noted that my hair was really shiny yesterday. It’s because Brian and I barely had time to change into church clothes after our massage so we didn’t have time to shower. My hair was shiny from the massage oil. I was actually feeling pretty greasy all over the entire evening. LOL.
Mom, Eli and Logan rode with us back to mom and dad’s house after dinner. Jenni went back home to change into shorts for her baptism.
Eli is the most handsome little boy ever!
Logan is handsome too, but Eli is really cute!
Brian with Jen and Matt.
Mom and Que.
I don’t know what it is about my mom, but I always look so fat next to her.
Group picture!
It was impossible to get good pictures at the church because there were way too many people. I did manage to get this one, though.
Jenni with her godmother.
Anyway, Jenni lied. Mass was more like three hours, not two. I was hoping that by the time our candles ran out that mass would be over. No such luck. Oh, and unfortunately for Brian, he forgot his headphones at home. Not that he could have played TapTap through mass, though. That would have been way too obvious. We stood out enough as it was. This old man actually told Brian that he felt sorry for him for having to sit through mass, specially the last two hours. He said, “It must have been difficult for you.” I guess Brian must have been fidgeting a lot. At least he didn’t burst into flames. That’s really what I was most worried about. LOL. The things you do for family.
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Good Friday was a Great Friday
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Ching under Life, Zumba.
Brian was worn out from the hectic week he had last week. The week of the National Sales Meeting always drains him. While it’s fun and exciting, the long days are exhausting. We talked about taking last Friday or Monday off, but we both had stuff going on and couldn’t miss work. The first day that we both could feasibly take off was Friday, April 22 (which happens to be Good Friday).
Since we were both off work, we figured we could clean house and do some chores. The house specially needed attention because Brian and I have been so busy the last few weeks that it’s been messier than usual. Brian had invited his ex-girlfriend (from almost 15 years ago; the one he was with right before we got together) over for dinner so we really needed to tidy up the place.
Anyway, something came up and she couldn’t make it. Other than making too much spaghetti (and having to eat the leftovers the next day), things turned out okay. Brian and I actually work better on a time crunch. I didn’t want dirty clothes all over the laundry room when we had guests over so I didn’t do laundry in my usual leisurely way, which usually takes all weekend and sometimes carries over into Monday night. I got all the laundry done (all four loads) before 5 PM. It was quite a productive day overall.
Brian and I ended the evening at Lizards Lounge. We were mostly there to see Skrapyard, but the first two acts (Kingshifter and Death Valley Wolfriders) actually weren’t bad. Brian really liked Kingshifter. I appreciated Death Valley Wolfriders for their Black Sabbath cover. Both bands had some good original songs, but not having seen or heard of these guys before, it was nice to hear a familiar song.
Skrapyard was amazing. This was Brian’s first time watching them perform live. I’d played some of their songs for him before and he really liked it. “Deeds of Man” was the highlight of the evening for me. I love the mellow part of the song toward the end.
Charlie Withers is awesome! I told Brian that we’ll have to drive to the West side Granite City to watch him perform solo one day.
Since Danielle bailed on us, I falsely assumed it was going to be just the two of us (Brian and me) all night. We were just lounging around the house (killing time before the show, letting our spaghetti dinner digest), when I got a call from Doug. He and Tammy were already at Lizards Lounge. Brian and I were both like, “Crap!” And then we scrambled to get cash (it’s a “cash only” bar) and head out there. It’s a good thing that the bar is pretty close by. I think we were there in less than ten minutes.
I’m not sure if the bands were too loud for them, but they were both really good sports and seemed to have a good time. I feel awkward inviting people to Lizards Lounge because of its bad rap. I’d never been there before until Jenni invited us to see Surphace there a few weeks ago. I had heard so many bad things about the place before, I was totally surprised that I liked it. I think it was really bad before when people smoked inside. I had such low expectations of the place that they were quite easy to exceed. Then again, I’m pretty easy to please. I’m not a “bar snob” like Misty. =P Give me cheap drinks and good music and I’m all set. LOL. I could totally add LL to our regular rotation.
Brian said he figured out why I liked their fuzzy navels there. He watched the bar tender make my drink and he said they put some vodka in it. Instead of just using peach schnapps and orange juice, they do peach schnapps and orange juice and vodka. So it’s like a cross between a screwdriver and a fuzzy navel. I’ve decided to call it a fuzzy screwdriver. LOL.
The two glasses of coconut rum and pineapple juice that I had at home after dinner and the fuzzy screwdrivers I had at the bar made me feel quite fuzzy the next day. I never really get hung over, but I wobbled to the restroom when I got up the next morning. I still made it to step class, though. I even had enough energy to spare for Zumba, but decided to skip it (since Gina is out of town). I’ll tell you more about Saturday later today. Check back in a few hours.
Anyway, we had a really great Friday. I love, love, love Skrapyard!
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