Christmastime

It’s December 24! Usually by this time I’m relaxing not worrying about Christmas gifts or wrapping as I’m generally done all that by now… this year, unfortunately is not the case!

Just yesterday I kidnapped my coworker, Kayla, to help me hunt for the last few Christmas gifts on my list. As we were standing in line at the local Wal-Mart I noticed something a little different from any other year that is one of my holiday pet peeves…. PRICE CHECKS! It seemed that no matter what 30 person line you where standing in there was always one fool that wanted a price check on that pair of socks or frying pan or whatever miscellaneous item among their basket or cart. If it ever happened to me I wouldn’t have bothered the other Christmas shoppers in the line and I would simply leave that item behind. This time around, I noticed the line operating beside me was at a standstill, customers blankly staring at the cashier… a minute or two after a customer ran up with a shirt, the cashier swiped it thru and tossed it aside, and transaction totaled and completed thus after … I’m assuming that the size she was purchasing didn’t have a tag on it and she ran back out into the madness to obtain the price check, good on her for taking it upon herself to do the work! I think it makes it worse when you’re standing in line and you hear on the PA system “Price Check, till two… Price Check on till two, please”; at least this way people have no idea…

Christmas Eve and I still have one more gift to purchase… gotta find a cool stocking stuffer for my nephew, oh and think of a really good prank gift for him. For the past two years Derek and I have given him a prank gift for giggles: first year, a doll I received when I was a child for Christmas for my late Tito Peter… she’s hot! Lace dress, lace stockings and crimped hair, GORGE! second year, the pink tutu my bridesmaids’ dressed me in for my bachelorette party… and this year, I have no clue but it’s priceless when he opens it, the only reason why we do it!

Until the new year… Merry Christmas to you and yours and be safe when you ring in 2010!!!

my husband loves me :)

my poor blackberry pearl was seeing its last few days with me struggling to make things work with a broken trackball, but my thoughtful husband hooked me up with the new Bold 2

I'm in luuuuurve! Thanks Babeeee

Happy Halloween... I just saved some kids LIFE!

Happy Halloween!!!

So I’m pretty sure that Derek and I saved some kids lives today… but before I get to that story I must tell you the sad tale of how I know my nephew is getting older and TOO COOL to hang out with me :(

So I’ve been taking my nephew trick or treating, ever since I first met him… when he was two, if that sentence confuses you – I’ll have to fill you in another time – year after year it’s something I look forward to, especially now that the kids are a little bit older and we’ve been hitting the neighbourhoods rather than the malls. I’ve been in residency for the past couple of days and not really answering any texts or phone calls, that’s neither here nor there, so I as I’m receiving my marks from my papers and presentations I noticed I had a ton of missed calls and voice messages. There was one from my eleven year old nephew, Justin, which sank my heart a bit…

“Hi Auntie, I was just wondering if it would be ok if I went to a party tonight, Ace invited me over… there’s no sense in your picking me up from there… so yeah.”

Oh GAWD!!!!

I didn’t want to be that aunt, that’s a kill joy… “No, sorry Bud, I don’t think you can go to that party... you have to come with me, around the block and trick or treat…” yeah highly unlikely. You’re probably wondering, ‘what about Angelika?’ yeah she’s got the flu and has been at home from school for a week! So what do I do? I call Justin and tell him that I’m SAD, but he can go to the party and that it’s ok, then… I call Derek crying… I couldn’t help it! I’m an emotional person… ca’mon you didn’t know?!?!? Derek of course made fun of me and went over to my brothers and the trouble maker that he is, told Justin that he made me cry. Meanwhile; I’m still at home on the internet, with my phone still on silent from residency, Justin’s been trying to contact me on my cell phone then decides to just come on over and talk to me, apparently he asked his mom to drive him over. He walks into the living room and as I’m greeting him he says…

“I’m sorry; I don’t want you to be mad! But I’ve never been invited to a party before…”

I gave him a huge hug… and started to cry, just a little bit this time and said, “it’s ok Justin, you can go… it’s just your growing up now, and that’s something I need to get used to” with that he got up and left for his party.

I later got a call from my niece telling me that she’s just a little bit sick and that she would really really REALLY like me to take her trick or treating, inevitably I took her up on that offer.


So… back to the highlight of my Halloween. My parents are ultimate Filipinos that don’t like wasting anything! When we were kids that candy we didn’t like they would hold on to until the next year and would give it away to some poor unfortunate soul. The little kiddies started to come around our ‘hood as I was getting ready to leave to take Angelika trick or treating, mom ran to the door and handed out so candy to the first bunch then went back into the kitchen. I know how my parents are, so after coming upstairs I decided to check out the goods (or is it that bad?).

On top of newly purchased, unopened box of Doritos chips; there were some random mints from restaurants, candies from recent birthday party give a way, and candies I’m pretty sure were from last year… oh and how can I forget chocolate liqueurs!

Me: “MOM!!!” Rushing in to the kitchen/family room (where Derek was watching TV), “You can’t give these to kids” while passing it to Derek… Derek’s face priceless.

Mom: “What?!?!”

Me: “mmmm these Chocolates have liquor in them…?!?”

Mom: “Oh really!?!? That’s ok…”

Derek: “You didn’t give these away did you?”

Mom: “No… oh well, I can give them to the parents!”

So as Derek and I are, literally, walking out the door, three little girls walk up to the house; I opened the door to greet them and Derek frantically broke open the box of chips and hooked them up!!! As they were saying their thank you’s, I said underneath my breath,“we just saved your lives”.

I think the best part is Derek gripped some candies and stuffed his pockets, as we’re driving away from home he shows me his stash; one pack of twizzlers – rock hard, a chocolate that was smushed oozing from its package, and funny Filipino candy’s ube flavoured... Derek likes to think he saved a few more children ;)


I hope your Halloween was as memorable as mine.

s/s shoes

Fashion can be weird sometimes, check out Alexander McQueen 2010 Spring/Summer Shoe Collection.

















































I'm scared to find out how much these shoes retail for as they don't really seem all that practical or comfortable to wear for that matter.



Now these... although a little more embellished for a day to day wear - retail for $1,995.00.








Eeeeeeek! One day though, one day...

ramblings...

WOW… august 19th is the last time I posted anything! My goodness. Well it’s been far too long and what better wat to get back into it than by some random ramblings?!?!?

Have you ever driven down a street, time after time for a period of your life whether it be for work or because you lived in that area, and one random day you use the same route and realize how much the area has changed? It’s amazing how much it can change in years or even so, in a matter of months!

Derek and I went to see a movie this evening and decided to go to the Grandin Theatre in good ‘ol St. Albert… ahhhh I miss St. A, I used to work out there for a year or two… I totally didn’t even know they had a theatre hahahaha! When going to work I used to use the back roads… and any Edmontonians that read this, just a head’s up --- 167th Ave leading into St. A is JACKED! There’s now a set of lights that lead to the back roads which are all windy and weird that lead you directly to Boudreau Road rather than Campbell Road… so weird, like, what if you wanted to take Campbell to 156 Street? No options! I guess it’s all for the planned Anthony Henday so it’ll be exciting to see what the final infrastructure will look like, those comments strictly coming from the construction manager in me :)

So yes, where was I? Grandin Theatre… that’s a weird one! You gotta go see a movie at this place… so $$$ cheap and oh so ghetto! Ahahahaha, I guess I lived a sheltered life. Oh and have you heard of this ‘Hot 107’ radio station? It’s new to Edmonton, my brother and I switched cars for a bit and that’s what it was set to when we got in… best radio station ever, er... for now. They needed to change it up, I'm tired of what our radio stations in Edmonton have to offer. I never listen to radio stations if I do it’s the Bear in the morning, because of Derek, and sometimes CBC One on the way home to figure the traffic situation… otherwise it’s all Group Step music, I’m doing the steps in my head practicing what I would verbally say in class aloud while driving, it’s all about timing, in any sense of your life… timing/cueing.

So if you ever see me driving and it looks like I’m talking to myself… I’m actually trying to be the best damn GROUP STEP instructor ever!!! Teaching is actually going quite well, I got a permanent class at the club nearest to my house on Sundays @ noon and I might scoop up a class in the southside on Tuesdays! It’s exciting; I’m getting better and better as I teach more and more classes. Hard work and persistence will get the results that you want. It’s all about keeping your eye on the prize and constantly working towards your goal. So if ever… you wanna come to my classes let me know I can get you a pass! Oooooh and tell your friends to come too!!!

simmer down summer…

Well, we’ve been getting some decent weather now that summer is coming to a close… shame. One more day of work for me and we’re off to the Thunder Lake Provincial Park, the first and final camping trip of the summer.

I recently started on a new project with work… back to site life, oOoH how I love it! Jeans, jeans, jeans everyday of the week! The only sucky part is when this project is in full swing and we get transfer to the wonderful trailers on the actual site… the commute will be the only down side. Right now we’re out at the satellite offices by the U of A. It’s all gravy right now, so I’m trying to take it all in, come November it will be a sweet 45 min commute to and from work! Oh heavens!!! I got a few months… so let’s try and not think about it, plus I’m really enjoying the area that we’re in right now. So many things with in the vicinity! Yesterday had me some Booster Juice and today went down the street to Leva Café, I’m not really one to try something new; I like sticking with what I know… you know, to avoid bad experiences, bad food or bad service. But lately taking the leap and trying a new/different establishment has been quite rewarding!

Leva Café – is a quaint little space in the university area, very modern and has some very tasty food! The price was reasonable as it complimented the food portions; I had ordered a grilled Panini and Greek Salad w/ a Large Chai Latte.

As you may or may not know, my parents are WORLD TRAVELERS; they recently got back from a Mediterranean Cruise which passed through Istanbul, Turkey. It just so happened that it was my pop’s birthday last month on the 30th and they wanted to try out a new restaurant… and just by chance the restaurant is called “Istanbul Mediterranean Cuisine“. I passed by this restaurant everyday while going to and coming from work. I must say that I was a little leery about going there… I’m not sure why, I think it was more of uncertainty of what the food was like as I have never eaten at a Turkish restaurant before nor have I had Turkish food… well that’s a lie, kinda, my mom had brought back some Turkish Delight from her trip… it wasn’t that good, so I expected the food to be somewhat the same.

Istanbul Mediterranean Cuisine – blew my mind away!!! Another quaint little space in the Delton area. Their decorating needs some work, in that it could give the space a little bit more of an authentic feel. The food makes up for the pricing… because it was absolutely amazing!!! I have forgotten what I have ordered as it’s been quite some time since we’ve been there… but I do know that I ordered something similar to my brother but he got the spicy version… so get that!!! Check out this article written about the joint here.