Browse Month: December 2008

Christmas Roundup

With only 2 full days left of my vacation in Southern CA, it was pretty crazy trying to squeeze in some quality time with my loved ones.  It was fun but felt more like a buffet where I got a taste of everything but nothing was totally satisfying and made me want to have more of the real deal.  In other words, I’m already trying to figure out how and when I’ll be able to make another trip down to LA to hang out with the locals and make a trip to the east coast to visit the out-of-towners for some REAL quality time.

Here’s what went down…

**FRIDAY**

I felt ill that morning and had a really hard time getting up.  The body aches and chills were so bad that I ended up canceling Koa’s vet appointment that morning.  Dog totally lucked out.  For lunch, we had Jes’ favorite ramen at Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa.  Afterward, we headed over to the BMW dealership and purchased a little somethin’ for the ride back to SF.  More details about the car later.

In the afternoon, I met up with my old PTN Pals at the Starbucks next to our Irvine house.

For dinner, we had Chinese food with the old gang.  Aw…I love group photos.

After dinner, the Agustins met up with us for drinks and a truly unique Cerritos experience.

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**SATURDAY**

I woke up feeling a little better and headed up to Beverly Hills to meet up with my UCLA girls for brunch at Campanile. Catching up is so much fun but makes me miss them even more when it’s over.

In the afternoon, I went to hang out with the parents and it’s always nice to be home. It’s just too bad that it only lasted a couple hours. I had to head back to BP to get the CR-V tidied up and deliver it to it’s final destination.

For dinner, I met up with my Whitney girls at Cafe Hiro.  It’s a cute Japanese/Italian place in the middle of suburbia.  We got to chat over tuna tataki and risotto.  I had so much fun, girls! I miss our monthly dinners!

The final stop for the night was my auntie and uncle’s house in Cerritos where Marie and the gang were waiting for me.  The boys are getting so big and I miss them so much.  Unfortunately, by the end of the night, I had lost my voice and went straight to bed.

On Sunday morning, we went to church, said our goodbyes to Jes’ parents, aunt, uncle, and family friends.  We swung by my parents’ house to pick up Koa and said our goodbyes to them too.  In what felt like a flash, we were back on the road for another 7-hour car ride.  Phew.

Here are photos of my entire Christmas season.  Enjoy!

May take a while…

…to post photos.  I took quite a few and I’m trying to get over this crazy sickness that started on Christmas Day.  I’ve had chills, a low fever, and body aches and have been on ibuprofen and acetaminophen for the past four days around the clock.  I’m hoping that I’ll feel well enough to get to work tomorrow.  Going back to work sucks but I suppose I should feel grateful to have a steady job in such a crappy economy.

7 hours later…

…we arrived in Southern California.  There were rumors of possible snow along the Grapevine so we decided to take it easy and drive down Hwy 101.  It’s such a beautiful drive but takes a tad longer than I-5.  Koa also came along and got to ride in the back seat and then in Jes’ lap in the front seat.  We stopped several times along the way for some shopping, pee breaks, and food.  The drive went smoothly with no traffic and just a little bit of rain here and there.  Now it’s time to go to bed.  I’ve got a whole line-up of appointments, meet-ups, lunches, and dinners for the weekend.  Let the holidays begin!!

Second Slice

We went to House of Prime Rib last night and it was pretty fun.  I had always heard about the place but never went because I always had Lawry’s back home.   Jason loves this place so we made reservations to go.  I swear it was JUST like Lawry’s complete with lots of Asians in the waiting area, a spinning salad, and even creamed corn (off the menu).

However, there were differences that made me wish I was at Lawry’s.  The redeeming part of the night was their “second slice”…so greedy.  At the end of the meal, the server came by and asked if we would like a second slice and a little more of the sides.  So, in just a couple minutes, I had another plate of meat on the table in front of me.  I was a little disappointed with my cut of Medium so I asked for Medium Rare and it was perfect.

Overall, it’s a good place to go if I’m in the mood for prime rib but then again, I could just wait for my next trip down to LA for the real deal.

Lotsa Pie

The Sokol-Juns hosted another Pie Party this afternoon and there were some pretty tasty ones this year.  I made an apple pie again this year and got to experiment with my new decorative pie crust cutters (photos coming soon).  The winners for me this year were Vyl’s Chicken Pot Pie and Michelle’s Lemon Chess.  Vyl ended up winning the contest and was well-deserved.  Even Jes was surprisingly impressed. 😉

Here are the photos.