beakatude – Page 167

Yay Eleen!

By beakatude
on May 15, 2009
in design, friends, photosbynina, weddings

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My friend Eleen is doing so many exciting things lately and this is probably one of the coolest so far. She was asked to submit an article about her DIY Wedding on Etsy and it was published yesterday!

When she asked to use some of my photos I had no idea it was for this and I’m so honored to be a part of it! As soon as it was posted, my smugmug portfolio has been getting a ton of new hits from all over the world. It’s a little creepy but really cool at the same time. Anyway, I’m still in love with my eleen bags and can’t wait to buy another one.

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Check out all her cute products on her Etsy shop or at the next craft fair. Go to eleen.com for updates on her next whereabouts.

End of the Longest Week Ever

By beakatude
on May 10, 2009
in friends, life, outings, work

rawr

I don’t know why but last week felt like a month.Â Work was busy but the days just dragged and I was an cranky t-rex ready to bite someone’s head off.Â It wasn’t until Friday that I felt a little relief.Â The last treatment session of the week ended with me, Teresa (my PT partner), and our little 6-year-old patient sitting on a stoop in the courtyard eating ice cream sandwiches with a bubble machine blowing.Â The sky was blue, there was a gentle breeze, and the ice cream really hit the spot.Â Aaaah…

Bang

Once I got home, I put my running shoes on and headed out the door for a quick jog.Â When I got back, Jes called to say that we were meeting up with the Bangs for Happy Hour at Nova.Â Yay!

jes and vyl

We celebrated Bang’s new job acceptance and had a fun and crazy evening.Â We all left the bar stumbling home and waking up the next morning feeling very sloooooow.

pride tasting

On Saturday morning, we headed up to Napa for the day.Â We went for a tasting at Pride Mountain, had lunch at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, and headed back to the city before the sun went down.

KFOG Kaboom

KFOG was also doing their fireworks show at 9 pm that night so I got to watch a really long fireworks show from the roof of our building.Â Weekends rule.

You were a good dog.

By beakatude
on May 09, 2009
in *sniff*, dog

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Dear Zooey,
We picked you up from a house in Downey and found you hiding under the stairs. You’ve always been a little shy but always so loveable. I can still remember how shaky you were on your first visit to the vet and how much fun it was to have you in the apartment as a pup. When it was time for us to move away, you went to live with Mom. You grew up to be a gentle dog with a big bark to keep the bad guys out. You loved to sleep in your dogloo and knew how to stay in the doorway without coming inside the house.

zoe_dogloo

You got summer camp at our house in Irvine and had a blast. It took a couple hours for you to get used to dealing with a rambunctious puppy named Koa but once you got the hang of it, you were best buddies for life.

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You got the tasty canned food mixed with a scoop of kibble while Koa stood at the window drooling with envy. We took you to the dog park and you found comfort by my side instead of exploring the park and sniffing the other dogs. It’s no wonder you racked up such endearing nicknames such as Chicken Dog and Old Man.

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You lived a long life of 12 years and I hope you find lots of shady trees to nap under in Doggie Heaven. I will miss you dearly and I’m glad that I got to give you one last hug just a few weeks ago.

Love You and Rest in Peace,
The Girl

Zooey passed away on Friday, May 8th with Mom and Dad by his side. He was sick for a few days and was finally laid to rest that afternoon at the vet’s office. He will be sorely missed.

Triple Celebration

By beakatude
on May 04, 2009
in babies, friends, holidays, outings, photos

big screen

This weekend was chockful of celebrations. On Saturday, we attended Susie’s graduation, which took place on the USS Hornet. It’s a retired aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum and it was HUGE! The ceremony lasted a whoppin’ 3 hours with lots of boring (and bad) speeches followed by a long procession of graduates whose names were called one by one. The stage was so far from us that we had to watch everything from the giant screens overhead.

the girls

the masayas

Afterward, we explored the ship and got to go up to the flight deck.Â That was pretty neato.

pacquiao

In the evening, we had dinner at Tsunami and then walked down to Carmen’s (a filipino restaurant) located across from where we live to watch the pay-per-view fight. It only lasted 2 rounds and I got back from walking Koa just in time to see the knock out. Lucky me! Pacquiao was crazy fast! So in celebration of the win, the rest of the evening was spent drinking beer, singing karaoke, and entertaining Koa who was tied up outside the restaurant.

koa and armando

All the workers at the restaurant loved coming out to greet Koa and some were determined to make friends with him. He finally gave in and reluctantly let one of them pet him.

birthday cake

shots

On Sunday, we went to the Agustins’ for Jimmy’s Bday BBQ. There was a lot of Cinco de Mayo-themed food and beverages and it was an eating and drinking marathon for everyone. The party was also filled with physical challenges from push-ups to pull-ups to taking shots. It was truly a typical Jimmy Bday.

alia

I also got to meet Agnes and Tim’s little 3-month-old girl who had the cutest hair-do. It reminded me of Patti’s Katelyn’s hair back when she was a baby. I reassured Agnes that her hair was come down eventually.

Final Day in NY

By beakatude
on May 03, 2009
in outta here, yum

panini

OK…I’m running a little behind on my New York posts. I’m still not finished sifting through all the photos either. Anyway, here is my final installment of our 5-day New York trip.

On Tuesday, I went back into Manhattan for a little extra shopping while the boys slept in. For lunch, I headed back to Astoria and we went to Il Bambino. It’s a small cafe that serves some of the best paninis I’ve ever had. Mine had fresh mozzerella, tomato, and basil pesto.

cupcake

For dessert, I picked out one of their many Crumbs cupcakes and saved half for Jia. Actually, I saved half of my panini for her too and had them both packed up. Jason was saying “suuure…I’ll take care of it for you…” with a mischieveous grin on his face.

bag

He was certainly not trustworthy so I wrote all over the bag and emailed Jia (who was at work) that she had some treats waiting for her at home.

Our flight home was smooth and I managed to catch a short nap. I was exhausted but had a wonderful time. I can’t wait to go back again!

Noodley Day

By beakatude
on Apr 30, 2009
in outta here, yum

sharing

On Monday, we spent lunchtime in Flushing and had the spiciest noodle soup ever. Jason and Jia took us into a swap meet-looking basement that was stuffy and hot. Luckily, the Chinese lady was nice enough to send us to the back dining area where it was air-conditioned and cleaner-looking. The noodles were really tasty and I got some crazy chili coughs and sniffs that cleared up the stuffy nose that I had all morning.

next stop

Immediately afterward, we went to a dumpling house that we found two years ago on our last trip. It was like a savory dessert to our noodle lunch. We then took the subway back to Astoria for a quick hour and a half break before heading out to Manhattan for dinner.

fatties

This is a fatty pose in front of the restaurant. It had only been 3.5 hours since our last meal.

j&j

j&n

The only reservation that I could get at Babbo was at 5:30 so we were in store for a continuation of our feasting marathon. This is one of Mario Batali’s restaurants and was highly recommended by numerous people I talked to prior to our trip. The space was beautiful on the second floor with a vaulted ceiling and natural light pouring into the room. I want my next house to look like this. 🙂

tasting menu

We got the Pasta Tasting Menu that included 5 pasta courses, 1 cheese course, and 2 dessert courses. On top of that, for our last dessert course, instead of bring 4 of the same, we got 4 different desserts!!

Here are the photos of the dishes and my lame translation of the menu items:

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