Vegas Baby Vegas

Just got back from Vegas. Stay tuned for trip review.

I have a confession...

Up until about a week ago, I had not been sucked into the huge phenomenon called The Twilight Saga. I never got into Harry Potter and I was determined not to get into this one. However when my sister and my coworker begged me to give it a try, day after day, I finally gave in.

I'm half way through Eclipse right now and here are my thoughts on these books. They aren't great. They are barely even good. But, they are so easy to read and so easy to get through, that it's not a big deal to sit down and read them. It's like a magazine read really. I feel like if this was a tv show, I'd probably flip through the other commercials to see if there is anything else better on. But ultimately (like a bad Lifetime Movie), I would have to see how it ends.

I saw the movie, and I hated it. I don't think it did the book any justice and I was mostly annoyed through it. I've only seen it once, so I'm gonna watch it one more time at a friends house and give it another chance. So ya, I have read the books, but ...eh... I'm not gonna run out and buy a t-shirt.

Wishlist

Things I really really want...you know...in case Santa's lookin'...

1. Lola Ruffle Satchel Rose: Seat belt bags are like my "thing". I have fallen in love with this new style of seat belt bag and would love one. However this is a big ticket item at $178 bucks.

2. Personalized Cupcake Stamp: Ah! I love this cupcake stamp. How cute is it? Very pricey but I haven't found anything else like it, $45.

3. VS Pink Cupcake Tee: This cupcake tee screams my name. It's VS so it's pricey for a tee at $40 bucks.

4. Stop Staring Exquisite Lace Dress: I've wanted this dress forever. I love this company, their dresses fit on my perfectly. It's expensive at $140.

5. Cupcake Carrier: I already have a cupcake carrier and a cake carrier but neither of them can be interchangeable and neither of them collapse. You also can't decorate the cupcake high with my other carriers because the second layer always smashes the first layer. This is a tall collapsible interchangeable carrier, a lot of my problems solves. $30.

6. Cupcake Bicycle Bell: Mr. Bumblebee is working on a custom beach cruiser for me and this is the thing I want most for it. Reasonable at $22 bucks.

7. Bumblebee Coinpurse: Perfect. Not bad from Anthropologie for $28 bucks.

8. Mad Hatter Necklace: I have a thing for the Mad Hatter, maybe it's because I'm a psych major...cheap at $16.

9. Candy Jars: Oh my, these are so cute. Ranging from $25-$35.

10. Up BlueRay: Love this movie and have to continue my Disney Film Collection. Prices vary on store.

11. Ocean's 11, 12, & 13 BlueRay: I love these movies. I only own the first one on DVD...would love the collections on bluray. Prices vary.

12. Marie Antoinette DVD: I love this movie and I don't own it. I keep renting it and it doesn't make sense anymore. Prices vary.

13. Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy BluRay: I love Johnny Depp and would love to watch him in HD with surround sound...yum. Prices Vary.

14. Monsters, Inc. BlueRay: If I ever did decide that I might what a child, I'd want it to be Boo. I love this movie. Prices vary.

15. Juicy Cupcake Necklace: More cupcake stuff I must get my hands on. $48.

16. Grandfather Watch Necklace: This would be ideal at work. $20

16. Coconut Flower Candle: This is a $20 candle but it smells soooo good. It is my favorite thing in my home right now and we are almost out. If this was all I got from anyone this year, I'd be happy about it.

Ok Santa Baby, I've been an awfully good girl this year...

Thelma and Louise - Bumblebee Style

Yay! My sister and I (along with our S/Os and parents) are off for a weekend vacation. Stick around for a trip review when we get back. I've got posts to go up automatically so I can still be apart of the Nov. Blog Group.

Fun piece of info, I'm totally sick and running a slight fever. FUN!

Facepalm

I had a facepalm moment today...

I had just text Mr. Bumblebee when the house phone rang. I assumed it was him. This is how the conversation went:

Me (in a sexy voice): Hey sexy...
Him: Ma'am?
Me: Oh....um....hi?
Him: You just gave me the perfect lead into my spiel (he's holding in his laugh as he says this, I can tell)
Me: Ok...let's hear it.
Him: This is Cox Communications and I'm here to offer you two months of free caller id....and honey, you need it.
Me: Sign me up.

Oye.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner...

Coming home tonight, when I pulled into my parking spot, I saw a friend...
That is a huge possum. I don't think you can tell from the picture but this thing was about 20 pounds. It was huge!

It looked pretty pissed and I didn't want to be on an episode of "When animals attack" so I left him alone...

I hope the girls at the end of our unit realize this is why you should leash your 2 pound chihuahua at all times. That dog would be snatched and be a snack in 3 seconds with this mean dude hanging around.

I'm taking a stand!

A lot of my friends do not cook. That's fine and dandy until they start injuring themselves when they do attempt to cook. It's gotten to the point where I'm going to start taking action about my friends not cooking. So from time to time I will post a VERY easy recipe to follow and hopefully no friends will be harmed in this process. So this post is dedicated to all of my friends who don't cook...you know who you are.
So here we go:
Easy Chili
This recipe was given to me from my MIL and it is so easy. The parts in red are changes I've made to the recipe to make it easier.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1.5 hours
Ingredients:
1 lb of ground beef
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of pinto beans
2 8oz cans of tomato sauce
1 can of stewed/diced/sliced tomatoes (whatever you prefer)
1/2 cup of catsup
1/3 cup of chili sauce
1 cup of water
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 tbsp of mustard
1/2 chopped onion (I didn't have an onion and didn't feel like running to the store so I just threw in some onion powder to get the hint of onion taste)

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onion (If you are just using onion powder, wait till you add the rest of the ingredients)

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Let simmer for 1-1.5 hours

I love homemade corn muffins but when I'm running short on time, this mix is 99 cents usually and it's really the best I've found. 1/3 cup of water and an egg. Mix them all and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!
Comeon' friends...no more excuses...no more stitches...

Who Let The Dogs Out?!

It was such a beautiful day today and we haven't spent some time with our kids for awhile so we decided to take a trip to the dog park.

Tess is very particular about tennis balls she'll play with. We usually bring her squeeky tennis balls, but we forgot them. So she picked up one at the bark park but would barely hold it in her mouth. We were cracking up as she carried this thing around.

Tuck is in his element with other dogs. You can see the grin on his little face.

No blog about the dog park would be complete without an action shot.

Hope you enjoyed this short recap and visit nex.....oh hi a friend....

I Believe I Can Fly

My dear sweet, air-plane loving husband got up very excited this morning. We had a football game and there was going to be a fly over. He was all giddy, making sure we brought the camera and it was charged. We had even discussed a plan, he was going to watch the fly over live and I would take pictures for him.

We took our seats in the nick of time for the Star Spangled Banner, and at the opportune moment, we both flew our heads up to look into the sky but we saw......
We waited....and waited....and waited....eventually I saw this:

Sad day indeed. To be honest, this is the only thing we were looking forward too. UCLA hasn't exactly been "playing football" and we weren't all that excited to play the team that beat USC this year.

But as luck would have it...

WE WON!!!!!!!
We haven't had that feeling in awhile and gosh it felt so good. I only hope we feel it again for the next three weekends.

Coach got on the field and thanked us for hanging in there with them this year and he knew how hard it was (does he really? because I don't think he does...)

And then we braced ourselves to face this....exiting chaos. Oye.Well, here's to hoping that we might end a horrible season on a high note.

Catch a Wave...

How can a blog be called Puppy Lovin' Reflections without some reflections on some puppies?

Before the weather turned cold, we took advantage of the local dog beach and took the pooches. We had given them very short hair cuts for cocker spaniels to keep them cool in the summer.
They love the beach, there are so many things to do:
Birds to chase....

You can almost hear her lock on her target:

Does anyone else hear the Chariots of Fire?
Move over Pam Anderson, Lifeguard Tuck is watchin' this beach...

Hi mom!

Dad and Tuck running on the beach, tryin' to pick up chicks....

Tuck took my sister for quite the run when he wouldn't come when he was called...

He ate up all this attention....

While Tuck was runnin' all over the place, I couldn't get my real water baby out of the ocean...

Hope you enjoyed our recap!

Hey Mr. Postman...

My dad works for USPS and when he was having a picnic for his company he decided to hire me out for his dessert, he wanted my cupcakes!

Of course I was more than happy to supply him with my delicious cupcakes. I did red and blue white cake and red velvet cupcakes. I decorated them patriotic of course.

Hope they enjoyed them! I had one before I handed them over and they were soooo yummy!

Turkey Dinner

While shopping at our favorite pet shot (Muttropolis) we came across this:

The legs have velcro on so they dogs can rip them apart. It was on sale so we had to buy it. I can't tell you how amusing it is to come home and see your dog carrying around a turkey leg in their mouth.

It's not as bad as seeing Mickey as I mentioned here. Tucker really loves it. As soon as we velcro them back onto the turkey body...he rips the legs off and runs under the bed with them. The 12 bucks we spent on it have given us plenty of entertainment.

What.A.Day.

This is where I spent my evening:

I'm fine. Don't worry. I fell on my right wrist last Friday and it was still bothering me a lot. Having had two instances where hairline fractures in my bones went untreated, I decided to just go in and get an x-ray to be sure.

Well I'm thrilled to report there were no fractures but instead I had a "deep tissue" bruise. Between the bone and the muscle instead of between the muscle and the skin. Who knew that was possible? So I have to wrap my hand in a bandage/brace for about 2 weeks and limit my usage with it. This will teach me to learn how to not trip over myself :(

Foot bone is Connected to the....

For the last four years, Mr. Bumblebee, My sister, and I have trekked out to Olvera Street in LA to celebrate El Dia De Los Muertos. It's a day where traditions include building private altars honoring the dead, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and including favorite foods, beverages, and toys of the dead on the alters, along with ritual dances and family gatherings, prayer and reflection. I love this holiday because it is so full of culture and I think it's beautiful. No to mention that I look for any excuse to dine at one of my favorite places any day.

When we arrived we saw a very extravagant alter that included a Mayan calender, anyone know the importance of this calender in 2 years??

We saw an adorable family getting ready to perform on the gazebo. They are dressed as skeletons because it is believed that this is the one day of the year the dead can walk among us. So many people dress as loved ones lost, or just skeletons in general.

This was on an alter of an older couple that had both passed on.

This is an alter that leads the parade.

Once the parade started, it got really busy...

The Aztecs do several dances that are truly entrancing. Usually we get great spots to watch it but this year the crowd was too much for us to deal with so we just watched a little bit and left.

This group was just bystanders but their make up and costumes were awesome. Everyone was taking photos of them.

My favorite restaurant in this area is a little place called Celito Lindo. This is what you get for 6 bucks but if they were asking $25...I'd pay it too. It's the sauce that makes it but ugh....it is so good!

There is almost no sitting inside the 3 table restaurant so we opted to eat outside so we could enjoy the free entertainment. I love mariachis.

This brought back childhood memories for my sister and I.

I can't leave without some snacks for home. It is so hard to find a Vallarta in Orange County where I live. I can't even begin to tell you.

I love her.

I made my own makeshift alter this year. Next year it will be better but this had to do for now.

What did I bring home? My favorite pink pan dulces and comote. YUM!I know a lot of people don't understand this holiday and think its a bit strange but if you really look at its purpose and see it for its cultural beauty, I'm sure everyone can appreciate it. It's just a day we take to think of our loved ones who have passed. I'm sure there are those who do that everyday but this day is special for us. Hope you enjoyed your cultural lesson today :)