Adopt!

In trying to keep my new years resolution to continue to donate more time/money I found this awesome shirt from Obey where a portion of the proceeds go to the Adopt-a-Pet foundation and instantly decided I had to have it. I didn't get it under the Christmas tree but Mr. Bumblebee pulled through for me on my birthday. I love it! Tess loves it! 

So if you love it as much as I do, consider purchasing one and helping out this great cause! 

Go here to purchase it!

(Please excuse Tess' shagged look...we've been busy but a haircut is on the list of things to do!) 

I see blue skies...

My birthday was a bit complicated this year. It fell on a Saturday but I had agreed to help a family member out by doing all the desserts for the wedding. Even though I had a blast doing, it was nonetheless stressful and exhausting. I will blog about all that later. The morning after the wedding, when I could take my first deep breath in weeks, Bumblebee MIL came up with the best idea ever, to walk across the island and take the ferry over to Ruby's Diner on the pier. The crystal clear blue skies, and clean blue waters made the day a very special day. Reminding me to be thankful for all I have this year of my life. 

 While taking the ferry over, we saw an unfortunate but cool sight. Those are sea lions on top of that boat...which is pretty cool to see them so close and just hanging out. However it is unfortunate because they trashed that boat...the owners hopefully have sea-lion damage insurance to cover their loses.

 It was just such a beautiful sky and day we had to take one photo. We all look a little rugged because of the previous day/week of wedding prep...but it was such a lovely way to spend the morning.

family = love

Is that a mirage?

Bumblebee MIL was a genius at work when she mentioned a trip to the desert. Not only was it a much needed break from our daily lives, but the weather gods humored us and gave us 80+ degree weather to soak up. It was such a relaxing trip. First thing we did when we got there: Mr. Bumblebee headed off for a round of golf, and I threw on my bathing suit for some tanning...I had the entire pool to myself...it was heaven! 

That night after a yummy homecooked dinner, Mr Bumblebee, Bumblebee FIL and I headed off to the local casino to give our luck a try. I won 80 bucks, wouldn't you know it. I know it doesn't sound like much but I was only gambling about 20 to begin with. Not bad for one hour in a casino. 

The next day we did a little shopping in the desert and then ate at the club. I forgot to take pictures :( But the food was delicious and the people are so friendly. It was time for another round of golf but I decided to do everyone a favor and drive the golf cart for the ::wink wink::

 See, gorgeous I tell you!

 Mr. Bumblebee at the practice putting green...love his little hate.

 Not quite where he wanted the ball to go...

I drove around until hole 4/5 then got bored of it...but it was a fun time while it lasted....

We ate dinner again there and then packed up and drove home. It was a short trip but it was lovely. I'm so glad we have to option to head out to a mirage anytime we want to and enjoy it. Hopefully we will find the time to head out there again soon.

Everything's coming up roses...

Between the wedding we went to, that Bumblebee MIL did the flowers for, and my birthday, my house is filled with flowers! I love it!

What small things brighten up your day?

Congrats to A & K!

I took a few days off from blogging to recover from the very busy weekend I had with a wedding that I catered the desserts for and my birthday! But first, let me congratulate the newest members to the married club, Congrats A and K! Hope your wedding was everything you wanted. I hope you liked the desserts!

26 Years...

26 years ago...

Time sure does fly when you are having fun...

I have big plans for my 26th year...

to LIVE. 

Thank you to all who continue to make my life worth living.

Come to the dark side...

I'm pretty sure that not all of my family and friends LOVE the idea of my blog. Why, I'll never understand. But to each their own, I don't care as long as they don't spoil my fun. However, that being said, I do feel a little bit of satisfaction when I have a friend who decides to ask me about my blog, and then starts their own. Once they've started and seen how much it can be, they are off! They understand my love for blogging, reading blogs, etc. Well, D has recently fallen to the dark side and started her very own blog. I couldn't be happier for her. Not only am I glad she's blogging to start with...but heck! Her blog is good! She recently inherited a lot of antique/old things and she's been using her fantastic imagination to breath new life into these items. Take a stroll over to D's new blog and leave her some love!

The Art of Rust

If you must ask about my mustache...

I get so many compliments when I wear this necklace and since mustaches are the new trend, I wanted to give some credit to where I bought it from. I first saw Flea Market Girl in Costa Mesa at the Unique OC. This necklace was...wait for it...5 bucks! What a steal. I hope they realize how much joy they've given me!

Happy Birthday BB!

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

I still can't believe you are old enough to make all these adult decisions you are making recently. But this year you graduate from college and are the same age I was when I got married. You couldn't make Mr. Bumblebee, mom, dad, or me prouder. You are and will forever be...my touchstone.

Now go out there and party and make some bad decisions!

Appetizer Recipe from my Auntie!

So my aunt made these for us on Thanksgiving and they are basically the most addicting appetizer you've ever had. So I bugged her and my cousin for the recipe and they are so easy to make...I just have to share. 

You buy one package of bacon, smoky links, some brown sugar, and a tin pan (the most important part!).

Cut the bacon in half and roll each link in the bacon, secure with a toothpick...

 See? Easy...

 Once the whole container is full, throw a ton of brown sugar on top. I'd say a cup. Then put it in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or bacon is at the right crispiness to your liking. Stir a few times.

How funny...I don't have a picture of the finished product...that's not something I did on purpose. They are just that good! Thanks Auntie!!!

Bestie Party

As I write this blog, I'm pretty upset. See, I made my first full fledge meal for a party of 8 people. I worked my butt off on the menu and of course....I forgot to take pictures of any of my food!!!! No pictures of my food. No pictures of my friends in my house. NADA! Luckily Mr. Bumblebee is smart enough to grab a camera when he hears "shots!" from the group of us. 

 That was fun. Of course we kept the kids outside...and this was the sad face we got....chewnola in mouth and sad eyes at full capacity...don't worry, we left the garage for them to get into to keep warm, she just kept checking to make sure the door was still closed.

 Then, once the party got rolling...we played Apples to Apples. Never played that game before but I liked it. My sister and I had the "creepy-sister-brain-connection" to keep us at the top of the game. We are good at reading each other's minds.

That was all for the photos that night. I'm sad I don't have more but I figure it's a good excuse to get everyone over again! I had a blast. I know for my friends it was a long ride that night, but I hope it was enough fun for them that they'd be willing to come down again and maybe make a weekend out of it. I'm glad that they love me enough to come....THANKS GUYS!

Do it for the puppies!

One of my resolutions this year was to volunteer more and do a little more giving. Unfortunately my life is so busy fulfilling family and friend obligations, but I can still help by donating things to my favorite causes. If you haven't noticed by now, I am a big animal lover. Especially dogs. I've got all the paperwork to fill out to volunteer some time at the local shelter but until I can find some of that time, I can help out in other ways.
Most animal shelters are being cut back because of budget cuts, which is understandable. So they rely on people's generosity to provide the dogs the adequate care. My shelter provides a "Wishlist" with things that range from specific brand dog foods to gently used dog toys to newspapers and sharpies. Whenever I get the opportunity to get free dog food samples, or if I get them in the mail, I happily store them until I have enough and take them to the shelter. So next time you are going to throw out your newspaper or get rid of some towels that don't match...consider giving them to your local animal shelter.
Here is a list of the animal shelters in California....
Do it for the puppies...

I Spy Naughty Puppies!

Mr. Bumblebee recently got a Sony Playstation Move which turns his Playstation into a Wii system. Anyways, Mr. Bumblebee figured out that he can watch it from work and spy on a certain pair of pooches and actually find out what they are doing during the day...

For the most part we saw them stretching and laying around...

They made themselves very comfortable...yes that is her sleeping on her back. She was like that for quite some time, probably even snoring. 

However, the longer we watched...the more naughty things we caught. That's her practically standing on top of our end table. She knows better than that. 

 And the next day, she jumped up on the ottoman, which she is very aware that she isn't allowed to do, and proceeds to lay down and take a nap for several hours.

When Mr. Bumblebee called the house so the phone would ring, she jumped down faster than you could say "BUSTED!".

Too bad there really is no way for us to discipline her since we can't really catch her in the act.

But we are watching you Tess...always watching you.

Need Some Ideas?

Someone's birthday is coming up...::wink wink:: 

My photographer, Serena Grace, recently posted a blog about a wedding she was in and each of the bridesmaids received this personalized ring...let's just marvel at it please? It is too cute and I'm secretly hoping that Mr. Bumblebee stumbles across this blog ::wink wink::

This is right up my alley! I love a little mad hatter/alice in my wardrobe. 

I bought my Bestie a whoppie pie pan for her birthday and to be honest, I'm a little jealous! I want to be able to make these yummy treats with my own pan. 

And there you have it friends. Birthday wishlist 2011. I hate to say it but I am not looking forward to turning another year older. I am quite happy at my age now and I feel that I would be happy if I just stopped growing up. Hopefully I will have someway of easing this pain of going downhill to 30 and I'm pretty sure it starts with WI and ends with NE.

Modeling Career??

I recently got a rare glimpse into the world of commercial modeling. Mr. Bumblebee works as a research design engineer and is getting ready to release his new product or "baby". This portion of the company had a smaller budget for their photo shoot and so to save some money, Mr. Bumblebee recommend that I and his cousin D fill in as models so they would only have to hire one professional (and expensive) model. When he mentioned I would get a mani, makeup and hair plus a generous pay for the day, I jumped at the opportunity. 

D was in the make up chair, I was so glad she came. To be honest, the shoot was really boring. They would set something up and set the lighting up and the camera angle and then we'd come in and we'd shoot for a few minutes and then wait an hour while they set up the next shoot. But D kept me entertained. No matter what we were doing in the photos, they always told us to smile, even though it didn't always make sense to smile...I guess that is just commerical photography, but we made a joke of it..."I smile when I do anything!".  

 Wardrobe was kind of boring, it was business casual...no designer dresses in chiffon for me.

 D and I were both on our game. We needed little direction and nailed our photos right away. I see a career in this for us...haha.

 While talking to the photographer we learned that each piece of his equipment, including his computer, probably cost more than my car. This was heavy duty equipment, the lights, stage, cameras, flashes, computers.

 So glad I have her close by!

 If you were at the shoot, you would have had no idea that Mr. Bumblebee and I were married. He was so professional, sometimes too professional with his attitude. I had to remind him a few times that he goes home with me...haha. Poor guy was pretty stressed out. I never knew how much work goes into a photo shoot and this was his "baby" so he wanted everything perfect. The boy worked his butt off.

 Lunch time! I grabbed for the meat lovers pizza, but the model and D both reached for the veggie, healthy choice. Exhibit A why I wouldn't make it in the modeling world.

 This was the pro model. Not only was she gorgeous, but man she knew how to pose. I was pretty impressed with how fast D and I caught on with the whole commercial modeling gig, but this lady has it down. It's not hard to take a picture of someone using a product, but her photos looked so much better. She had some pretty interesting modeling/runway stories to tell us in her early days.

 I had to show you what I saw from the other side of the camera. Not very interesting...this is what I had to work with people!

After D and I got all our shots done, 6 hours later mind you, I noticed that Mr. Bumblebee was going into the make up chair. They needed a man for several shots and Mr. Bumblebee was nominated to fill the void. So into the make up chair for airbrushing and powder. Haha. He cleaned his face the second he got home which I preferred anyways. I love those freckles!

All and all it was a fun experience. It was boring and tiresome. I wasn't thrilled with how my make up and hair turned out but it was the "look" they wanted. But I got to hang with the hubby all day, get a free mani, make some extra cash, and had a good reason to go out to dinner afterwards. Yeah, I'd do it again.

Andrei's Conscious Cuisine

We've been trying to find some restaurants to try in our area and after a long day of working together which included me getting my makeup and hair done, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. Andrei's Conscious Cuisine has been some place I've wanted to try for awhile. I know of a few OC girls who are regulars there for business. 

I like that they leave the water at our table. I drink a lot of water sometimes and I hate having to wait for refills. 

I ordered the pomegranate margarita. I don't like drinks where I can't taste the alcohol, even if it's a lot and it's just the mix of the drink, especially with margaritas. This was a nice combo, the right amount of sweetness and tequila. Mr. Bumblebee ordered his regular rum and coke, no picture needed. 

 We ordered their ceaser salads and munched on bread rolls. I wasn't impressed with this salad or the dressing at all. Meh meh meh.

 Same with the rolls, not a good start.

 Mr. Bumblebee ordered the King Crab Ravioli with a Ginger Tomato Broth and vegetables. The sauce wasn't overwhelming the tastes of the crab. The extra chunks of crab meat on the plate was a nice touch. Mr. Bumblebee mentioned that the ravioli wouldn't have been enough so I'm glad they included that. The ravioli had a nice combination of cheese and crab.

 I ordered the Free-Range Mary's Farm Chicken Breast Stuffed with Mushrooms, Fennel & Pomegranate Seeds, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Couscous, Pomegranate-Infused Natural Au Jus.  

 It was ok. All the vegetables were overcooked and the cinnamon couscous didn't taste cinnamony at all. The chicken however was yummy along with the Au Jus sauce.
Because I didn't like my veggies over cooked, I ordered a side of their creamed corn. I don't like it when creamed corn is mushy. I like it when it's corn in cream sauce. And this provided me that. It was crunchy fresh corn in a nice warm creamy sauce...probably not good for my new year's diet at all.

Overall, we weren't wow-ed at all. But the environment was really pleasant. On Tuesday nights they offer Free Corkage and if you go during happy hour, their menu looks pretty good! They change them menu every season because they only use fresh local products. So if maybe you weren't a fan of this season's offerings, you might want to check out the next season's. Which, on a Tuesday night, I think I'd be up for.