a peek into my life
 |
Its been a little quiet over here these last few months! Here’s a little peek at what has been keeping us busy!
Retail value on these All Clad pieces was $1,945…but thanks to sales and employee discounts these are going to cost us just about $850! 
Score!
Can’t wait to take these for a spin!
|
 |
What did you do Memorial Day weekend? I know quite a few people that headed up to the New England area to spend the long weekend, us included.
The week started off with a Monday night dinner at the Oxenburg’s – Amanda and I both missed a bridal shower that we were invited to last month so we decided to get together with the bride to be and have a home cooked meal…Amanda prepped the lasagna the night before so all she had to do was pop it in the oven and wait for everyone to arrive! She’s become quite domestic since she’s gotten married! ;)
I had a buy one get one free code for Moe’s…home of the Coke Freestyle machine! So on Friday before our long weekend I went out to lunch with some coworkers. Chicken burrito for me…tacos for them. I think I like this place better than Chipotle!
Since Friday was an early day for me I had time to do a set of my own gels at home. I knew a manicure wouldn’t last me through the long weekend and I didn’t want to bring a bottle of polish with me for touchups so gels were the way to go. Glitter included!
We spent Saturday and Sunday in Cape Cod on a family trip. After heading out to dinner at which I didn’t take ANY pictures because I forgot my camera at the hotel…the adults hung out and did adult things and got ready for bed while the kids hung out for a little while doing…uhh..kid things? The boys had to be up at 3AM to prep for their fishing trip so it was a relatively early night for all.
My pj’s for the weekend:
The boy packed lucky boxers in hopes that it would lead to a good fishing trip! And it worked! Everyone went home with coolers packed with fish! I *puffy heart* seabass
Since we wanted to get back home as quickly as possible on Sunday, we decided to skip a real lunch and just stop by the 7eleven in town to pick up some snacks for the road. Corn dog and a cheese stick for me and a sandwich for the boy. And one can’t go to 7eleven and not get a slurpee, right?! We even had our own slurpee bartender mixing it up for us!
When we got home we came back to find Milo with this on his back and tufts of fur all over the floor. This was the first time he’s been left alone without humans or another cat around over night so we think stress might have caused it…
Slightly panicked, we called the vet the next morning and made an appointment…he said it was an allergy…to what, no one knows. A shot, a bottle of pills and $120 later we were all back home. How one feeds a cat pills is beyond my comprehension…but I guess we’ll find out tonight. Side note: the turkey gained over a pound since his last visit in Jan! Thats 20.6 lbs of cat hiding between the boy’s legs!
We must have brought home at least 30 fish from this weekend’s trip! I decided to try to cook one up for dinner last night Chinese style…it came out pretty good for a first time try! I probably could have stopped cooking it a few minutes earlier…it was a little overdone and the oil that I put over it could have been a little hotter. At least we have plenty more for me to practice on!
|
 |
Doubling up on my weeks!
Round 2 with another avocado and this time removing the pit was a success!
And that avocado soon met some tomatoes, fresh mozz and balsamic vinegar for another healthy salad for mom!
I finally got my Influenster Love VoxBox! I was a little worried that my box might have been lost in the mail because others in the area had gotten theirs more than a week before I got mine! Contents post coming soon!
Took the bikes out for the first time this season! It was a…uhh…nice…ride? It was probably the COLDEST day in weeks. And when I say cold I mean it was 31 degrees when we STOPPED biking according to my phone. Mind you we were right next to the highway and ocean…with bone chilling winds coming at us from all directions! But nonetheless we had a good time! It was nice to get back out! I also ordered a new helmet and some gear that was on clearance for our future rides!
Look at this adorable manicure set my mom picked up for me! I doubt the tools are any good…but I’m keeping this at the office for emergencies! There have been so many times I’ve drawn blood while trying to fix my cuticle or a hangnail!
I found these Green Tea Mochis at the market. I was so happy because not only was the mochi green tea flavored, but the filling was also! Usually its red bean or some other strange filling I don’t like. I ate one and forgot the rest at the boy’s house. I said I’d pick them up next weekend…and he gave me the look like “yeah right like there will be any left by the time you come back!”
Fear not! I returned to the market only to find a JACKPOT! They also had custard filled mochi! SCORE! Or so I thought…my brother tried one…and hijacked the package from me after I had one. Oh well…I don’t need all those sweets anyway!
Pear took me out for my birthday dinner. We tried to go to The Farm on Adderley in Ditmas Park but when we got there we were told it was going to be about a 45 minute wait! The host suggested that we walk around and find a bar and then he will call us when a table would be ready.
We ended up walking over to Purple Yam and were able to get a seat over there with a minimal wait. After looking over the drink menu, we decided on a guava martini for me and a thai chili martini for Pear. The boy had a root beer We watched the bartender make Pear’s drink…he took some thai chili’s and muddled them…then into a shaker with sake and ice! I tried a little of this drink and it was SPICY!!!
I love the photoscape program I found to edit pictures. Its 823867286 times simpler than Photoshop and Lightroom! Although I’m sure the pro’s would argue that the results are no where near as good. But for my untrained eye, it makes my pictures a little more appealing…and thats what matters, right?! Here I’m working on the dinner that we had at Morimoto’s to celebrate Pear’s birthday.
|
 |
Got a new laptop at work….usually they’re hand me downs from the executives who get the real new ones….but I believe this is evidence that i got a brand spanking new one too! :)
Ordered some limited edition Android toys last week. They were all sold out from the usual places where we get them from – apparently they sold like hotcakes! We were able to find them from a vendor in Hong Kong….shipping took just about a week! (Hello ebay sellers…why do your products take 3+ weeks when I order from you in HK???) These are special Androids created by Dead Zebra for Chinese New Year!
I have been wanting a new Crock Pot for a while…and I’ve been stalking various ones on sale. Target finally put one of the fancier ones on sale for $29.99…SCORE! Cooked my first meal in it for mom…hopefully she’ll like it! We’re trying to get her to eat healthier! The recipe couldn’t be easier! I made a simple spice rub – paprika, cayenne, white pepper, black pepper, salt, thyme, onion powder and some other misc herbs I had and rubbed the bird inside and out. layered the bottom of the pot with some potatoes, carrots and celery and stuffed the cavity with some as well. Set it on low for 8 hours and the result is fall-off-the-bone chicken! :)
*NOTE…I made this recipe twice so far…I tried cooking it for 6 hours on high the next time and mom said that the chicken was much drier this time so you can’t really switch up the cooking time/heat settings. Next time I’m sticking with 8 hours on low again!
Attended a fundraiser for a friend who has a family member that is going through some medical issues. As a thank you the family made and gave out these bracelets. It says Kapatid – Sibling. Thank you for your support, From the Mayo Family.
FINALLY got a haircut! I wanted to keep the length…and so I only said 3 inches. In reality its more like 6 inches he cut off…he cut off the initial 3…and then he kept snipping and snipping when he was shaping it…
It’s only hair…it’ll grow back right? :T
And we can’t get a cut without some color right? I asked for blue-black this time. I wanted something darker than usual. I had a minor panic attack when the girl’s gloves started to take on a hue of purple!! But it came out good. I love the color! And its rare that I love anything with my hair! I just wish I had time for an oil treatment too because it only LOOKS shiny and healthy…it feels like straw!
Starbucks gold card! I haven’t really used the card much…since I just go to get the free drinks that I accumulate from dad’s transactions!
|
 |
WARNING: Long winded and picture filled post ahead! Settle down and get comfy…its gonna be a long read!
This might be a new record of the time between getting the pictures up from when they were taken!
Here goes our little vacation recap!
I had it all planned out. Neatly mapped on an excel sheet like I always do for our trips – activities, meals, plans and alternate ideas all plotted and color coded (its the PMP in me I can’t help it!). Only this time I had a slight hunch that things just MIGHT be different…
Our original plan was to leave early on Saturday morning and get to the condo around noon to drop our luggage off and then get right back on the road to head down to Cape May for lunch, sightseeing and dinner…That plan quickly went into the crapper. :( The day we left the region got a record snowfall for the month of October! That made driving down to Jersey quite a trip. At some points it was blizzard like conditions with little visibility. By the time we were half way there most of the snow was just rain. But we decided that even if it was just raining, continuing onto Cape May would be a waste since a lot of the things I wanted to see/do were outdoors. Our plan was to reschedule that for another day during the week. It ended up being a good decision since we were able to take our time unpacking our luggage and organizing the place to our liking for the week. I also like to wash all of the sheets and towels on the first day since the apartment only gets used a few times a year…I think the last time my aunt was there was Easter!
We settled in and cooked dinner. Since the weather was crappy, some comfort food was in order. String beans with ground pork, steamed spare ribs and melon/pork bone soup.
Since the boy had the nerve to complain that whenever I cook, I always make the same thing…so I thought up some new dishes to make this time around. There were some definite hits and misses. Recipes to follow!
I must say that I am most proud of my soup! Its my first pot of ‘Chinese soup’ that I’ve ever made! *pats self on back!* Although its a pretty simple one, I still think its delish! I remember my grams always making this with her bounty of melon from the garden in the summer. And it couldn’t be simpler…bring some pork bones, a few slices of ginger, and a few slices of Chinese salted turnip to a boil. Let it boil for about 15-20 minutes and reduce to a low simmer for 2-2.5 hours. During the last 30 minutes throw in some dried shrimp and your melon. Let the melon cook until tender and add salt to taste. TA DA! :) I actually didn’t need to add much salt because of the turnips!
After dinner the boy helped me clean up and we settled down and watched Cars 2…a nice eding to a long day.
The agenda for our second day was to go running on the boardwalk and then hit up Hooters for lunch since the boy had to watch the Giants game. Running was important for us because we didn’t want to be complete sloths all week. :) The morning runs were gorgeous! We headed out about 10am each day. Its so peaceful and scenic on the boardwalk in the off season!
picture of the beach snapped from my phone before our run
Lunch was pretty uneventful…Hooters wings were good as usual. Hooters has the DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket package so they play every game every Sunday. It was pretty crowded in there and plenty of people were in their jerseys cheering on their teams. The waitress we had was slightly over attentive and would ask us every 15 minutes if we needed anything so we decided to pack it up and leave. The boy ended up watching the end of the game on the 2nd floor of the condo where they have a big tv in the common area.
Also on the plan today was to check out Steel Pier. I haven’t been there in years and during the off season they are open on the weekends. Instead of driving we decided to walk (I just mapped it out and its 1.5 miles each way!) that way we could snap some nice pictures on the way. They had a giant Monopoly board in front of Caesars so of course we had to stop and horse around a bit! Did you know that the board game was based on places in or around Atlantic City? :)
As we got closer to the pier the boy and I noticed that it didn’t look open…no flashing lights…no rides were on…we got to the gate and there was a sign kindly notifying us that it was closed for a private party! BOO!!!
Since we walked all the way down to the end of the boardwalk we went into Trump Taj Mahal for a bathroom break and to wander around a little bit. After a little froyo stop we were pleasantly surprised to see a White House Sub Shop had opened there! It worked out nicely since we had planned on going there once during our visit anyway! The boy had the bright idea of getting enough for two meals – he wanted to try the hot sandwiches as well as the original. These babies are enormous! We got 2 halves of the hot variety and one whole of the original. This probably would have lasted me a week but the boy can eat like a linebacker so it was a good amount for two meals for us.
On our way back we passed by an arcade that had the boy’s absolute favorite…CRANE GAMES! A row of at least 15 games lined both sides of the place. It wasn’t a question. We WERE going in! They had everything from domos to smurfs to care bears…to our favorite – angry birds! He ended up winning two – the yellow one and the black one.
Camera and sandwiches in tow, back to the boardwalk for the 1.5 mile trek back to the condo!
When we got back we parked our asses in front of the TV and spent the next few hours watching Fringe as we munched on our sandwiches.
We thought that it would be a good idea to avoid the outlets on the weekends so we saved it for Monday! Leftover sandwiches for lunch and then off to The Walk we went! We got some pretty good deals…but the best of the day was by the boy – he got a pair of cashmere lined gloves from Coach for $48! I was able to pick up some air freshener refills from Bath and Body Works and some sweaters from Banana Republic. Overall we got what we needed and not too much impulse buying! :)
Since we did a lot of walking I decided that I wasn’t in the mood to cook dinner so we decided to take the car out and drive to Harrah’s to hit up the Waterfront Buffet. So far this is my favorite one that I’ve been to. They have a huge variety of food and more importantly its CLEAN!
Fast forward to Tuesday…we woke up for another morning run. The agenda for the day was to check out the AC light house, aquarium and The Pier Shops at Caesars. After our run the lazy bug bit us. Hard. We decided to skip the light house and aquarium. I cooked a quickie lunch of instant noodles and wontons and then we parked ourselves on the couch for another few hours of Fringe!
Before we knew it, the sun had set and our tummies were rumbling again! I had mapped out 4 Viet restaurants near the condo that we could try. The first one we walked to was closed for renovations! So off to our second choice. Our hopes weren’t that high since our favorite Viet restaurant in Brooklyn still hasn’t been matched!
The boy got the equivalent of what would be a #1 at most restaurants. He said that there was a little more tendon in there than he would like and he also found some meatballs in there which we’ve never seen in a #1! I tried the broth and it tasted very herbal as opposed to the usual mix of spices in pho broth.
I wanted something on the lighter side so I ordered the ban xeo which was actually much better than the one I get from our fav spot at home!
The springrolls were a fail. They used regular egg roll wrappers instead of the rice paper wrappers that is normally used. The insides were a bit flavorless and they were pretty greasy.
The summer rolls on the other hand were yummy! Freshly made (wrappers were still slightly warm!) and the ingredients inside were at their prime!
After dinner we walked back to the boardwalk and back to the condo to watch more…you guessed it Fringe!
Wednesday marked the half way point of our vacation….we went for another morning run and then stopped into Starbucks so I could FINALLY get my first red cup drink of the season! I made another quickie lunch of snow cabbage, pork and bamboo shoot soup noodles (I’m getting good at this!) and we watched a few more episodes of Fringe before heading out to The Pier Shops. No picture of lunch because as delicious as it is…this dish was horrifically un-photogenic!
I’m a bit of a MAC junkie so I collected all of my empty containers and brought them with me since I knew there was a MAC inside The Pier. I had enough to get 4 free lipsticks with their recycling program! I probably could have found enough empty containers to get 5 lipsticks if I really tried! I decided on just two lipsticks for now. :)
We walked into Caesars from The Pier and found that they had a video roulette table there! The type where its a live dealer spinning the wheel and dropping the ball, but instead of the table with everyone reaching over one another to put their chips down and such, you sit at your individual screen and place your bets there instead! Just my style! No one to invade my personal space! No dirty chips! Too bad about half the screens had “out of service” flashing on them!
Dinner this night was Cornish hens and pasta. Big FAIL here… 
And I was so excited about cooking my little hens too! Flavor wise it was fine…it is just that the oven at the condo wasn’t accurate and I didn’t have an oven thermometer to check the temp. In the end, two little hens took over 90 minutes to cook! Resulting in overcooked pasta as well.
I cleaned and dried the hens…put a little butter under the skin and sprinkled the top with Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning. I stuffed 1/4 of an onion into the cavity, placed a slice of pancetta on top and laid them down on some carrots and potatoes in the pan. After an hour in the oven the juices were still not running clear! So back in they went. In the meantime I had made some pasta – just an olive oil and garlic sauce. Here comes the fatal mistake…I hadn’t timed it out well….so the pasta had gotten cold by the time the hens were ready. So I put the pan back on the heat so it could heat up….but since it was an oil based sauce it made the pasta super crispy! FAIL!
The pancetta was probably the best part of the meal….like a porky potato chip!
eyes tired from reading yet?
stomach growling from all the food pics yet?
…to be continued
|
 |
every year the boys do a secret santa exchange and every year ash and I usually try to hang out to kill time waiting for them to finish.
this year we decided to invite some girls along to join us for a hot pot at ash’s place. for those of you who don’t know what “hot pot” is…just think of it as asian fondue! you dip a variety of raw meats/veggies/tofu/noodles, etc into a pot of broth to cook it. finish it off by dipping into your own sauce creation just prior to eating.
the plans were set. i’d drop the boy off at his secret santa exchange and then head over to ash’s to start our mini feast…wrong! on saturday morning the boy tells me the guys are relocating their secret santa to ash and steve’s house! a quick text confirmation with ash proves true. why? because the boys didn’t make dinner plans/arrangements and decided to crash on ours! no big deal…except i went grocery shopping for food for 5 girls…not 5 girls plus 10 guys! after some quick scrambling, the boy and i managed to pick up some more food for our meal that now turned into a feast! see, when you’re buying for only 5 small appetites, you’re quite limited to the amount of stuff you can actually get…but add 10 boy’s stomachs to that and you can double/triple the variety!
off to the market and $60 later the boy and i shuffled over to steve and ash’s place to start prepping. now i thought prepping would be quick and easy…there was no cooking involved by me after all since all of the cooking would take place at the table. BUT…in reality it took about 3 hours to prep all of the food! washing, chopping, arranging, etc!
the spread was: nappa cabbage, spinach, 3 types of noodles – mung bean, udon, vermicelli, fish tofu, fish balls – both regular and stuffed with tobiko!, enoki mushrooms, firm tofu, fried tofu, pork dumplings, xo wontons, konyaku bundles, and lots of meat – two types of beef – fatty and regular, chicken and pork. if i had more time to plan, i probably would have bought less of each item so i could increase the variety even more…manila clams anyone???
after everyone was stuffed to the gills, the boys went to open their gifts. they drew cards to determine the order and off they went. some were too excited about opening their gifts to stand long enough to pose for a nice picture with it!
the boy got what he wanted from his wish list – he broke his gaming headset a while back so he got a replacement.
many thanks to our host steve, ash and baby O! ironically, steve hates hot pot…and thats the reason why ash and i decided to do it that night – because steve was supposed to be out of the house for dinner!
|
9-5 desk junkie by day...ninja in training by night! I like cooking, crafting, vodka, hello kitty, sparkles, photography and anything related to Hawaii! Come join me in my little corner of the interwebs and take a peek into my life! 
