observations, anecdotes & good times

Guitar Session

2009-08-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I took the other day of Chris and Raphael having a jam session with their acoustic guitars, wanted to share with everyone.

One more thing, I would like to thank everyone who has commented on my blog. You all rock! Even though I do not have a lot of followers- I really appreciate everyones input. What a great way for everyone to share thoughts, advice and ideas by simply blogging. I have only done this a couple of weeks and I am truly enjoying posting and reading your blogs as well.

True Blood, do you watch?

2009-08-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Finally Raphael is taking his nap. I can now sit down drink some ice tea and relax for a bit. I like Mondays. I get to catch up on "True Blood" - are you a fan? We don't have cable/ digital TV (glad we don't otherwise I would be a TV Junkie) BUT if I do want to watch a show I either Netflix it, watch in on Hulu or do a search on the internet and watch it illegally. When I heard people talk about True Blood I was unable to watch it in a legal way so thank fully I found a site where you can watch it (pretty good quality too) and they update it with a new episode the day after it airs. Since it is on Sunday nights- I get to see it on Monday when Raphael is asleep. If you haven't seen the show I recommend it. www.watchtrueblood.net Can I get in trouble for posting this site? I hope not!

2009-08-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Bought this skirt today at Forever 21- a collection they put together called Cirque 21. It's been out for a while so I was lucky to find this skirt in my size, but I am having trouble finding a top for it. Now starting to regret purchasing it, but I think it's so cute! Will find a top and shoes hopefully soon.

New Funny or Die video this one its with Mandy Moore.. made me chuckle

2009-08-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Energy Douche with Mandy Moore from Mandy Moore

Lego: Design, Buy, Build and Play

2009-08-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

My brother mentioned the other day that he is working on designing his own legos.

My reaction was: say what?!

It's true, you can design a figure out of your own imagination,

let's say you want to have a lego model of your house. You can totally do it!

Download the software from http://factory.lego.com/ start designing

once completed they ship you the pieces and you get to put them together.

Pretty awesome!

Back to School

2009-08-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I started school yesterday. Geez.. as I write this I am a wee embarrassed about talking about this. I feel old. I know I am not, heard it before- one is never too old to go back to school blah blah blah. At my age most people have a degree whether its an A.A or a B.A.

After high school I did go to a private expensive fashion school for a semester. I stopped going for 2 reasons: I was paying as I was going and I found a job in the field I wanted to work in so I felt I would take the hands on learning route. I worked for a Clothing Company in L.A. for 4 years. We did Product Development with Hot Topic (our line was exclusively with them). I helped design, even did the bookkeeping for a little bit, assisted Celebrity Stylist whenever they visited our Boutique. Worked with Sewing Contractors, checked on the quality of the production... I did a lot learned a lot more than you can ever learn in a book. But then the company closed and right before that happened thankfully I found a job at a major clothing label (billabong). I was the Field Quality Control person. I visited contractors and vendors so I was hardly in the office... I really enjoyed it! The pay and benefits were excellent!!! I stopped working there a month before I had my son, deciding whether or not to go back to work after the couple of months of maternity leave was a hard decision. I decided to stay at home and raise him myself. My husband is a Web Developer and is able to take care of all 3 of us so why not? Like I mentioned on my profile I do not regret this decision at all.

Now that my son is 2, I realized how hard it is to find a job- so many people unemployed, economy is still sucky- so the best thing to do while looking after my son is go back to school finish my A.A. in Fashion Merchandising and if all goes well get my B.F.A. in Fashion Illustration or Textiles or something in that same field still undecided. I have some regret, wish I would have done this 4 years ago, but you see in all of the jobs I have had I got paid as if I had a degree (the money was good). So I now feel I took 5 steps back and I am back to square one. Like my husband says, I just need to get over that feeling and just do it! He sounds like a Nike add.

Poladroid

2009-08-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

I miss taking poladroid pictures, don't you? When Kodak discontinued making the famous instant cameras I was a bit sad.

I like digital and love 35mm cameras, but not having a poladriod camera anymore? It was a classic way of taking pictures capturing fun moments.

When I found out that now you can have a similar experience it put a smile on my face. Go to www.poladroid.net there you can download the software which takes a couple of minutes. Once installed, just frap and drop your pictures from your computer to the Poladroid icon and wait until your picture comes out with that Poladroid touch. You get to do 10 at a time... so what I did if after dropping 10 and saving the new image I closed the program and started a new session. I was very happy with the end result and wanted to share my favorite ones with you.

Storytime

2009-08-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Before Chris and I tuck in Raphael the following books must be read to him otherwise he will refuse to go to sleep. I highly recommend these books as well for your little ones if you don't have them.

Book #1. Where the Wild Things Are by: Maurice Sendak

A classic story (one of my favorite kids books as well). This October you will get to see the live action movie directed by Spike Jonze which I am very excited to see.

Book#2. The is a Bird on Your Head by: Mo Willems

Any book by Mo is a funny read that will make both you and your kid laugh. Mo Willems use to be a writer for Sesame Street so guarantee it will be good.

Book#3. quiet LOUD! and book#4. No no Yes yes by: Leslie Patricelli

This is a series of books (we only have 2 of them). My toddler loves to point out and name the images he recognizes and say whether it is quiet loud or a no-no yes-yes

A few of my favorite things

2009-08-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Squirrel and Nut Container $18.00

Growing up my parents use to have one

DIY Chinese Writing Kit $16.00

Always wanted to learn this kit is perfect!

Whale of a good time reusable water bottle $22.99

Water is all I mostly drink (apart from coffee) so this is perfect- eco friendly too.

Semiconductor Pants by BBDakota $74.99

Love the piping detail!

Old Time Pocket Watch Necklace $24.99

Pocket watch for the ladies.

Cherry on Top Purse by indie designer Tatyana for Bettie Page Clothing $64.99

Absolutely adorable don't you think?

Kiss and Tell Pump by Poetic Licence $94.95

Love the color, the lace makes it romantic- a victorian twist.

Black Halo makes amazing garments (sexy, classic, so yummy)!

Jackie O' Dress $345

What were they thinking?

2009-08-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

My husband Chris sent me a couple of links to some children toy commercials gone bad. The first one is a bot creepy and the second one, well you'll see.

Potty Training Madness

2009-08-13T13:26:00.001-07:00

I have read on this subject matter for a year now. Raphael is 26 months old and potty training has not been easy. This morning I let him run around naked thinking that would be a better way of him telling me when he needed to be seated on his potty- I was wrong! He peed on the carpet (twice).

This afternoon after his nap I decided to just have him put his tidy whities (no success there). I ask him if he needs to go potty his answer is always NO!

I know I know I need to be patient. But this has been going on for a couple of weeks I'd like to think I have tried everything, but maybe I have not.

Any suggestions?

Summer Favorite Picks so far

2009-08-11T10:23:00.001-07:00

Raphael insisted on wearing these shoes in spite of the fact that they are 1 size too big.

Chris at Venice Beach he always wanted to be buried in the sand and my brother, Raphael and I made that dream come true.

Picture taken by Chris on his way to his Nature Walk (thought this was funny).

Time to eat with his Yo Gabba Gabba pals

I love my bike

2009-08-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Pedals turning, my thighs burning. Riding my bicycle takes me back to my childhood. The season was summer and school was out. My bike and I were inseparable. I was never good at sports, but did great bike riding.

When Chris and I married back in 2005, we wanted to buy each other our first presents as husband and wife. At the time we lived in Long Beach where there's several of bike lanes on the street and by the beach, we decided to purchase each other bicycles. I decided on the Paul Frank Julius Beach Cruiser by Nirve, exactly the kind of bike I would have wanted as a little girl. Chris on the other hand wanted a Chopper (not the motorcycle, the actual riding bicycle one). We shopped various of bike shoppes searching for our ideal bikes until we finally found one in Belmont Shores. They were both costly, but completely worth it. For about 6 months we were riding our bikes almost everyday after work. We then moved to a different apartment closer to Los Angeles. We became busy with work. played tennis for a little bit and soon after I became pregnant. For 3 years our bike collected layers and layers of dust. There's even some rust- not too much though- hardly noticeable.

I must have had too much coffee last week because I was on a roll cleaning the house, rearranging furniture, laundry, even cleaned out our balcony and what did I come across with? You you got it (no cliff hanger here),I was reunited with my bike. Once cleaned both were good as new. I fell in love again with my bike. Since then I have been riding my bike ever since.

Damn, I forgot I was chunky!

2009-08-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I was looking through my old hotmail account that I have had since 2001. I check it every few months- it's not my primary account, but I still like to keep it. I was browsing my saved e-mails and clicked on the ones that had attachments. "Holy, crap, damn I forgot how chunky I was in my early 20's," I thought to myself. It's pretty embarrassing really because at the time, I knew I had gained a little weight after high school, but did not realize how much until now. At the time I would see Chris every couple of months since he lived in England so the time we were apart I would miss him and found comfort in food.... I would eat out a lot! The other factor that contributed to my weight gain was the birth control I was taking at the time (the patch). I never weighed myself always afraid of the number. It wasn't until I got married I was determined to loose weight. I was a yo-yo dieter. Two years after being married I gave birth to our son and was afraid of not ever loosing the baby weight, so I researched on-line the best way to loose weight. I had tried weight watchers and lost 10 lbs. but I wanted something were I did not want to prepare every meal of the day. I decided on ordering Medifast. It's pricey... 300 bucks a month- but well worth it. I tried it for two months. My good friend Cindy ordered it as well- which was great as we motivated eachother. I was 150 lbs. when I started and ended at 137 lbs. So, on December 2008 I was a size 6. Now, I weigh 141 lbs. so I gave gained 4 lbs. I am a little disappointment, but I have started to cut my portions in half so hopefully by Christmas I will be 135 lbs which is my goal for now as I am 5' 6" and I think that is the median weight for my height and my size 36 DD boobs. All I can say is that I think I look better now compared to then. Makes me wonder what I will think 3 years from now when I see pictures of me now. Oh and what the fuck I'm I wearing in these older pics... geez!

June 2009 Raphael and me at the Huntington Library (Photo by: Chris Baldock)

April 2009 My good friend Daniela and me (Photo by: Jennifer Nigro)

April 2006 Chris and me (Photo by: Jennifer Nigro)

May 2006 Daniela, Chris and me at the Stone Bar (photo taken by: unknown)

The Laundromat: Where old acquaintances meet

2009-08-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

With seven loads of laundry to do, I decided the fastest way to complete all loads is down the street at the Laundromat. I take my book by Eckhart Tolle, called "A New Earth" to read; he is a spiritual teacher with several interesting stories and ideas in which I like to read so this should make my time at the laundromat easier. Before I start my day I stop by 3rd Street Coffee and order an Iced Coffee.... mmmnn coffee yum! As I arrive at the Laundromat I start throwing clothes to 7 different machines (and yes, I said throwing because that is basically what I do, I don't separate the garments by color, shape or size. I do not discriminate. Some may say I am lazy, well it's laundry for goodness sake it will wash either way. Most of our clothes are dark colors anyway so it doesn't matter).

As I am pouring the detergent into the appliances, I hear a voice in spanish say: "Good Morning." I look up I realize that it is a fellow sister of mine when I was a Jehovah Witness. She invites me to their next assembly meeting and leaves me a brochure to read. The whole time I was wondering if she recognized me or not. I did not want to tell her who I was because it would have been too awkward, I wasn't in the mood to answer any questions such as: "What have you been up to?" and "Why did you stop going to the meetings?"

I use to tutor her two kids, she would pay me pretty good money too. I would go to their house for bible reading, even accompany her to preach door to door. For the last couple of years I had forgotten that I use to have a whole different lifestyle. I was a Jehovah Witness. I never really spoke about this to anyone. I guess subconsciously I wanted to forget the fact that I was once a "JW" never put much thought into it, until now.

When I was 5 years old I started attending meetings with my mother. I did not have a happy home, so going to meeting and having friends there made home life much easier. At age 12 I decided to get baptized. I wanted to let Jehovah know that I loved him and that I wanted to share the "New World Translation" bibles teachings to others. Since my father wasn't in the religion nor my two brothers several people would look up to me and my mother. I was so dedicated that when my mom would miss the meetings I would find a ride to the kingdom hall. I would always attend the meetings (all 3 of them...every-week, plus Saturday's door-to-door preaching- that's a whole lot of dedication for a little girl). I even gave bible studies to other children. At the end of the month I would turn in my time with one of the elders. Basically, everyone who was baptized would turn in a sheet of paper totaling the hours of door-to-door preaching, number of bible studies and number of literature that was handed out. I remember my average being between 10 and 15 hours a month with 2 or 3 bible studies. (Note: each congregation consists if 4 or 5 elders who conduct the kingdom halls and are representatives of the religion headquarters in Brooklyn called the Watchtower).

At 14, we moved 35 miles away to a different city closer to my mothers work. It was very hard for me as I was leaving several of my friends. Luckily, in the new kingdom hall we were assigned to I met new friends. However, the first year in high school was hard for me as all of my new friends attended other high schools. So that meant I had to make some more new friends. As a Jehovah Witness it is looked down if one associates with "worldly" people. Who are "worldly" people? In short, if you are not a JW, then you are worldly. When I was making friends the people I mostly connected with were "worldly." I had more things in common with them, I felt comfortable. It took me a couple of years to realize this. At first, I tried to ignore this feeling knowing that what I felt was wrong so I associated myself with other JW's from other congregations. I found a couple of friends who I felt comfortable with, but still something in back of my mind I felt that I was not being myself. Again, I pushed that feeling aside and enrolled myself to become an Auxiliary Pioneer (which means preaching 30 hours a month, actually I can't remember the exact hours, but I know it was a lot). I thought maintaining myself busy that feeling would go away. But once I became an Auxiliary pioneer I was still going to see bands play, the occasional club, and hanging out with worldly people. I noticed that a couple of other JW's actions outside the religion were also living a double life. I slowly stopped going to church. I thought to myself how much I hated hypocrites and for a moment I was becoming one. I never officially announced to the elders of my decision, or the organization. I just stopped going. I received a lot of messages from elders asking to see how I was, but I never wanted to speak to them as I knew I had to explain my decision and did not feel I should defend myself as I was happy. Around this time, my mom stopped to go the meetings as well. As of today, we haven't really spoken about what happened.