Marc and Marilyn and Andrew!

Can’t believe this song never got a lot of play…I don’t even remember how I heard it.  Anyways, check it out…it’s a good song with a good beat…and a funny video.

So it’s been no bueno the last couple days…I’ve been sick as a dog and working like crazy.  To make matters worse, I got Marilyn sick too     We have so much to update also…we got some catching up to do with all the things we did this past weekend.

YAY!!!  They’ve finally arrived.  We’re SOOOOOOOOOOOO happy with how they turned out.  Check them out here.

Happy birthday Tricia! This is going to be another amazing year in your amazing life. Love you!

For some people, February 14th means something. For years people have associated this date with love and couple-ness (I know, totally not a word). We think of the cheesy Valentine’s cards, pink and red balloons, teddy bears, flowers and candy, etc. And to top it off there are themed parties and festivities celebrating this “hallmark” holiday. People kept asking me, what Marc and I were doing to celebrate. I respond, as I have for years “It’s my best friends birthday! I don’t celebrate Valentines.” Then, without fail, it’s like they’re disappointed I don’t plan something like the other million people. haha.

To me, February 14th means Tricia’s birthday. A day to celebrate her life and enjoy great times with great people.This particular February 14th, Tricia opted to celebrate on Sunday the 15th. So, Marc and I took the scenic route down the coast, had a seafood meal, ocean front seating and live entertainment. Translation: We ate crabs at Redondo. lol.

So far its been an awesome Saturday.

For some people, Friday the 13th means something. For years people have associated this date with scary spooky stories and bad luck. We think of the movie “Friday the 13th” and its many many sequels. And to top it off there are themed parties and festivities celebrating this infrequent occurance of the 13th falling on Friday.

To me, it means nothing more than another Friday. This Friday in particular, Marc surprised me with orchids, a bottle of champagne and a sticky note of love. The same bottle of champagne that I chose as my favorite of the tasting on Thursday. Soooo thoughful.

We spent Happy Hour with the folks at IBD. They’re a funny bunch.

We had dinner with Matthew and Tash! Finally! I haven’t seen these two crazy love birds in forever. So glad they could meet up before their romantic trip to La Jolla.

We celebrated Cherise’s 30th birthday at King King. The big 3-0! Friends, house music and shots… what an awesome way to celebrate.

So, for me, it was an awesome Friday the 13th. Nothing at all like what others believe.

I’ve always wanted to go wine tasting, but haven’t gone yet. So I started looking at wine tastings locally, you know, baby steps towards the big trip somewhere else. It turns out Bristol Farms has weekly tasting of different kinds of wines and champagnes at an affordable price! For $25 you get to sample 5 different champagnes, an appetizer, a mini entree and dessert. Score! We even joined their Frequent Winers Club. For every 9 tastings, you get the last one for $1. Sweet! So if anyone is interested, you should definitely check out their site. Maybe we can plan a tasting with a bunch of people. There was a table of 12 older couples next to us. Super cute!

P.S. I passed out at 730pm. lol.

Champagnes

Cristalino

La Riva Di Frati Prosecco

Gruet Brut

Fracis Coppola – Sofia blanc de blanc

Pierre Moncuit Brut Grand Cru

Appetizer: Manchengo Spanish Cheese and Breadsticks

Entree: Chicken Stirfry, Seared Ahi Tuna and White (bread) Rice

Dessert: Fresh berries and yogart

Frequent Winers Members

Tuffles has had an amazing week full of love and realizations and I just wanted to share. Please read her post here. While she was telling me her experience over the phone, I could totally feel her love for Jonas, and you can’t help but be happy for them. It’ so great that their love grows stronger and stronger everyday.

Also their engagement shoot with the Tecsons is up. Please see them here. And if you haven’t seen her engagement photos from Tam, please check them out here.

So I got backed up on the blogs . There’s just so much going on that I get pooped by the time I get home. And you know me, I’d rather nap/sleep than sit infront of a computer. Let’s see

January 25, 2009 : Cicada 6 month celebration

Marc and I celebrated our “6 months til our wedding day” at Cicada. I super love the look and feel of that restaurant. It was a great night. We talked about the months that passed and the months to come. Funny, it was kinda like our 6 month anniversary too. HAHA. Who knew, in one year from getting together, we’d be getting married. We’re a bunch of crazy kids in love. It’s true what they say “when it’s real, it’ real”. There’s no denying it.

January 31, 2009 : Engagement shoot

Please see previous post.

February 5 2009 : Dinner with some o-sum friends

Tara, May and I decided to finally have a catch up dinner. Yay! Since restaurant week was in full effect, we decided to meet up at Circa 55. Dinner was scheduled for 645pm but with the rain, traffic was just horrible. We didnt end up at the resturant until 715pm. Sad! When we arrived, I was laughing at May because we were seated basically in the middle of the restuarant.  Where, everyone can hear us and our ridiculous stories. And when the wine hits… oh buddy, we’ll just be loud. It was a nice swanky little spot in the Beverly Hilton, which by the way, none of us had ever been. It was great talking about the present, past and future. These girls make me laugh! Oh how I’ve mised them.

February 6 2009 : Date night at Chart House

Please see previous post.

February 7, 2009 : Cake Tasting

So we went to this bakery in Torrace for our very first cake tasting. Marc and I didn’t really know what to expect. When we got to the bakery, there was a whole different store that was dedicated to wedding cakes. That’s the first good sign. So when we met up with Lynette our cake lady she at us down, explained the process to us and let Marc and I have at it. I wish they let me take photos… it was such a great photo moment.

The Process:

1. We look at photos of cakes for a style

Tiered, pillared, etc. Who knew there were so many kinds?

2. Look also for designs and take down the numbers of the one we like

Colored frosting, with designs, etc. So many choices.

3. Taste popular wedding cake combinations

Basically they come out with a tray of mini cakes all labeled accordingly: cake, filling, frosting They provide a bottle of water, 2 forks and napkins. The cake was yummy. I totally got a sugar buzz from our little session.

4. We can create our own cake combinations for our next tasting.

5. Create a mock up of our cake for 250 people with estimated costs.

It was awesome! We want different types of cake for each different tier. We like variety. So we picked a few that were our favorites:

* White cake with fresh strawberry filling and buttercream icing

* Marble cake with chocolate filling

We are planning on creating 3 more cakes of our own, but those were the 2 of their creations we liked. They had some weird ones like carrot cake, with pineapple filling and cream cheese frosting. Or banana cake with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. Very strange flavor combinations.

We’re definitely going to go to other bakeries to make sure we love their cake. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to go on a few cake tastings during our engagement. haha.

TIP: Go on a bunch of cake tastings. It’s fun!

P.S. Cake is expensive! Who knew we’d be spending thousands on flour and sugar?

So we fully wanted to take advantage of Restaurant Week but we unfortunately had time for one restaurant.  We both decided we should try a place we haven’t tried yet…we decided on Chart House.  We’ve both heard good stuff about them and it was just down the street…so why not.

Anyways, for those that don’t know, Restaurant Week is a week in which participating restaurants create a pre-selected meal consisting of an appetizer, entree and dessert for a low price.  You can get some crazy deals!

First of all, Chart House is in like the middle of residential area down Admiralty Way…pretty weird.

Appetizers:

Marilyn had the lobster spring roll: it was aight but the sauce was weird because it had hint of wasabe

I had the coconut shrimp: shrimp tasted weird but the sauce was great.

Entree:

You all know Marilyn and I are meat-eaters…so we both had the prime rib for our meal…YUMMY!

Desserts:

Marilyn had the creme brulee -

And I had the lovely cheesecake (I was hoping they had the famous chocolate cake as part of the Restaurant Week menu but no luck)

Oh it was a great night of food and drinks…cheers to date night!

My race schedule for the season is complete…all in all, I’m just doing three races.

I’ve already signed up for Silverman.  The two other races are the LA Marathon on May 25, 2009 and LA Triathlon on October 4, 2009.

I just signed up for both of them and it’s done.  I messed up because I should have registered earlier for all my races because they are cheaper early in the season…I just wasn’t sure what my schedule was going to be like because of the wedding.  It’s all good…here’s to a good season.