this and that

i finally finished reading jodi picoult's my sister's keeper yesterday. actually, i think i'm probably the last chick-lit reader on the planet to get through this book, but whatever. just in case i'm not, i won't spoil the ending, but let's just say that i couldn't even get through the last chapter because i was crying too hard to see straight. holy hell. i don't think i've cried that much while reading a book since the 5th grade - where the red fern grows.

*sob* old dan and little ann. *choke*

anyway, i was seriously so surprised by the way the book ended that i literally threw the book onto the floor in shock. i think that a big part of my emotional reaction to it is that one of the main characters is the teen's age. and it's never easy to imagine anything bad happening to your kid(s), which you can't help but do whenever you read something or see a news story or some shit.

i hear cameron diaz is currently shooting the movie version of this book. i don't know if i'm going to want to see it. i'm not a big fan, and it's such a serious subject. besides, whenever i see ms. diaz, i always picture her dancing in her underwear with christina applegate in "the sweetest thing." meh.

i had a couple of gifts to mail out, which i finally did yesterday. one was a housewarming gift for the hub's CW, and another a thank-you for that bbq we attended over memorial weekend. here's the cards i made:

and then when i picked up my mail, i found a large, rigid envelope from BMW. i totally cackled when i ripped it open and found this:

i swear, BMW wastes so much cash on bullshit like this. because, really - WTF am i gonna do with this thing? it's not like i'm going to scamper home, frame it and put it on my wall. if you appreciate my business so damn much, comp me a payment or something equally useful. kthxbye.

this morning, i stopped at good ol' BofA to make a deposit. they'd just replaced the old, crusty ATMs with fancy new high-tech machines, and as i looked around for deposit envelopes, i noticed a sign that said "no envelopes needed." huh?

so i inspected the machine a little more carefully and noticed two new elements i'd never before seen on an ATM: a slot marked "insert cash here" and another that said "insert check here." whoa! and when i finally stuck my card in, entered my PIN, and selected "deposit a check," i poked the check in that slot and a few seconds later, a scanned image of it appeared on the screen.

maybe i'm just easily amused and impressed, but i thought that shit was cool, yo.

oh dear. perhaps i just need to get out more.

yay for 8-month-day!

yup, the bean's 2/3 of a year old. holy shit!

and her silly sister got in on the action too. i love my girls.


and then later on, as we played and hung out in the teen's room, the bean fell asleep.

yesterday was also MIL's birthday, so we got ready to meet up with her and the rest of the family to celebrate.

this is her newest funny face. she loves to scrunch it up when i pick up the camera. oh, how i love it.


i made this card for MIL, and then we picked up a starbucks gift card to put inside on the way to dinner.

we all gathered at a nice big table at alfredo's italian kitchen in san bernardino, and enjoyed a lovely dinner.


happy birthday to MIL! and happy 8 months for my little bean!

wii are fit!

well, sort of. i finally got the chance to bust out my new toy on friday night, but i completely forgot to take pictures. so what you'll see is actually from day 2 of wii fit training. yes, training!

the hub was off at the neighbor's house, playing poker with a group of guys, and the teen and her BFF were huddled in her room, giggling and listening to (who else?) the jonas brothers' CD. and i managed to get the bean to fall asleep and put her down in her crib. woo-hoo! i turned on my nifty little baby monitor, tiptoed out of her room, and went out to play.

my initial evaluation/body test revealed that my wii fit age was 45. FORTY-FIVE! bleh. however, i was pleased to see that my BMI was in the "normal" range, and my weight was no surprise. because i am a glutton for punishment, i step on the bathroom scale at least two to three times a week. blurgh.

you're supposed to do that body test at least once a day - step on the board to check your weight, get your current BMI based on those results, and do a quick balance test. it then puts you (or, rather, your "mii") under a spotlight as it calculates your wii fit age.


i was pretty stoked to see that i'd somehow managed to bump up mine to 37 - not bad, considering i'm only three months away from actually being 37. *gulp*

i took my "stamp" and marked off day two of the program.


i'm not actually sure why my stamp is in the shape of a foot, but whatever. i'm too lazy to go through and figure out how to change it.

i chose a personal trainer - the boy, of course - and got to work.


i decided to try the hula hoop. it was cute, and so much fun!

not to mention, i kick ASS at hula hooping. heh.


i played around with a few of the other activities, like ski slalom, ski jump, tightrope walking, even a short run. i was having a ball, and getting a nice stretch with a couple of yoga exercises, when the monitor told me (quite loudly) that the bean was awake. and my training for the day came to an end.

while it's not really a solid substitute for a true workout at the gym, it's a fun way to get up off the couch, play some games, get active, and burn some calories. and i gotta admit, i'm a little sore from all that hula hooping. plus, the other yoga and strength training exercises look like they could very well have me busting out the ben gay. really!

day two, check!

don't put the JLC in a corner.

on saturday, i had the pleasure of meeting up with a group of girlfriends - not the SFAMily, but the JLC (joy luck club). ha! although we didn't take any pictures of each other, you can guess why we've dubbed ourselves as such (minus the mah jongg).

i always look forward to meeting with both groups of buddies, because i am inevitably treated to a new westside restaurant experience. and today was no different - alcove cafe & bakery, chosen by the monkey, was the spot for today.

after making it to l.a. in a mere 35 minutes, i circled the area a few times before finding a parking spot off the beaten path, in a residential area on a little sidestreet. although i hadn't yet spied the restaurant with my own two eyes, i was assured by my navi that i was there. and as i strolled down the street, i realized i'd been misled (although only slightly) - i was across the street. across the very, very busy street. oh, well. i trucked on down to closest signal light and figured i'd just burn a few extra calories before stuffing my face.

and then i was there! yay!
it's the kind of place where you order at the counter, take a number, and then find a seat. and as i looked around and didn't see any of the others, i assumed i was the first to arrive. luckily, a few minutes later, tater arrived. we chatted for a few minutes and then the couple in front of us passed us a menu to peruse. turns out we'd both already checked out the offerings on the restaurant website, so we already had a good idea of what to order.

it was a cute little place, with a gourmet food shop in the same building. i knew i'd get into some trouble if i ventured inside, so i made sure to stay far away. heh.
as we got closer to the counter, tater and i decided to each order the two things that caught our attention, and split. best of both worlds! [cue miley cyrus]

okay, no.

[ahem]

look at the display case of freshly baked goods! and yes, that IS a blue cake. blue velvet, to be exact, along with the more traditional red velvet.
tater and i snickered at this little sign.
i pointed towards an empty table just beyond the counter, and i suggested that she nab it while i placed our order. but she came back a few moments later with the news that we were not, in fact, the first to arrive - the others were already waiting with their numbers, seated at a table under an umbrella in the back! whee! i took my o.j., red velvet cupcake, and our order number and we joined them at the table.
i was rather startled to note the price of that cupcake, which was about a third of the size of your typical sprinkles treat. yikes! "it better be good," i thought.
it was lovely to see everyone, and we sat and chatted until the food came. that is, until their food came. mine, of course, was lagging. somehow, that shit ALWAYS happens to me. oh, well.

shrimp and lobster omelette.
smoked salmon & potato pancake stacks.
roast beef panini.
fish & chips (sweet potato fries, to be exact).
and then, finally, my own shrimp and lobster (plus lump crab meat, yum!) was served. thank goodness - i was starving!
oh, it was so delicious. best $30 breakfast i ever had ;) no, really. it was! $30 AND delicious. tee hee. and because i still had money to spend, one of the other girls and i got back in line for some after-brunch coffees and a slice of that blue velvet cake to share.
and our brightly colored desserts, side-by-side like besties:
the blue cake was...not so good. the red velvet was slightly better, but i was still disappointed. there was far too much overly-sweet frosting, and the cake itself wasn't great. crumbly and dense, with not much flavor to speak of. oh, well.
i always have a self-portrait, to prove i was there.
i especially loved my parting gift.
you can see MUCH better pictures of our time together here. i'm no photographer, but what i lack in actual skill, i make up for in enthusiasm!

whee! fun, friends, and food. what better way to start off the weekend?