tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-231730012012-02-10T10:30:26.660-08:00anything and everything that makes me happy. LIFE is too short, or too long, to live it so badly.CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-674766742631737302012-02-09T08:45:00.008-08:002012-02-09T18:42:20.690-08:00

Last night i made a firm resolve to get my ass back to blogging. If i remember it right, my last post before i went on hiatus was about the Metallica concert i watched in December 2009. Since then i managed to scribble a couple of posts but that's just about it. Maybe because i got hooked with Facebook which is a more convenient way of reconnecting with friends/acquaintances and share one's life,

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-22195986001146584912012-01-29T01:19:00.008-08:002012-02-09T15:29:23.366-08:00

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Noel, one of our close family friends here in California and also a member of the abtikdabarkads group. He is also my husband's firing buddy so i first thought of making him a rifle target cake but after doing some research realized that it would only look good with fondant.So i decided to make him a camouflage cake instead and piped the frostings one by one

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-20584723002064943212012-01-25T00:03:00.005-08:002012-02-09T18:37:11.781-08:00

my first cake project of the year! it's a 3-layer chocolate cake with mocha buttercream filling and frosting topped with dark chocolate-covered coffee beans and wrapped with chocolate lattice. For my friend Shelle who recently rediscovered her love for coffee. thanks to some useful internet sites out there, i was able to come up with a really pretty cake. except for the chocolate-covered

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-16745313352093536282011-04-21T00:37:00.017-07:002012-02-09T08:03:33.401-08:00

Got the scare of my mommy life yesterday when Racrac - the playful and active boy that he is - ran away from me in the parking lot of Great Mall in Milpitas where he could have easily been hit by passing cars or those who are backing up. Just a background: Great Mall is a "flat" one-story mall but the biggest outlet shopping mall in Northern California guaranteed to tire out even the most

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-9783199953565773072011-01-01T06:36:00.019-08:002011-08-25T10:21:41.340-07:00

Goodbye... to 2010 and to my dearest cousin Ate Maria who lost her battle to breast cancer last December 31. She was my first cousin (mother side)... a very kind, loving and soft-spoken person who lived a simple but happy life with Kuya Val and their two children Vincent and Maimai. At age 44, she is too young and too kind to die. I have spent many fun and memorable start-of-summer holidays

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-12046401047297017822010-02-16T23:31:00.013-08:002012-02-09T14:50:57.315-08:00

my baby! time flies so FAST!... And to celebrate his birthday last February 15 i made my first ever fancy cake: a race track cake. it's a chocolate sheet cake recipe copied from the back of hershey's unsweetened cocoa box frosted with 7-minute white frosting which i colored green. I would have wanted a darker shade of green to mimic grass but instead came up with a lighter one which is still ok.

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-20260168310857036002009-12-13T07:37:00.031-08:002010-01-22T01:13:59.778-08:00

For those who think i am wholesome and sweet and mellow and mild, think again. I have a dark side...and i let it all come out last night during the METALLICA concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. It was a blast...the ultimate gathering of headbangers! I watched it with Fil who was also celebrating his birthday and three of our die-hard-Metallica-veterans friends. I was literally gritting my

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-7887314958567668602009-12-11T02:52:00.002-08:002009-12-22T01:24:26.465-08:00

not enough to make a snowman but enough to write my name. it doesn't normally snow on the streets of the Bay Area but it did last December 8 and it's not even winter yet. usually, we only see snow-covered hills as we drive along the freeway but not in our driveway! i sooo hate winter but it isn't that bad in California. i'm not complaining.

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-38625246569784843512009-12-09T23:51:00.019-08:002009-12-22T11:12:21.968-08:00

There isn'ta better exampleof love you can count on,it seems,Than the parentswho've always stood by youto encourage your hopesand your dreams,They're still therewhenever you need themto help with their ownspecial touch -Parents arewonderful people,and that's whyyou love them so much.Happy, happy birthday to my mom who turned 57 last December 7 and happy 36th Wedding Anniversary to her and my dad.

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-34605030114149125362009-12-02T07:21:00.008-08:002009-12-06T23:50:27.719-08:00

Went to see the San Francisco 49ers play against the Tennessee Titans at the Candlestick Park last November 8 with Fil and our friends. It was a great day, sunny but cool and we were all wearing RED! :) The 49ers lost but we still had a great time being there in the football stadium and experience the game LIVE! not even a super duper hyperreal oversized-screen LED TV could get you that close

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-53427030243097187562009-11-23T01:37:00.012-08:002009-11-23T12:58:09.632-08:00

I got a bit concerned that he's having too much playtime and TV so i got him a chunky shapes puzzle. He couldn't get to match the pieces at first but after showing him how and with a little bit of creativity, he learned it in less than a day. in no time, he was ready for a video...take one! :)

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-1228940479036759832009-11-06T09:23:00.020-08:002009-11-23T01:50:33.325-08:00

My current faves and hates:1. DOWN by Jay Sean - TREAT! Love this song, great for dancing, driving, sit-ups...feel-good music it is!2. THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini - TREAT! The first novel i read in 3 years. After limiting my readings to anything related to pregnancy and childcare, my bibles of which are "What to expect when you're expecting?" followed by "What to expect the first year?", i

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-26477584035663454902009-10-15T00:19:00.015-07:002009-11-23T01:33:40.995-08:00

Two venues for my 35th birthday: Villa Yosemite in Groveland, CA and Yosemite Valley. We didn't go there for the sole reason that it's my birthday, we were there on a trip with friends hoping to catch the last of the summer sun.What a nice birthday surprise...We stayed at Villa Yosemite in Groveland, CA which we rented for a little over one grand for 2 nights of "owning" the luxurious 7.5 acre

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-82219264356942006082009-10-07T10:13:00.001-07:002009-10-15T00:19:34.201-07:00

this photo of me and Racrac was captured by Fil last October 3, my 35th birthday, at the Yosemite National Park. This overlook is known as the tunnel view which offers a breathtaking scenery of the major popular attractions in the valley. Amidst the thick tourist crowd, we were lucky to find an "empty" spot to enjoy the view as if it's there for only us to see.it was a fun and memorable

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-1654741423452614292009-10-07T08:41:00.018-07:002009-11-02T13:54:38.096-08:00

forgot to mention that Racrac started going to day care about a month ago. Fil has been floating the idea since Racrac turned 1 and i was the hesitant mom always telling him that i'll think about it. until one morning i woke up in a very bad mood and was barking at Racrac and Fil the whole day. i felt tired, lacking of sleep, bored, old, ugly. i looked in the mirror and i was like "who is this

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-6532597233575005322009-09-30T09:20:00.009-07:002009-10-01T14:27:26.991-07:00

Last Sunday we were at Half Moon Bay State Beach to celebrate another warm weather. There we sat as kings and queens, facing the Pacific Ocean, under an azure sky, watching nature perform its usual miraculous routine: sun glistening, birds hovering, giant waves curling and crashing onto shore then crawling to us...begging to kiss our royal feet. Tempted, we went closer down by the water's edge

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-37197082002430172872009-09-29T09:47:00.020-07:002009-09-30T19:48:15.060-07:00

...and tiny footprints in the sand.time indeed flies so fast when you're having funautumn is here, summer is gonebut before i say "adieu" let me first look backat some magical moments that really rockwarm butterfly kisses tickling my faceplanted by little Racrac to start my every daylaughing, dancing, jumping, exploring, running aroundsummer days are full of fun, happiness aboundwith lots of

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-64243738023942705602009-09-10T20:32:00.026-07:002009-09-11T23:56:20.491-07:00

call it delayed reaction but it took me more than a year after its commercial release before i finally joined the rest of the world singing to Jason Mraz's latest masterpiece "I'm Yours." Not that i'm not a fan of him, in fact i WAS. in 2003 i spent many sleepless nights absorbing word for word the lyrics of all the songs in his first album Waiting for my Rocket to Come and sang nonstop for

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-26657375289999160222009-09-08T23:54:00.025-07:002009-09-23T15:49:42.971-07:00

September 5, 2009. The drive from our place took about half-an-hour longer because of the Bay Bridge closure for labor day weekend repair. The last 12 miles or so of the road leading to the beach were long, twisty, winding, sloped and one-lane in each direction and we were all dizzy when we hooked up with Toto and Chi Figueroa and their kids at the beach parking lot. The water was freakingly cold

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-9554510737557748382009-08-31T22:56:00.035-07:002009-09-08T16:19:54.275-07:00

Happy to be back from a weekend camping/hiking/fishing/partying with family and friends at the McArthur-Burney Falls State Park in Burney, CA last August 21-23. We left our house at 9:30 in the morning Friday and arrived 4 hours later in Redding and stopped by the Sundial Bridge. Built in 2004, it is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Sacramento River and connects the northern and southern

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-71658946173520198002009-08-27T23:53:00.049-07:002009-09-06T22:43:35.014-07:00

the month is almost over and i haven't blogged about anything yet. just too tired to write at the end of each and every day spent with Racrac who, at 18 months, has stepped up his daily exploratory activities to the next level. his curiosity and mobility are driving me nuts! he has by now figured out how things work: faucet, light switch, lamp, door knobs, door keys, camera, electric fan (!), his

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-2492398372361405562009-07-30T23:13:00.038-07:002009-08-12T23:14:37.844-07:00

hurray! finally Racrac said goodbye to commercial baby food and is now eating what we have on the table. it's been a struggle trying to feed him regular food...sometimes he'd take them, most of the time not. though he likes sinigang, nilaga and chicken noodle soup since he turned 1, others that were dry, lumpy and coarse he'd automatically push with his tongue. it was after we had our camping

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-56913463259848294602009-07-06T22:45:00.029-07:002009-07-07T22:14:11.849-07:00

July 3-5, 2009. Our summer kick-off activity with friends at the San Mateo County Memorial Park, Pescadero Creek Road in Loma Mar, CA. No cellphone signal, no internet (translation: no facebook!) and no microwave to heat our food but we sure had loads and loads of fun!Everyone enjoyed setting up camp, partaking in the feast which every family contributed, sitting by the fire sharing stories,

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-56485341267355411352009-07-01T01:57:00.000-07:002009-07-02T20:37:18.809-07:00

another ugly sorry-looking bananas sitting at our kitchen counter this morning and waiting for me to decide on their fate. in the past their only destination would be the garbage bin but after i baked my first ever basic banana bread more than a year ago, i never looked at overripe bananas the same way again.so what's a pretty girl to do? transform them into banana chocolate chip muffins! so

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23173001.post-25451538886798912272009-06-27T07:31:00.022-07:002009-06-29T23:43:43.034-07:00

so i have finally mustered enough nerves to take the behind-the-wheel driving test at the DMV office here in Fremont. after 3 months of on-and-off practice, i found myself waiting in line yesterday at 9:00 in the morning, sometimes slapping my face to awaken my senses and praying that luck would send me an examiner from heaven. my instructor was there with me (i used the school car for

CaRmeLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725829042810633995noreply@blogger.com3