I hope everybody had a nice weekend celebrating Mother's Day. Saturday afternoon I took my mom to a mother-daughter tea at the Lafayette Park Hotel. This hotel is one of my favorite places; it is so pretty (ever since I was younger I have always wanted to have my wedding there). I unfortunately forgot my camera at home. :( But we both opted for the Mighty Leaf Orange Dulce tea which was so yummy. I don't normally add sugar to my tea but since they had these fun sugar cubes on the table I decided to add one and it made it taste really good. We feasted on finger sandwiches, scones, and petit fours. The best part was just spending time with my mom, just me and her.

Sunday, my mom and I went to church per are usual routine. I was finally able to make my $40 donation that I had promised that I would do for Lent. I usually don't carry much cash on me but I made sure to get some before Sunday. They played this slide show during the mass showing pictures of different animal mothers with their babies and I started to tear up during it and I felt lame for doing so but all the pictures were so cute and it just made me thankful to have an amazing mother. When I was going for communion I did see that guy who I think is cute; I was starting to wonder what happened to him because I hadn't seen him in a few weeks but it was good to see him again.

After church we headed home and ate a late breakfast. I went to my room and fell asleep for about until hour until my niece came into my room and poked me to wake me up. I got a Starbucks gift card from my oldest sister which was really nice and unexpected. Luckily I got her a card so I didn't feel empty handed. The rest of the day was just spent hanging with the fam.

Last night was the season finale of The Amazing Race and I was so sad. First I was really upset Zev and Justin were eliminated in the first hour. After the cowboys were eliminated, Zev and Justin were my next favorite team. But they seemed liked they had a great time and Justin was so supportive of Zev during the road block. Once they were eliminated all my support went to Gary and Mallory. Mallory is the cutest thing and I was hoping they would win out of the remaining teams but unfortunately they got a bad cabbie which in the last legs means you will most likely not win. I wasn't upset that Jen and Kisha won because they ran a good race but I would have preferred if one of my favorites had won.

After that I switched over to Celebrity Apprentice and was so happy to see Star Jones get fired. She has bugged me from the beginning. I would really like the final two to be John Rich and Lil' Jon. We will have to wait until next week though to see who makes it through.

Time for Dancing With the Stars...gotta watch for the hidden gems!

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Weekend Recap

Friday afternoon we left at about 3 for Reno. There was actually a lot of traffic so we didn't get there until 7 (it is usually a 3 hour drive). The drive up was pretty uneventful. I was so tired because I had slept for about 5 the previous night because I was watching all of the Japan disaster coverage and I woke up early because I was paranoid that a tsunami was going to hit the Bay Area and I would have to pack up my stuff and leave. (Note: I live about 30 miles from San Francisco so the probability that I would actually have to evacuate my house would probably be small but you can never be sure right?) Also Wednesday night I slept for like 3.5 hours (I tend to have insomnia) so needless to say I was pretty tired. Every time I tried to fall asleep in the car my sister would wake me up (Thanks sis!). I read a little until it started getting dark and by that time we were really in the mountains. I tried taking some pictures from the car but for some reason they were coming out with a blue tint. Not sure why though. We finally get to Reno and meet up with my brother, check in and eat dinner (I'm starving by that time as well since I only ate cheese and Ritz crackers for lunch). I was exhausted so my sister and I went back to our room. My brother and parents went to gamble.

We woke up late Saturday and ate breakfast and then headed to a different casino that was a few miles away. The Grand Sierra Hotel and Casino is pretty big. My brother, sister, and I bowled a couple of games while the parentals gambled. There was a gun show and a dog show in a few of the ballrooms. There were a lot of cuties at the gun show (and even the dog show!) But I woke up that morning and I wasn't feeling 100% I think due to my lack of sleep and it was really dry in the hotel room so my nose was all stuffy. I had to hydrate like no other while we were bowling. I lost both games but I'm not very good at bowling so that was expected. Once we were finished bowling we went back to the casino to meet up with my parents. I played an Amazing Race themed slot machine! The only time I won was when I got 5 Phil faces which made me happy since I love Phil. I really wanted to play this Wizard of Oz slot machine so when I saw it was open I walked over to it but  then this lady who was playing two machines away got up from her machine and totally swiped it! Then she just smiled at me and I was like that doesn't make it right. We eventually left there and went back to our casino.

We rested up and grabbed some dinner before seeing George Lopez. My dad didn't want to see him and I know he wouldn't have enjoyed it if he did so he just gambled while the four of us went to the show. We had pretty good seats, two of which were free, thanks to my parents' casino host. There was a guy who warmed up the crowd who was pretty funny. Finally George came out on stage and he was great. The show was sold out and the crowd was pretty good. Some of the things he said made it awkward since I was there with my mom and brother but it was alright. After the show my sister went to the room but I wanted to play. I finally got to play the Wizard of Oz machine which was fun (because of all the animations) until I lost A LOT. I had wanted to play the Sex & the City slot machine a year ago when we went to Tahoe so I was on a mission to find it here and I did. It was such a fun game and I won a lot from it but then lost it again. That was by far my favorite slot machine ever! It played little clips from the show and you got to play "mini games" based on the characters.

After a couple hours my brother and I decided to turn in and left my parents in the casino. Sunday was my parents actual anniversary. We checked out of the hotel which was hard with the time change. We said goodbye to my brother and we headed home. It was lightly snowing while driving home which made the drive that much more fun. I ended up finishing the book I was reading (Pretty in Plaid - #2 of 12 of my goal). We got home and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant for dinner with my oldest sister and her kids. Remember how I gave up tortillas for Lent? It was so difficult going to that restaurant but I made it through. My niece and nephew had baked a cake for my parents and even make chocolate covered strawberries to put on the cake (they are so gourmet!).

I spend last night watching The Amazing Race (I do not like Christina's father) and Celebrity Apprentice (I'm so sick of Star Jones and LaToya Jackson's voice creeps me out) while preparing for an interview I had today. The interview went well in my opinion so hopefully I will get the position because I feel like I'm not getting many responses from the resumes I have sent out so far.

I had a great weekend and I hope you all did too. (Sorry for such a wordy post and no pictures!)

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Happy 40th

I want to wish my parents a ....

They give me hope that love lasts when you find your perfect match.

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Mini-Vacay

This weekend my family and I are going on a mini vacay to Reno! We are going to celebrate my parent's 40th anniversary. My brother will be joining us since he lives in nearby Lake Tahoe. When I was little went to Reno a lot because my Grandma loved gambling and my mom didn't like her going there alone so we would go up there with her. My siblings and I would just spend all our time in the arcade. I'm hoping to win big this weekend!

I'm actually excited for our drive up there. Sounds weird right? But it should be all snow-covered mountain tops which makes the scenery so pretty! I think we might if stop and play in the snow on our way home. This was the view from the car last year went we drove up to Tahoe.

Saturday night we are going to see George Lopez which I am really excited about because he is so funny. I've never seen him live but I watch his comedy shows on Comedy Central and I am always busting up laughing.

This is one of my favorite bits he does.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

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What I’m Giving Up & Mom's Birthday

Today is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. For this Catholic, I really want to give up a few things. Here is what I’m giving up for 40 days:

1. Tortillas – This is significant since I’m Mexican and we eat tortillas all the time. By giving up tortillas I am also giving up everything made with tortillas i.e. burritos, tacos, chips (nachos), and quesadillas. I know giving this up with be significant because I can’t even think of an extended period of time when I don’t eat them.

2. Online Shopping – Since I’m currently unemployed I really have no business shopping period. But I do a lot of online shopping; it is just so convenient. I am going to make 2 exceptions to this though: 1) I should be receiving another CSN gift promo code I won and will have to use it before it expires and 2) If any concert tickets go on sale during the 40 days I will also buy those.

3. Fast Food – I don’t eat a lot of fast food but I will not eat any for the duration of Lent. FYI I do not consider Subway fast food but for this exercise I will consider Round Table Pizza fast food.

4. Soda –Again, this is something I don’t consume a lot of but I will not partake in any for 40 days.

In addition to giving things up for myself, I plan on giving back things to others. I plan on donating $40 to a worthy cause at the end of Lent.


Yesterday was my Mom's birthday and we had a nice day. We all (me, my 2 sisters, and mom & dad) went to see Unknown. The only thing I knew about the movie was that he lost his identity and nobody would believe who he was. It was a pretty good movie, I definitely recommend. I also love Liam Neeson. Diane Kruger is also in the movie which was difficult for me since she is currently dating the celebrity I should be dating Joshua Jackson. I just had to overlook that fact during her scenes and not hold it against her.

We went to the Outback for dinner. We hadn't been to the Outback in about 16 years, no joke. We went one Mother's Day and my mom order and she wanted a baked potato with her steak. Then they told us they ran out of baked potatoes. Honestly what kind of restaurant runs out of something that a popular item? So needless to say she was not happy and we never went back until yesterday. There were 8 of us (me, my sister, my other sister plus her husband & two kids, and mom & dad) and we were seated relatively quickly because they had to but two tables together. So we sit down and start looking at our menus and then all of a sudden my bil (brother-in-law) gets up and tells my sister he is going to ask the hostess to move us because he thinks the table is too crowded (which it wasn't). So the hostess got us a new table and we had to move which was totally awkward and embarassing since we carried our menus and place settings to the new table. The new table was totally smaller, I had no room! So really after that he really annoyed me and then when we were having cake at home we were all talking and he made some comment that really just did not go over well with me. The good and most important thing is that my mom seemed to have a great day. I'm glad I got to spend it with her.

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Oh Mama!

My mother is one funny lady. Yesterday was no exception.

First, we went to church and when we get in the car to go home she asks me if I saw the young man who was sitting in front of her. I told her that I had (Of course I had seen him; he was by himself, no ring on his left finger, cute- how could I not notice?) and then she proceeds to tell me the following: "You know the other night I was thinking and hoping that you would find a nice Catholic boy at church. And here is this guy, you know he said his little prayers and gave his checks during collection. I don't know if he was your type but he seemed like a good guy." How funny is she that she was totally checking him out during the whole mass? (But so was I.) Hopefully I see him again. We sit in the same general area every time so hopefully he sits near us again and she can make small talk with him or something in her cute motherly way.

We were watching the Oscars and there were some great quotes of hers I had to share.

During the opening video montage when Anne and James are sitting at the table with Leo from Inception, my mom says, "Wait, I don't remember them being in the movie." Oh Mama!

Later during the show she asks, "Was 127 hours about the Chilean miners?" Oh Mama!

There was one more but I can't remember it but it was just as funny as the other two.She is so funny but not very up to date with the movie industry. I love her so much!!!

In other news, guess what?! I have 25 followers!!! That means it's giveaway time! I'm going to post about the giveaway tomorrow so get ready to enter! I hope you guys like what I plan on giving away!

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Family Time

This weekend my brother was home. He lives about 2.5 hours away, not that bad of a drive. My sister and her kids (my niece, age 6, and my nephew, age 8) came over on Sunday for dinner and to hang out. They live about 3 minutes away. I LOVE my family. We have a lot of fun with each other and we always make each other laugh.

We had a nice family dinner with ham, potato salad, biscuits, and a green salad. It was really good. The only thing was we ate pretty early so I was hungry later in the night. I don't not like eating dinner so early because I will always end up eating something later.

I had made some Holiday Funfetti brownies on Friday that were all eaten by Sunday and my sister was expecting some. Luckily I had bought the Valentine Funfetti brownie mix a week ago at Target so my niece and I whipped up a batch. We have two ovens and I think the oven I used for the brownies was installed incorrectly and is tilted or something because when I put the pan in the oven the batter was spread evenly but when I took the pan out the brownies were unevenly cooked. So I don't think I will be using that oven for baked goods anymore.

My niece and nephew are so funny. My nephew took my sister's digital camera and set it up in her room and recorded a message to us that he told us to watch after he left. It was so funny/cute. Love those kids.

Today we went out to breakfast and then went to Wal-Mart to buy a new tv for the family room. We currently have a tv in there from like 1994! After that we came home and just talked for like 3 hours. We are such close-knit family and I don't know what I would do without them!

Hope everybody's Monday was good. Can't believe January is over already!

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