Happy Memorial Day

Monday was Memorial Day and a bunch of us were at Elyse's for a BBQ. A whole bunch of ppl were there, Elyse, her mom, her dad and Wade, a few of her dad's co-workers, Liz, Dan, Liz's parents, a few of Elyse's friends, Cody, Amanda and me. Everyone brought something and so there were lots of food and drinks. We even had frozen margaritas!

We had a great time even though the weather was a little on the hot side. Elyse's has a very shady backyard and we hung outside for a while, sitting and laying around. Towards the end of the afternoon, we even made a stop at an ice cream place for some frozen treats!

Elyse and Cody
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Elyse the grill woman!
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Yum .... burgers, hot dogs and brats!
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I made the Spinach Dip! Elyse did those Lemon Bars and Peanut Butter Bars ... they were yummy! There was a lot more food that came later but I was too busy eating to take pictures :)
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Elyse
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It was so hot that even the squirrel needed to take a break :)
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Just laying out ....
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Lizzy!
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Cody and Liz
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Elyse's dogs, Hunter and Molly.
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Molly
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Elyse kissing Molly .... eewww!
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We played Madagascar put put golf after .... One of the rounds was so frustrating that we were laughing our asses off trying to get that ball into the hole. I finished 4th out of 5. I sucked real bad but Liz was last! :)
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After most of the ppl left, Amanda and I stayed behind to watch Madagascar. I have not seen it b4 ..... it was really funny :) By the time I left the Browns, it was past 11pm. I was there for more than 10hrs! Elyse's mom had long headed to bed. It was a real nice way to spend the holiday.

Dixie Chicks Rule!!!!

I just bought their new cd on Thurs and have been listening to it non stop since then. It is a really great album. They will be doing a north american tour starting in Detriot in July ..... guess who is going? MOI! :) I went to their concert a few years back and had a great time. It was b4 the whole Bush drama. I'm so glad they are touring again .... tics are unfortunately quite exp but it will be worth it.

However, one thing bugs me about them ..... I think that they are trying to make ppl buy multiple albums. I bought it at Best Buy as theirs included an exclusive bonus track. When I went home and was trying to find info on their concert, I found out that if u buy the album from Target, u get a code for the presale to their concert. Of course we could have waited a week later when tics open to the public but that would mean nose bleed seats like we did the last time. I called Liz (who had already bought her cd at Best Buy) and told her about it and she told her bro he has to buy the cd at Target. Well, he did and we did get our tics. Not too sure where they are but according to Liz they are at a pretty good location.

I just wonder how many ppl were in the same situation ..... u have to get together and decided who has to buy the album from which place. I won't be surprised if the Best Buy version gets copied so that fans can get the bonus track if they don't want to buy an extra album. But anyway, this was just a very minor irritation of mine ..... The album is still great and I wish it would get more air play. Looking forward to the concert! Go Chicks!

I had to babysit Danielle kids last night and it was a blast .... they wore me out. We had a great time running around, playing jump rope and a few other games that Caylinn made up :) I tried to split my time between the two gals but Caylinn kept hogging me. When she finally passed out at 10.30pm, I was able to play with Bri. I know .... they should have been to bed by then but it was the weekend! :)

After Danielle came home, she asked me if I wanted a ride in Troy's mustang. My answer was an immediate YES! He has a '68 Blue Mustang which looks really great. He drove me around and we even went down the highway at 90 miles/hr (that's about 140km/h) I know .... it was nuts! I had a huge grin on my face and I was having the time of my life! He also step on the breaks, make the wheels spin like mad and then let go ... OMG! I got jerked back into my seat and we went flying down the road. It was so much fun. Unfortunately I did not have my camera to take a pic of the car but I will be back on thur to baby sit again so I would be able to take pics then :)

After babysitting, I made my way to Amir's as there was a party for Ferry. He will be leaving on Sun to go to China so that he could take care of his Grandpa. When I got there, I was already 2 hrs behind everyone else. I did not want to get too drunk as the last time I was there, I puked. The party was not as crazy as the last one but it was still great fun. The only person that puked was Ferry :) We ended up all hanging out in the living room and watching Harold and Kumar go find White Castle. It was hilarious! I finally made it home at about 3am .....

Here's are some pics from last night .....

Here's Clint?, Amanda, Helena, Elyse and Amy
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Here's Elyse, Liz, Amanda, Helena and Amy
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Brandy and Liz
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Ferry puking over the balcony :)
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Helena giving Ferry a hug ....
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After ..... the gals laying down.
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Road Trip for Dim Sum

Ferry had to go to Chicago to mail his boxes home to Indonesia so we all decided to make it a road trip for dim sum. There is dim sum here in Lansing but it is not as good and cheap as what u can get in Chinatown, Chicago. At first I learnt that I was bumped out from the trip as Jeff's truck could only hold 5 ppl .... Jeff (he is the only one who can drive his baby truck), Yuchien, Ferry, Amir and Amanda were the ones going. I was dissapointed ..... I love dim sum! Anyway, Yuchien was the one that said that we should drive 2 cars then ..... I felt bad as gas prices are so high now, but I could not say no to food. I suggested bumping Amanda :) but Amir and her are a package deal.

We set out early at 6.30am but we had to make a few stops along the way as we had to adjust a tarp over the truckbed that was covering all the boxes. We were afraid that it was going to fly away, and Jeff wanted to make sure that it did not stratch the paint job. The only mishap was that the flying cords that was holding the tarp down cracked the left brake light. :(

We did not want to take the tarp down as it just looked like it was constantly going to rain but it was all teaser rain. Seriously, it would drizzle for about 10 seconds and then stop, the sun even came out a few times.

Traffic was horrible as there was construction along the highways and within Chicago. Plus, I hate driving in the city ... too many agressive drivers and too many god damn cars! It should have taken us 4hrs to get there but I think with all the stops it took us 5hrs.

After we got Ferry's boxes delivered, we made our way to Chinatown. I wanted to take some pics of the food but I seriously forgot about it. When the food came, we hoovered it! It was so good! The bill for the 6 of us came out to be about US$101.

Here's the entrance to chinatown. Notice the Chinese New Year Parade banner .... umm, shouldn't it be down by now?
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lol .... kinda nice to see something familiar from back home ....

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Here's Amanda in front of her chinese zodiac sign.
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Here's mine!
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Shops in chinatown.
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Ahh ... roast duck!
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Driving home was a huge mess again. Traffice built up again, there were a few times when it was a stand still. We finally made it home ..... I think we spent at least 9hrs travelling to and fro .... I know, we are nuts, taking an extra vehicle, driving that long ..... but .... BUT, it is DIM SUM!!! :)

Mow Mow, Mow Your Lawn .....

I went over to Jeff and Yuchien's to mow their lawn today. I have been wanting to play with their riding lawn mower for the longest time and when Jeff asked me if I wanted to mow their lawn, I jumped at the opportunity. Plus, I didn't have anything else to do .....

That's me on the lawn mower ..... woo hoo!
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Break for lunch ..... see that little green spots behind the mower? Those are pine trees that Jeff planted. Thank god he mowed around them b4 I started or I would have definately run them over :)
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Before ..... the darker green patch is the uncut grass
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After .....

It was really fun, kinda like driving around a toy car. When u are mowing, u have to go pretty slow so that u get the grass, but u are able to lift the blades, put it into high gear and ZOOM! Haha, u can bet I played with it after my job was done.

Later, Jeff played with his new US$400 power sprayer. He washed his truck, then Yuchien's and then mine! It was a trade off, I mowed his lawn, he washed my car, oh, and I got fed steak for lunch too. It took him awhile to figure out how to get soap to come out ..... but with help from Yuchien and I (we read the instructions) we finally got it working :)

My baby ... SERENA7

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Shower time for the lawn mower.

When I got home, I realized that I got a pretty good tan from being out in the sun for that long. I have tan lines from the tank top I was wearing. I think I did a pretty good job .... wonder if I'll be back for round 2 .....

So long .....

After almost 6 years at Owen cafeteria, it was time to say goodbye. Today was my last day there and it was a happy yet tearful occasion. I gave Thank You cards to the ppl that have touched my life and heart. The cards were written yesterday without much drama. However, when I gave them out today, Grandma Mary started crying, which caused Mama Rosa to cry which in turn caused me to cry .... Geeze, it was a mess of tears. I wasn't planning on that happening! I even got scolded for causing the drama.

Later in the afternoon, they surprised me with 2 dozen roses. They are the prettiest roses ever. They are huge and smell great. We also had some ice cream going around ..... it was fun. I hugged everyone and started tearing again ...... I am going to miss the ppl I have been working with. I'll prob not miss the work or the customers ...... once again, when I ask you how many, the answer is a NUMBER! Not "yes"! :)

What am I going to do with the flowers after they have been dried? I sense a craft project coming on .... I'm going to have time on my hands anyway.

I'm so screwed ......

I don't know which bag I like better :) Abt a mth back, I got the new catalog from Coach with some preview stuff and I decided that I like the bag pictured below and was prob going to get it when it hits the stores. Don't want to wait for the factory outlets as u never know which bags end up there and when. The last few times I went to the store, there wasn't really anything new.

After checking the website almost everyday, it finally appear but then there were also OTHER bags that were not in the catalog ...... now I can't decide ...... help?

Ok, I like this one because it is a bigger tote bag and I need the room for all my crap. The straps are a little shorter that I would have like but I think I should still be able to put it over my shoulder ....

Next option ...

This one is so cute and have the longer straps that I like ..... but it is not much bigger than the current bag that I have. Note: It is the same price as the previous bag .....

Lastly .....

I like the tie dye fabric and this one is roomy too. For some reason the shape of it reminds me of a LV bag? I'm prob wrong. This one is slightly cheaper than the other 2.

According to the website, the only place that has it in MI is about 45mins away. Nothing within my area ..... DAMN! I really want to see them and maybe that will help my decision better. I CANNOT wait till I go to Vegas ..... it's too far away! :( Sounds like I have to make a road trip.

So what do all u other Coach fanatics think? Which one do u like? (click on the pic and it is a direct link to the bags for a closer look) Maybe there is another bag that u think I should get? Come on, help me spend my gift cards! :)

Getting to know my blog

I was bored, so I decided to make a few changes to my blog, some a little more obvious than others. There are some things that I want to do but unfortunately I am not that knowledgeable with HTML so I did what I could. There are prob some shortcuts but I think I did some stuff the hard way.

While exploring my blog, I finally realized why no one was leaving any comments ..... I had chose the "Moderate Comments" option and that was why no comments showed up. I had to approved all comments b4 any would show online .... DUH! But thanks god I had my chatter box, most of my friends have been leaving comments there. There were only 3 comments that were left via the link below. 2 were left by Tom and another by Nikki, sorry guys for not realizing my mistake! Anyway, I changed the comment option so now it should show immediately when someone leaves a comment :)

I'm no fun .....

Today started off well, Liz and I went out for dinner as we realized that by the time we waited for Tom to get into town, it would have been past 9pm. We went to Mongolian BBQ, had dinner and even dessert ..... OMG, their Peanut Butter Cup is the bomb!

We then headed to Liz's where we were talking about going to see a movie but tics to the DaVinci Code was sold out. After hanging around for a bit, watching her Parka, her chinchilla, play for a bit, we went to rent a movie and grab some wine. The movie that was picked out turn out to be this crazy, disgusting, gross "documentary" called The Aristocrats. Unless u have a fetish about beastiality, incest, bodily function jokes, etc., I STRONGLY advice no one to watch it. I got turn off by it almost immediately but it looked like Liz and Tom had a stonger tolerance for it. It took them awhile longer b4 they got sick of it and then it was just channel surfing.

I guess I was just not in the "sit around and do nothing" mood. I didn't get the jokes that they were laughing so hard at, ok, it was funny, but to be laughing their asses off? I just did not get it and I just felt uncomfortable ...... I just felt like I was the fifth wheel and was intruding in on their space. Finally, I decided that I had enough and left .......

I'm just wondering whether I am always such a party pooper. They seemed to be having so much fun and I was just sitting at the corner, trying to laugh a little to ease the tension.

We are supposed to be going to the East Lansing Art Festival but they were unable to confirm a time. First it was 11am and then now it is, maybe 1pm, or when they get up ....... I like a little more structure in my life sometimes, I want to know what time I have to be ready so I can sleep in or not, set my alarm, get up, get ready ...... I don't like having to wait around for a phone call and then expect to be ready in a moments notice and out the door. I don't want to get ready first and be sitting around wondering when the phone will ring.

Yet, I know there is no point in pushing for a time, that is how they operate ...... I guess I just have to wait around ......

Rain rain go away ......

It has been raining non stop these few days. .... good news is that it is not as bad working in the cafeteria in this weather ...... bad news? it is just so gloomy. My mood is already gloomy, I don't need the weather to be like me too.

They are doing some work at the parking lot behind the cafeteria and because of that, we have lost about 20 lots. The first 2 days, I wasn't early enough and all the lots near Owen were taken and so I had to park farther away at McDonel Hall. On the 3rd day, I was finally early enough to grab a spot right infront of Owen ..... isn't it sad that the reason I try to be early is not because I want to be at work on time but because I want to find a good spot? LOL.

The stupid road work has also cause the move of the dumpster and recycling bin. Now we have to haul the trash to the other side of the hall. Deliveries are a bitch too. Thank god I don't have to deal with them.

I'm going to miss Owen when I leave ..... ok, I'm NOT going to miss some stuff too :) But I have been there for almost 6 years, that's alot of memories, many friendships, many tears (duh, what do u expect? it's me u are talking about) ......

Sometimes I wonder how ppl can stay at a job for so long. My dad has been at his job for more than 35 years ..... geeze, how does he do it? He once told me "find a job that u love and u never have to work for the rest of your life" Unfortunately I don't think I have found it. I wonder whether he loves his job or it is just a reposibility that pays well.

I think I will stop my rambling ......

Don't eat @ an Italian Restaurant .....

There has been another case of food poisoning this weekend. More than 200 ppl reported being sick after eating at Bravo. The voluntarily closed down the restaurant to clean the whole place from top to bottom.

It is pretty sad as I really like this restaurant. It has a very nice atmosphere and is a great date place. Don't think I would feel safe going to that restaurant again ......

Just in the begining of this year, there was another case of food poisoning at another Italian restaurant. This one was west Lansing, Bravo was east Lasing. At that restaurant, more than 400 reported being sick after eating there ......

Geeze, it is really scary considering that I work in a food service industry. I try to be as sanitary as possible but I know that some ppl don't. I have seen ppl wash their disposable gloves instead of throwing them away. What about those who would blow their nose and then open a door ..... eewww. Cough right infront of food, lick their fingers and then handle a untensil on the salad bar ..... We try to catch ppl and tell them to wash their hands but u can't keep an eye on everyone.

I don't want to be in the middle of a food poison outbreak, just imagine of the lawsuits that the 2 restaurants have and will receive.

Wonder who is next on the list? The Olive Garden? DeLuca's? I love all the italian restaurants! *SOB* I guess it is Mama Rosa's for authentic Italian food then :)

woohoo, today we made more plans towards our Vegas trip. The rooms and minivan are rented. The first 2 days will be staying at the Hilton LA, then we will move to New York New York Las Vegas and at the last night, we are staying at the very posh Bellagio.

So far, we have sent in for tics to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but we have yet to hear from them. I'm not too sure whether they film in the summer but I hope they do. Next, we are thinking of going to Universal Studios. Then we have the Grand Canyon. I am very excited about that as I have never been there b4 and I plan to take tons of pics ..... panoramic view! The last few days will be spend in Vegas ..... did I mention the COACH store?

There are going to be a few :) bars in Vegas which we will hit. There are also to be a nice area near the Hilton hotel that have restaurants and bars within walking distance. Amanda will be celebrating her 20th birthday there and I'm sure we will be doing something for her. She will still be too young to drink and gamble but supposedly she is going to borrow her friend's id who looks exactly like her. We will see if that works out ..... she is the baby of the group :)

Tulip Time!

It was raining but Tom, Elyse and I still made it to the Tulip Festival. Because of the rain, there weren't that many ppl around but there were a few senior citizen tour groups around and so we felt like we were the yougest ppl there.

We started the day going to the civic center where we caught an authentic dutch dance, with wooden shoes and all! Here is a clip of it if any is interested ....

And then here is a lady we saw trying to imitate the dance ... it was kinda funny, but I think maybe she saw me and so she stopped :)

After that, we went to lunch in at the New Holland Brewing Co. (yes, the word brewing caught my eye) . Tom and I both had a beer made by them, it was a little strong but I think that is only because I drink lite beer all the time, it was still pretty good though.

Here's a pic of my beer. They use their six pack carrying carton as a condiment holder ..... cute .... I think.

This was my burger, it was supposed to have a beer marinate but I could not taste it. The white thing on top of the burger is gorgonzola cheese (a type of blue cheese). It was quite tasty.

After lunch, we stopped by the Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream .... yum! Elyse and I had the coffee lovers one while Tom had the strawberry with white chocolate.

After dessert, we made our way to Windmill Island ..... which wasn't really an island. It had an authentic windmill brought all the way from Holland, Netherlands. According to Tom, the name Holland came first in Michigan, then the tulips. We had a guided tour of the windmill where they still grind flour at least twice a mth.

Here's me and the windmill.

Oh no, Elyse broke a tulip stem! Nah, it was already like that :)

Tom and Elyse infront of the windmill

Elyse, Tom and I

Me and some RED Tulips!

More tulips .....

Elyse and I

Wooden shoe-be-dos!

There were so many tulips along the street, some lost their petals due to the constant rain they have been having. It was, however, still a sight to see. It was gorgeous! Wish we could have seen it in better weather but I think we all enjoyed the little road trip and had a great time! I know I definately did and I'm so glad I was able to go.

Our next festival will the the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City. Let there NOT be rain this time.

I took alot more pics and they are in the photo album area. There were actually more but damn Frienster would only allow me to upload 37 more pics this mth (they have a limit of 50 each mth and I had already used up 13 of them) I refuse to pay extra to upload more ..... I am going have to find another alternative .... any suggestions?