It's A Celebration!

My friends and I decided to hit up the Alameda County Fair on July 5th (since we were all off that day anyway). Let me tell you right now that San Franciscans are not internally equipped for bright, sunny, 90+ degree weather. Whoooo, boy! It was a lot of fun, though. Jeff and I went on our own last year and were really excited about this one. We're probably going to see about the state fair coming up within the next 2 weeks. It's suppose to be crazy and huge.

The Couples:

Me & Jeff
It's called trust, baby!

Chris & Jasmine
The folks from the fog don't bake well.

Rob & Joy
Isn't it good to know that your lady's lap is always there when you need a rest?

He had been craving one of these since last year... *snicker*
I had been craving chocolate-dipped strawberries covered in Oreos, but settled for ones covered in whipped cream instead. :(
There were a bunch of little kids taking pictures before us and we sort of wanted to get them out of the way. We were thinking along the lines of, "You kids aren't even old enough the fully appreciate the CHARM of the Berenstain Bears!"
My favorite shots of ALL... TIME...
And don't think for a second that we forced them to do this.

Yup, we are the lucky girlfriends of these fine gentlemen.

Joy, Jasmine, Rob, & Chris all left early, so Jeff & I walked the rest of the fair on our own. It was kinda nice since everything was being lit up and the weather wasn't slowly baking us to a crisp brown anymore. We were hungry and bought sandwiches from Big Bubba's BBQ. As a general rule, I like to eat at places that contain "Bubba" in their name.

Mine: Pulled pork & His: BBQ beef

And what else could we possibly have for dessert other than deep fried Snickers & Oreos? We were both extremely grateful that these aren't available on a a regular basis. It was like eating delicious, delicious guilt.All in all, it was a great day spent with wonderful people.

:)

I hope everybody had a worth-while holiday!

Sneaky Sneaky

I'm sick of my image-less posts :(

My camera up and decided to crap out on me, so I'm in the market for a new one. I'm eying the Nikon D3000. It's definitely bulkier than what I'm used to, but I'm determined to get some quality shots of this year. Videos, also! Like this one...

This was awesome! Let me give you the background on this video.

I wanted to get Jeff a gift that would knock the air out of him, but in order for me to do that, it would have to be car-related. The thought of even ATTEMPTING to buy car parts makes my eyes cross, so I decided I needed to send it a spy for reconnaissance. I messaged his friend Rommel on Facebook and told him the situation. Rommel started texting Jeff and relaying the information to me while I searched on-line. The sites I found were legit, but I figured I needed a little more help.

Queue the folks at Vision Performance (Thank you, Mike, Crosby, Jimmy, Kevin). They're actually friends with Jeff and Rommel and were happy to help me order the gift: a pair of Sparco Torino II racing seats. There was more messaging on Facebook, phone calls, and visits to the shop. Basically, they did the work and I put down the cash :P

The seats came in and I plotted. I usually work on Saturdays, but took the day off. If Jeff had gone by the pharmacy, I had an alibi ready to be delivered by my co-workers. I went to the shop to look at the seats at around 12, then had Jimmy call Jeff to come by to help him with something after work (heheheh). Jeff gets off work at 1, so it was good timing. We decided to take one of the seats out of the box and hide me inside. Crosby manned the camera.

What was on the video was basically my favorite part. :) I wanted to edit the video because there area actually 5 parts to it, but Movie Maker is acting up. It was priceless because he was not expecting it AT ALL. In fact, Jeff told me that he was skeptical even as he was opening the second box. He seriously had no idea what I was doing behind his back.

I love surprises!

All Over the Place

Relationship Ramblings...

Many times, I believe that people enter a relationship and forget that they function completely fine without their "other half." Actually, I don't like that term. My boyfriend is not my other half. I am whole by myself. He doesn't complete me. I love him to the core of me and if he ever walked away from me, I'd feel as if he crushed my soul in his palm... but I wouldn't be DESTROYED.

You have to be able to stand on your own.
Have your own security.
Realize your worth.

I've been in relationships that, through the course of the whole thing... I felt worthless. I truly believed that what I was getting, what I was being put through... was what I deserved. I guess I slowly evolved and hardened my shell. You could say that a bad relationship saved me from the worst relationship and helped clear my heart and mind up for my current relationship.

3½ years of hell... a few months of emotional boot camp... then I found The One.

I feel stronger in this relationship than I ever did with anybody else. I feel more cherished, wanted and loved than I ever have. I found a good man with a kind heart. I found a man who can also stand on his own. He's a hard worker. He's focused. He handles his business. When he sees his goal, he follows that path until the end. He has a wonderful personality and has the power to draw people to him. He is a great friend and truly cares about people. Of course, he's nowhere near perfect, but neither am I. Perfection is boring and is not what I'm looking for.

I know for a fact that he'd be fine without me.

That is my point. I came into this relationship knowing my own worth, which is a first. Toward the end of "hell," my now-ex-boyfriend accused me of thinking I was better than him. You know what? I told him I was. I had a job. I took care of my family. I cherished the people I cared about. I handled my business. I was a good person no matter what he did to me, how low he tried to bring me, or how badly he tried to make me think of myself. A little slow in the realization, but I got it eventually.

The second relationship was slightly better than the first. Went into it with my head high because of what I knew then. When that went badly, I was sad, but I walked away without looking back because I deserved better. He agreed to that and we remain friends.

Failed relationships sometimes mess with your self esteem. I felt very different in the months after "boot camp", but not in a negative way. I was happy. I felt that I had become stronger and more myself without somebody smashing me down at every turn. I became more secure with myself. It was an incredible feeling and I still feel it.

I enjoy my relationship because I don't have the insecurities I had when I was younger. I know who I am and what my positives are. I know what I bring to the table and what I'm worth.
I also know my faults and I'm still working on those. I know how to stop and think. I realize when I'm over-analyzing something simple (that was something hard to learn, by the way).

Mostly, I don't take it too seriously. Obviously, I'm serious about being with him, but the relationship itself... I think that life is already stressful enough without analyzing your partner's tone... posture... vague gesture... relationships... texts... random phrases... facial expressions. It'll drive you insane! For example, my boyfriend has many female friends that he's close to (and a few that he used to have crushes on, but I'm not gonna bust him out in case one of them is reading this :P). They hang out, talk, spend time together and it truly doesn't bother me. These people are important to him and are a part of his life. It's that simple to me.

We drew our lines in the beginning. What we'd put up with and what would be crossing the line. Cheating means no second chances. No "breaks," just breaking up. We don't want to hear that the other person needs a break from the relationship. Time alone is different, because sometimes a person just needs space to breath. But a break from the relationship? No.

Where am I going with this?
I'm all over the place.
These are just thoughts rattling around in my head, looking for a place to spew.
There's more, but it's 1:17 am and I'm sleeping.
Bye!

Mushroom Love

Jeff and I went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival a little while back and there was only ONE thing that I wanted to eat: stuffed mushrooms. Unfortunately, I kept putting off buying some until the very end and guess what... they were all GOOOONNEE!! -sobs hysterically- Then, afterward, I kept hearing about how good they were and how I missed out. Damn it! I might go to the festival next year just to get 'em... cause the rest of the festival was just alright for me.

(My condolence gift: garlic fries with crab)

Back on point, though. The craving never really left me, so Jeff and I decided to dust off our cooking skills and make some crab-stuffed portobello mushroom caps! (click here for recipe) It's Paula Dean! It's gotta be good. The woman loves everything delicious and heart attack-inducing! Luckily, Jeff's always down to tinker around in the kitchen with me. I just have to suggest a recipe I want to try ^_^

The ingredients!

Jeff removing the gills and stems from the MASSIVE portobellos.

Good job, babe!

I guess the mushrooms reminded him of me?

I got the hang of it after a while.

Bringing the stuffing together.

Seriously. The caps were huge.

Panko bread crumbs.

We made 2 versions. Jeff likes the ones with more bread crumbs on top because they were crunchier. I like the one with less and pepper jack on top. Nom Nom Nom.

I do believe it was a success. We didn't realize how filling they would be, though. We weren't able to finish the 4 that we made. :/ Hope you guys give it a try! So good!

My Most Favorite!

Rafting at Rancho Cordova is easily one of my favorite things to do on a hot day. Jeff and I took 3 friends this past Tuesday and it was as relaxing as ever. I'm telling you! Having a weekday off together is the greatest, since everything is so much busier during the weekend. :) Luckily, Jen & Pat also have Tuesdays off. We had been trying to get together for this for a while.

Jen, Pat, Jeff, Me, & Mark

It was about 98 degrees out, so you bet your ass we slathered on the sun block. It didn't stop the tan line, though. Damn it! Now I have circles on my hips from the damn bikini bottoms! Oh well, it was fun.

My favorite part of the river!

We were able to just hang out on the rocks and the water wasn't even that cold. Perfect.

Me & the boyfriend (don't tell him, but I only use him for his body).

I love chillin' on the river so much that for my birthday, Jeff actually planned a rafting party for me! Soooooo fun! Except for the fact that half the electronics got soaked :( At the end, there were phones and cameras laid out on the towel, desperately trying to dry in the sun. We called it the electronic graveyard. Even on Tuesday, Pat forgot that his iPhone was in his pocket when he jumped into the water. I guess the excitement makes you forget? *shrug*

Our group converging on the parking lot!

Had to rest up before carrying the rafts on coolers to the river.

READY!!


This was only half of the party. The other half stole a water cannon and bolted :P
It was war!

The enemy ship!

The lovelies (and Chris) finding sanctuary in the shade.
Jk... Chris is lovely, too.

Treating the wounded... well, a lesson in how to.

I love being on the river, surrounded by beautiful women in bikinis! ;)

A Distraction Blog

So much is going on right now and I need to keep my mind from imploding on itself. That being said... time to blog as a diversion! Don't act like you've never done that before.

So Jeff and I went to Fanime for the first time and definitely not the last. We had SOOOO much fun, but were unbearable exhausted at the end of the day. I purposely kept up a constant babble on the drive home because he looked like he was about to pass out at the wheel. But let's backpedal for a bit.

The excitement didn't really hit me until we arrived in San Jose and got closer and closer to the convention center. There were cosplayers E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!! I was ready to pull over anywhere, throw on our costumes, and go. Instead, we found a parking lot by McDonalds. We even went in in our costumes (along with every other person scarfing down McWhatevers)! Every day should be like that. ^.^ Ahhh... heavenly...

I won't go into detail because I have to get to bed, but here are a few photos! We have over a hundred, so I'm just gonna throw in a handful and get more in-depth later on. Enjoy and good night!