Stupefied.

My baby sis turned 30. Where did the time go? Sadly, our folks were trapesing all across the Holy Land on her blessed bday, but not before giving us the go-ahead for the birthday present of a life-time--well, at least a very, very special bday present.

My baby Bean (as she is affectionately called by family) was born on November 16th thirty whole years ago. Growing up, she was a little tomboy, playing with G.I. Joe dolls and camping out in ther G.I. Joe tent. We couldn't have been more different. I was the outgoing one and she was the introvert. In high school, she excelled in art and illustration, drawing cartoons and broadening her skills with painting. The college years brought her a B.A. in Fine Arts. She's been featured in juried art exhibitions in the L.A. area, including the Brand Library Art Galleries and Gallery 825, where she's won many awards for her drawing and mixed media. She is now an art teacher to elementary school children where she shares her love of art and inspires young ones to explore their creativity and to dream. She is a blessing to the world.

In addition to her art, she is an OPERA FIEND!!! She is die hard and goes to operas all the time (even alone!) and has an extensive collection of recordings and DVDs. Way before my parents left for their trip, my mom asked me what we could do for Bean to make her birthday a really memorable and special one since it was the big 3-0. Not a party, for sure--too ostentatious and she would hate that. Instead, we came up with the perfect plan: a surprise trip to New York to see the Metropolitan Opera! She. Would. Die. But we couldn't let her go alone. DH and I would join her to help her celebrate (YAY!!). So for the past couple of months, I tried to fanagle some info out of her like when she would be able to go without having to worry about teaching, which opera would she want to see, then we needed to purchase tickets, arrange flights, and find a place to stay all without her knowing. That was fun.

Turns out her Christmas break coincided with our's AND the opera she was planning to buy tix to see in HD at the theater. PERFECT! I snagged some great center seats in the dress circle and arranged to stay with our aunt and uncle in NJ, just 15 minutes outside of the city. We waited on airfare, hoping the prices would fall as gas prices were lowering. That's the only thing we still need to do and they are, in fact, getting lower.

On her bday weekend, DH’s parents came down to stay with us as we had another family event to attend on Sunday evening. On the morning of her bday, I got C up to paint and glitter the wooden treasure chest we bought to put the ticket in. Unfortunately, he was still so tired and coming down with a cold that he was none too pleased when I dragged him out of bed and put him to work. I think it turned out really cute, though (pics to come). I think his favorite part was the glitter. Who doesn’t love glitter? DH and I then went to mass (C was sick, so he stayed at home with the in-laws), picked up a ton of tiny presents, and then we all rendezvoused at Bean’s before going to Yard House for lunch. Bean even got a little frisky and ordered (gasp!) an alcoholic beverage (for which she and I both got carded).

When we got back to the house, we only had about an hour or so before we all had to leave to go to the other family event in Northridge (it was a one year anniversary mass for an aunt of our’s who passed away). So we busted out the video camera and proceeded to go through the assembly line of presents. First, the endless array of Dollar Tree goodies to whet her appetite (and make her giggle a bit): Jelly Bellies, Peach Rings, Twizzlers, and Spree; stencils, sandpaper, candles, a High School Musical CD-R (yeah, this one was definitely for laughs). Then into the “clue” gifts: gloves, leg-warmers, a movie with Brooklyn in the title, a set of 5 pairs of socks each with “Brooklyn”, “New York”, “Bronx”, “Queens”, “Harlem” on them (LOVE the Dollar Tree!!). The last set were the biggies: two SD cards, a Canon camera and AIO printer set, and the biggest of biggies: the treasure chest complete with treasure!!

When the camera came out, she was so surprised! But NOTHING compared to her reaction when she opened the treasure chest. She looked at the envelope inside (which said Met Opera, etc. and “Happy 30th Birthday! We love you very much! Love, Mom, Papa, R, R & C”). She was in UTTER disbelief— in a totally quiet speechless kind of way. She kept saying, “What? What is this? What? Nuh-uh…What?”. We got the whole thing on video. When she opened the envelope, more “What? What?!”. Ha ha. It was cute. I had tears in my eyes and I think she wanted to cry, too. Seriously, she was stupefied beyond mental comprehension. I think she thought she was dreaming. Even later that night in Northridge, she couldn’t believe it was real.

But it was and we are going to New York right after Christmas!! All the planning and scheming was all worth it. Her reaction was priceless. One dream nearly fulfilled:"Go see opera at NY Met Opera"--CHECK. And she totally deserves it. Sometimes the world conspires to give you something that your soul needs. WE LOVE YOU, BEAN!!!!

Damn, we’re good. ;)

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Queen M.

Last weekend was another whirlwind, of sorts. We decided to go to the Flea Market at the Rose Bowl on Sunday since my sis needed to find some stuff for her art. DH and I gave ourselves $50 each to buy whatever we wanted, so we walked around and saw what there was to find. It was only the 2nd or 3rd time I'd ever gone, but it is so much fun that I would love to go more often. Anyway, after walking through the "new" stuff, we finally made our way to the antiques--which is more our speed. I love the idea that something old can be new to you. We split up so that J could find the old boxes she was looking for, and we headed off to find some treasures. I was drawn to a lot of the furniture that many of the vendors had. Anything rusty and architectural. I picked up some old rusty iron things that I'm thinking of using in some jewelry pieces. C chose a key stamped "Germany" for a few bucks and he was happy as heck.

C found this awesome chair from the 1940's. It says "Art Dept." on it and had the perfect grunge-y finish to it. I wish we had someplace to put it, because I really loved it! Can you tell this was in the midst of a meltdown? We were planning to resurrect C's old stroller since he has a tendency to get cranky, mean, and whine-y when he is tired, but most unfortunately, we had left it at home.

On the upside, I picked up the awesomest (is that a word?) soap from Scott's Soaps. He had so many scents to choose from and after alternating whiffs of aromatic soaps and coffee grounds, I picked up three yummy bars: Country Spice (smells like cinnamon), Lavender Spearmint, and Lavender Rosemary. This. Soap. ROCKS. Seriously, it smells heavenly and had such a smooth and rich lather. It doesn't get you "squeaky (literally)" clean like some soaps which are drying, but rather it makes your skin so soft and the scent really lingers. I LOVE IT!!! Thank you, Scott!

Part Two of our whirlwind adventure took us to Vroman's to meet freakin' MARTHA STEWART!!

While en route to the Rose Bowl, we drove by Vroman's and DH sees the sign up that Martha's got a book signing later that afternoon. He actually asked me if I wanted to go so I said HECK YEAH! :) I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't thinks she's the end-all, be-all, but she is Martha Stewart. She's famous. And infamous. And I wanted to buy her new book anyway . . .

I've never been to a book signing at Vroman's before, so I didn't know you get this ticket with a number on it--kind of insurance that it's first-come, first-served. Lucky me, I was #361. Great. I can only imagine how long this was gonna take.

Martha was signing her new book, Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook. With book and ticket in hand, I found a little spot to sit and wait. And wait. And wait. The signing wasn't until 4pm and it was not even 3 yet. There were already about 50 people waiting outside for the line to form.

My sister finally joined me in the courtyard. Apparently, DH and C went on a "boys only" shopping spree around town while Mommy and Tita waited for Martha. Good thing, too (pun intended), because as more and more people arrived, I could tell this was going to take a looong time--especially when I saw that some of these crazy people had like 5 or 6 copies of the book to sign! Capitalizing on eBay, are we?! Around 3:30 we were all instructed by a John-McEnroe-in-his-earlier-years-look-alike to start lining up in number order. You HAD to be in line or you would lose your spot. Even if you were lucky #361.

As people were starting to file in line, we hedged further and further (or is it farther and farther?) away from the bookstore. Our lucky 361 planted us right in front of an optometry store, underneath street trees which were violently dropping their berries (ouch!). As this was going to take a while, I decided we deserved some coffee and picked some up at the coffee shop adjacent to the bookstore. I felt bad that DH and C were killing so much time waiting around that I bought some banana chocolate chip bread for them to enjoy a little later. (Upon ingestion of said banana chocolate chip bread, it was determined by the panel of two that Mommy's was far superior.) Here's are a couple shots of us waiting in line:

(Seriously, what a dork am I.)

Some shots of the line, which included a healthy mix of male and female fans:

We even had our own spectators from afar (view of the building across the street):

Only 5 days earlier, Obama became president-elect and the newsstands were hocking their wares, playing to the collectors at heart:

Night befell us pretty quickly and the street lights illuminated our path as we inched closer and closer. Almost there. Almost there.

FINALLY! We make it inside, up the stairs, and around the bend. It was weird, actually. From afar, it was like I was watching TV--she didn't even seem real. I've seen famous people before (it is L.A., after all), but never anyone as notorious as Ms. M. People were clicking away as they made their way to the front, myself included:

She looked like she was done. Like, spent. I mean wouldn't you be, too, if you had just signed your name 400 times? As stated, we weren't able to pose with Martha or have her personalize our inscriptions. We marked our half-title pages so she could immediately open the book to the right page and sign. All this time, J was practicing the back-button focusing on my Nikon and was getting nervous that she would screw up. I mean, we only had like seconds at the table and literally one shot at a good picture! I snapped this one as we were next at bat:

OMG! Finally! It was our turn! What was I going to say? Um, "Ms. Stewart, I enjoy your work tremendously", "Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Stewart", uh, "Thanks, Martha"--Hm. Nope. She's all about manners, so first names are out. AAHH!! So we approached the table. "Hello" we say to each other. She opens my book. I shoo my sis off to the side so she can take the pic. Martha notices me telling J to "come on, take the picture, take the PICTURE!" and comments, "My, everyone's got Nikons and Canons!". She pseudo-poses with a smile, as do I, and J takes one snap. "Thank you" I say to Queen M. And as quick as that, we parted ways. Sigh. I was so excited. Giddy like a freakin' school girl. I met Martha! THE Martha Stewart! Cool. And I have a picture to prove it. With my Nikon, too, not just my point and shoot. Awesome! Without further ado, I present to you.....The Curtain:
Wait for it.........
Wait for it........
Be patient........
It's coming........
Seriously........
(Drum roll, please......)
TA DA!!! :

Thanks, J. You're so lucky it's your birthday month.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Playing Catch Up

Finally posting after a busy weekend/week, starting with Halloween. Both DH and I left a little early so that we could take C trick-or-treating before it got too late. After about five houses, C says very matter-of-factly, "Okay. I think I have enough candy now. Let's go home." I blame the kid who gave out candy at the first house who was dressed like a clown, white-faced, bozo nose, and rainbow fro. C nearly jumped out of his skin, he was so startled. I don't blame him. I hate clowns. Anyway, I think that set the tone for the evening. Every house after that, C asked Mommy or Daddy to go with him to the door and after ringing the door bell he would turn right around and practically hide behind us. Oh, well. He made out with a decent enough amount of candy and had fun getting dressed up again. He even let his Tita J paint a skull and crossbones on his hand. Cool. We had a great night . . .

Ready for Trick-or-Treating:

Heading out the door showing off his awesome skull and crossbones tattoo (Thank you, Tita!):

The Loot:

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Gulp. We did it.

Well, I'm relieved yet very sad at the same time. After two years, we finally put our first house up for short sale. Sigh. Relieved because we've been draining our resources and it has all but sucked us dry. Sad because I will miss my back yard!!! It was SO awesome. But it's time to face reality and focus on this "new" house, C starting Kindergarten next year, and everything else in between. God will provide . . .

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Party Pirate

I feel like crap. C was a complete nightmare in church this morning and I am so exhausted from our marathon of parties yesterday. It feels good to just sit here now and just write. I mean, my brain still hurts, but this is at least a cathartic pastime. Ahhh....the sound of Sunday. Quiet, serene, save for your husband snoring on the couch and the white noise of Little Bear playing in the background. Indeed.....peace at last. Amazing how your life pace can slow to a screeching halt overnight.

Just twenty-six hours ago, we were arriving at C's preschool Halloween festival, better known as Party #1. As evidenced by the photo above, C was a pirate this year. Again. Yes, he was a pirate last year, too, but at least this year he was a pirate of notoriety, Capt. Jack Sparrow. All the preschool families gathered 'round the oak trees, eating hot dogs, snapping shots of kiddos in costume on bales of hay bedeckled with bright orange pumpkins. They even had some face-painting--of which C wanted no part. No, instead he instantly homed in on his buddy S, who just happened to also be Jack Sparrow. It was like they planned it. Pretty soon, the third of the Three Amigos, little K dressed as Tinkerbell, flitted over to the boys.

They finished their hot dogs and juice boxes and ran around quite a bit before it was time to line up for the costume parade to the house next door.

This little house was decked out in Halloween decorations inside and out. The sisters who lived in the house (sisters, as in "nun" sisters, not "sibling" sisters) handed out candies to the kiddos as they walked through the house, past the fireplace fitted with ghost and goblins, and finally out through the little chapel. C snagged a Rice Krispy treat (which mommy and daddy enjoyed immensely) and some candy corn.

By this time, DH's parents had arrived to take in the last few moments of the festivities. In the heat of the day, we sat under the shade of the trees cooling off until it was time to head over the Party #2: the church festival.........

Ama and Ampa followed us to the church, where we met up with my little sis, J, who was going to be doing some of the face-painting at one of the booths. Parched and nearly lifeless from the heat, I bought a cantaloupe juice from the Filipino booth while DH picked up some water bottles from the drink stand. Luckily, we were able to find a table in the shade. We took in the sights and sounds of the festival, which was pretty empty due to the heat. We strolled through the crafts Boutique and DH even picked up one of my chocolate chip cookies for the price of 2 food tickets. "I can't believe I actually had to buy one of your cookies", he said. I replied ever so innocently with, "At least it's for a good cause.....(wink)". I snapped a few shots of my sis painting faces and then decided to hit the road for the next big event.

Of course, we couldn't leave without C taking a spin on the Safari Jeeps and winning a stuffed animal ("Rocky", has he been dubbed).

Then we high-tailed it outta there off to Party #3: the Housewarming...........

We got to our friends' new house about 4 hours late, but no surprise, the party was still in full swing. Some of our old choir folks were jamming in the living room, busting out oldies and Tagalog songs like veteran crooners. The food was great, some Filipino dishes and some delish Hawaiian bbq. We got the tour of the place, which is really nice, especially the back yard which was really quite expansive. Presents were opened (it was a birthday / housewarming) and then someone busted out the RockBand2, I think it's called (I'm not even sure, I'm THAT old!!)--DH belted out a couple and I, of course, had to represent with a little Bon Jovi, "Livin' on a Prayer". Unfortunately, I didn't get around to taking any pics, but trust me when I say it was the highlight of our day, seeing friends and just hanging out.

So here I am, finishing typing. It's actually almost midnight even though I started this post earlier this afternoon. Just too much livin' going on, you know? No, life is good, though. And I'm trying to savor every delectable moment of it . . .

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

I Bake for God

Tonight is the beginning of our church's Fall festival. We've been there about two months, now, and we really love it. Last month, as I was flipping through the church bulletin, something caught my eye in a way that no other blurb or announcement in a church bulletin has ever before caught my eye. It jumped out of the page, reeling me in with it's e'er so charming illustration. The question it posed spoke to the core of my being and my heart raced with anticipation as I read further:

Hallelujah!! A BAKING ministry?!?! Oh, heck, yeah! I could do this, I thought to myself! What better way to jump right into being an active parishoner than to provide food for the hungry! So, hastily I made my way to the hospitality table and signed myself right up.

For the next few weeks, I tossed around recipes that I could use, searching the web for recipes of the best "carrot cake", "chewy cookie", "moist banana bread", etc. I scoured Recipezaar , Epicurious, FoodTV, hit my favorite cooking blogs. As time was quickly running out, I finally settled on two of my go-to recipes and all-around palate pleasers: "Big, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies" and "Very Moist Banana Bread". These have been in my arsenal for a couple of years now and they are the best of both that I have ever tried. I wanted to do a Fall-ish pumpkin spice bread, but it was going to be a new recipe for me, so I decided to stick with tried and true.

So I baked all last night, doubling both recipes and waiting for everything to cool off before wrapping up each individual cookie and each loaf of bread. They turned out great. The cookies were big and chewy and chocolate-y (I had to try one to make sure they were suitable for consumption, of course!). The banana bread was perfectly browned and dense but moist, just like I like it. Needless to say, I'm pretty exhausted, but it really is for a good cause. It's a wonderful feeling to volunteer and know that I'm helping out my parish. The Lord works in mysterious ways . . .

So without further ado, I present to you my baker's delights:

BIG, CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(from AllRecipes)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

3. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

5. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

6. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

8. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

9. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.

10. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

* * * * * * * * * * *

VERY MOIST BANANA BREAD

(from Recipezaar)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup buttermilk (I use milk and a splash of vinegar)
1 cup chopped pecans
4-5 bananas (use completely black bananas, this is very important--I always have bananas overripe bananas in the freezer specifically for this bread. Just thaw them slightly before mashing and it adds the perfect banana flavor)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease or spray 2 loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a masher or by well washed hands.

3. Dissolve soda in buttermilk-- use a larger container as it will foam up quite a bit.

4. Mix all ingredients by hand and add in 1 cup chopped nuts.

5. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out ALMOST clean.

6. Totally clean will mean a dryer loaf.

7. Let cool 15 minutes after removing from oven and remove from pans.

8. Or, let cool, cover with foil, slide into freezer bags and freeze.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Expect the Unexpected

How is it that I'm suddenly obsessed with the concept of blogging? Or that I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee? Two things that I ordinarily would scoff at for being hyped-up or trendy. I'm not trendy. I hate trendy. Or at least I thought I did. Even more astonishingly, I've found myself recently enamored with opera! Those of you who know me know that I studied it in college, performed it, and even received a graduate degree in music. But I found I could no longer tolerate the sound of it after grad school. I really, REALLY detested it. HATED it, even. Sad, I know, but that's what happened.

So, for someone who likes to surround herself with a sense of stability and routine predictability--why all these little sudden changes? Why this blog? Why waxing philosophical? I didn't think I liked philosophical. Sigh. I have so much left to learn about my ever-evolving self. That's okay--it's kind of fun, actually. I'm starting to embrace the idea that change and the unexpected are what make life interesting, for better or worse. So, you see--my husband isn't the only one who can't figure me out. Turns out, he's in pretty good company.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

A Day in the Life...

I have many loves in my life. First and foremost, my God who has blessed me with an abundance of joy and joyful things. Too often, I forget how I owe everything to Him. Second only to the Almighty are my family and friends who have continued to overlook my idiosyncrasies and still love me for being me (at least, that’s what they're telling me). And, of course, among those "littler" things in life that keep me sane is that which brings us all together: food.

So thus, I begin my blogging journey, to capture those sweet morsels of everyday life and share them all with you. I’ve never attempted to maintain a journal of this sort before, so I can’t say with any certainty that this will be the least bit interesting to read, but I hope it is. I will promise, however, to be true to the blissful (and crazy and hectic) existence that is my life.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Rachelle @ Sweet Home Pasadena

Welcome to Our Family Blog

Stupefied.

Queen M.

Playing Catch Up

Gulp. We did it.

Party Pirate

I Bake for God

Expect the Unexpected

A Day in the Life...

Caboose and Co.

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