Life's Celebrations: A Sweet Birthday for a Sweet Lady

We celebrated my grandmother's birthday today. It was a real simple gathering of close relatives...and per my grandmother's request, we all played a LONG game of BINGO!!!

{Side Note}
I remember back when I was about 9 or 10 years old, my family and relatives would always have a bingo game going on during our numerous family house parties. This went on until I was maybe 13 or 14 years old, and then it sort just dwindled away...this was the first time in a very long time we all played bingo together! It definitely brought me back to those days :)

{Love} Mia bear!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMANG...WE LOVE YOU!!!

'Cause Baby You're A Firework

SWIM DAY!!! We indulged in a little bit of pre-fourth of July swimming fun earlier this week. My cousins came over and it was little miss Mia's first time swimming in my pool. I had a great time splashing around :)

{Side Note}
I had a feeling it would be too cold for swimming on fourth of July...it's a good thing we got a head start :)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Family QT: A Mini Reunion

My cousin Yssa is on vacation here in San Diego (she currently lives in Dubai with her husband). She came to visit us last night. The last time I saw her was in the Philippines 9 years ago when I was on vacation there with my family. It was really good to see her again after all these years! It was a mini reunion for us cousins (minus my sister Charlene who is in Irvine right now).

[photo courtesy of Yssa's iphone]

--> For me & Charlene...gifts from Dubai!!!

Thank you Yssa! Love the scarves and earrings!

Look who came to visit as well...MIA!!! She just keeps growing and growing.

{Love} Her hipster hair do ;)

A Weekend Affair

{Location: Irvine and Tustin, CA}
This past weekend, Charlene and I took our cousin Regina around Orange County/Irvine area. Regina moved in with Charlene and Enrique in Irvine for the summer (she's doing a summer internship at The Courtyard Marriott in Fountain Valley). I came up to join them in the festivities!

{Love} This tree in front of Charlene's apartment. So pretty :)

[Irvine Spectrum]
We went to Irvine Spectrum and Charlene took us to this little place called Artbox that sells really cute stationary and such. Couldn't help myself...I love notebooks! Afterwards, we got a snack at Auntie Anne's and people watched for a bit :)

--> Here's what I bought: 

[cash book $2.99//striped notebook $1.50//two striped hair clips $2.25 each.]

[The District in Tustin: Ulta]
We had some time to kill before our movie showing, so what better place to do that than in...Ulta! Hahaha, it was the perfect place, especially for us girly girls. I finally became an "ULTAmate" member. Signed up for their points program and everything

-->Here's what I bought:

[Pantene Heat Protector $5.49//Ulta nail polish $6.00 each]

I've been wanting to use a heat protector for my hair. I blow dry my hair every day. Also on a daily basis? I use either a straightening or curling iron. Sigh...no more dry, brittle ends for me please! Also, the Ulta nail polish were on sale- buy 2 get 2 free! So really, each nail polish bottle was like $3 each. I love the name of each shade (from left to right): Tink-Her-Bell, Ginger Peach, Hot Spot and The Jungle Look.

[The District in Tustin: AMC Theaters]
Making it a movie night! So I'm a big fan of Charlize Theron...and I have a thing for Chris Hemsworth...so, I mean the only obvious choice was Snow White and the Huntsman. Anyway, we met up with Enrique and his brother Esteban (they just got back from their week long, interstate road trip).

A surprise for me! YAY! THANK YOU ENRIQUE!!! Another one gets added to my growing collection!

Life's Celebrations: Legally Blonde...Okay Brunette

This past Saturday, my family and I celebrated my cousin Amy's birthday. She finally turned the big TWO ONE! Happy Birthday Ames (her real name is Amy)! Welcome to the 21 and up club :)

Babies! Babies! Everywhere! Okay well....there was really only two of them but it felt like a lot ;)

{Side Note}

Cake pops made with love by my cousin Regina...but without the pops part! Haha, so really they're just itty bitty cakes covered in chocolate...but delicious nonetheless! Also, I love how Mia is propping up my chin for this shot. Telling her aunt how to pose already! Hahaha, I love it!

{Love} Family quality time...especially Mia time ;)

My Little Snorlax

My godchild Gavin stayed over at  my place this past weekend (Thursday night through Sunday night). His parents were in a wedding in Vegas and little children were not allowed at the venue, so I offered to take care of him. He has never stayed over with me before. The most time I've spent with him was a few hours (i.e., at birthday parties), so really this was both of our first time together for longer than a few hours. I was excited and anxious at the same time...I don't have kids of my own (yet) and it's been quite some time since I've taken care of a baby. Luckily for me, Gavin is such a sweet, lovable and calm child. Taking care of him was pretty easy and everything went smoothly!

Up bright and early, watching his morning cartoons on Sprout. He loves Adventure Time and Chicka!

I gave him Dumbo to play with and they became great sleeping buddies! Also...I found out that Gavin here is  a big time snorer! Hahaha! SO CUTE! Hence the nickname I gave him- Little SNORLAX :)

{Tidbit Fact}
I have a queen sized bed. So I totally thought we both would be able to sleep comfortably at night. Well...he slept comfortably taking up 3/4 of the bed while I slept motionless on the 1/4 side. Sighhh...but I didn't mind it one bit :)

I took a few pictures of the little guy after his bath (my mom helped me out with this task). He doesn't much care for bath time...but he does love a game of peek a boo!

All dressed up and ready for some play time and shopping with his godmama! My mom and I took him out to Otay Ranch Town Center. It was a beautiful day out!

Near the food court, there's a water play area for kids (water squirts out from the floor and splashes them). Gavin enjoyed watching the kids play.

{Love} Oh my gosh that smile of his! It's infectious!

Later that night, Gavin and my dad had their one on one play time as well. Like I said, he loves peek a boo!

{Love} Yep, my mom and dad immediately got attached to him.

I made sure to get in some more quality with my little snorlax before his parents came to pick him up on Sunday night. This boy is SO wanting to walk already! He loves it when I hold on to his hands and let him walk all over the place.

All in all, I had a great time with him (and so did the rest of my family, who also helped me take care of him from time to time). My "god-motherly" instincts kicked in full gear! Yessss! He brought us so much joy. I was sad to see him go when his parents came to pick him up on Sunday night, but I'm very grateful and honored that they trusted me to take care of Gavin.

{Side Note}
I wouldn't mind doing it all again!