A Movie Group Christmas...

This year, the Movie Group decided to have the annual Christmas party at Buca di Beppo. We had reservations at 7PM, but it seemed like Buca wasn't prepared at all. They sat us down after we were waiting for 10 minutes. We were seated at this narrow table in a cramped room (We were elbow to elbow). The bread took 45 minutes to come and the salad took an hour. Luckily, there was one success... and that was the food.

The rest of them...

Jingle 'Bella'

Bella wore her new Santa collar yesterday during her walk. There is this tree just around the corner that has these brilliantly yellow leaves. It was the perfect set up for her holiday photo.

Here's another shot of her with the collar. She was on high alert because she just heard a dog barking from across the street.

And finally there were some leaves around the block that were holding onto the rain from earlier that morning.

The rest of them...

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

It was a foggy and rainy day in the Los Gatos Hills. We went to the top of the hill to the "Tobacco Ranch Tree Farm" to cut down our 2009 Christmas tree.

Chris did the honors of cutting down the tree this year. It was his first time and he did great!

We took the camera out for a few last pictures despite the rain...

Every car driving down the hill had a tree strapped to the roof.

The rest of them...

Christmas in the Park

Last night, Chris and I went to Christmas in the Park with my parents in Downtown San Jose. We got dinner at Sonoma Chicken and were able to use the Groupons we bought a few weeks ago. =)

The rest of them...

All the ornaments are finally on my Disney tree

We ended up with so many Disney ornaments that we had to get a 2nd tree just for them. This year, I had more than 30 new ornaments to add. The after Christmas sale at Disneyland was the reason for most!

A one year anniversary

Last night, Chris' family got together to remember the 1 year anniversary of his Grandpa's passing.

Here are some pictures that Chris took of his family...

The rest of them...

Nessa, it is your birthday.

This weekend was taken over by Nessa's birthday celebration! It was something I was looking forward to ever since I received the Facebook invite because I knew it would be a fun opportunity to bring out the Mark ii.

First things first -- My brother surprised Nessa with a BBQ and show featuring John & DJ Sean Tee!

I had my brother pull everyone together at the end for a group shot. I stood up on a loading dock to get an interesting perspective.

That night, we took the party to Nessa's house where she hosted a black light party. Now that I look back, I should have purchased a UV filter for my lens. The photos would have been less blue. But the challenges of shooting in black light are endless. Next time, I'll be better prepared.

Chris and I made shirts with UV paint at home...

While others used highlighters to mark up each other's shirts.

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The entire BBQ set can be seen here on my Flickr.

The entire black light set can be seen here on my Flickr.

Wow... I'm a terrible blogger!

I guess I've been too busy. But I have returned... like I always do.

I suppose we can just pick up from here.

Chris took me to Disneyland for my birthday. They are still running the get in free on your birthday promotion, but I got a $70 gift card instead because I am an annual passholder! Score!!

We had never been during Halloween Time before. It's a beautiful time to visit. And the only time you get to see unique characters like...

Chris treated me to a birthday dinner at Napa Rose. We sat next to the kitchen at the chef's table.

We chose to have the four course meal with wine pairings. Because we were at the chef's table, the chef would ask us how we liked each course . We found out he was originally a chef at a restaurant in Napa.

The other highlight of the trip was going to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party at California Adventure. They allow kids and adults to dress up in costumes, trick-or-treat around the park, go on rides, and visit with characters. We went as Buzz and Woody!!

Best friends!

I posted all of our trip pictures on my Flickr.

I love you <3>

Snapfish, You are on notice!!

I was so excited to finally see that my graduation pictures arrived in the mail... until I opened them up anyways! I ordered wallet sized, 5x7s, and an 8x10. The wallets were OK-- much smaller than I expected but what can you do? The 5x7s and 8x10 had a green tint to them and the 8x10 cropped the top of the photo.

How can there be such a big difference with the hues? And now I have to deal with their customer service... great. Last time I ordered from Snapfish, they screwed up my order and didn't give me the doubles I asked for... now this? I'm over it!

SNAPFISH, YOU ARE ON NOTICE!

Update: Snapfish issued me a credit to get "free" 5x7s, an 8x10, and some 4x6s. But really, I already paid for these and now I'm going to have to risk ordering from them again, wait for them to ship, and see if they screwed it all up again! 

Splish, Splash, Bella's takin' a bath!

Yes, she HATES it... but this girl needs to be squeaky clean for this weekend!

After all the anguish, she finally got clean. She's beyond dramatic-- Don't most dogs like water??

BECA Bash

If you haven't yet been to Sens restaurant, then you need to go. It's located on the Embarcadero and provides a fantastic view of the clock tower and the Bay Bridge. This was the location of Bash this year. We had the balcony area reserved for the more than 200 guests that came to party. It was great to catch up with some old friends and hang out with some new ones. I also received my CSB honor cord that night (you can see in the photos above). I can't wait to wear it for graduation which is coming up in less than 2 weeks. 

Today I had my last final -- I passed it with flying colors. And tomorrow is my last class... ever. My favorite professor, Jen Vaughn was there for me during my very first BECA class at State and she will also be there for my last. I'm really glad that my final class is a production class (State of Events) -- A great way to end my years at SFSU!

And as the clock strikes 6PM tomorrow, I will be done (and on my way to the Mets game to celebrate!)

Is that your youth? ... Not no mo!

Nessa and Jessica teamed together to pull off a great surprise party for Brother! Everything was perfect: From the blue and orange balloons to the sign that read "Is that yo youth?! Not no mo!" For me, it was like a small high school reunion and I caught up with some old friends I hadn't seen in years. It was fantastic that so many friends came out for his 26th birthday celebration:  40 or so attendees. It was a true surprise and he had a great time!

Christine, Jessica, Mommy and Kate... minus eight

About a month ago I discovered that Kate Gosselin would be coming to Pleasant Hill, CA for a book signing. The day finally came today and Jessica, my mom, and I made the trip up there. We stopped for lunch in San Francisco and then crossed the Bay Bridge. We got a wristband and staked out our place in line. 

I really can't say how many people were there, but the line wrapped around the building. Kate was very sweet. She said "Hello girls!" to me and my mom when we went up to get our books signed. My mom told her that we really enjoy watching her show and she said, "Ooh well that you for watching!" She looked really good too =) Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures with her and she didn't personalize autographs which I was pretty sad about. Oh well. It was still good times. 

I enjoyed hearing Jess repeat the opener of Jon & Kate plus 8 from memory -- Her impression of Kate is spot on as well. Just one of our many random adventures that we will never forget =)

Celebrate You! - Day Three

The day had arrived to wear our shirts! Hooray! We lined up to take our photo at the Minnie & Friends character breakfast.

I guess that have a general fascination with heads, hats, glasses, etc...

We love Pooh!

After breakfast, we went to go take pictures in front of the castle. The PhotoPass Cast Members loved our shirts!

We walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle while the boys went to get Fast Passes. Next stop -- Peter Pan's Flight. That ride needs some serious refurbushment. We went on over to Tomorrow Land and rode around on the Autopia Cars. SOME people forgot about the no bumping rule!

After Autopia, we stopped over at the Tiki Room (mainly because we wanted dole whips)! We walked through the turnstyle and went up to the counter to buy the whips. The doors for the Tiki Room were still open, but we wanted whips, so we decided to catch the next show. Then this RUDE Castmember comes out from backstage and starts yelling at us... "You guys have to go inside! The show is going to start! There is no time for juice!"

... No time for juice?! ZUH?!

There's always time for juice! 

And thanks to Frankie complaining about him at guest services, we also had time to go on Tower of Terror and Soarin' (Because of Fast Passes "for our trouble").

We took naps and headed back to Disneyland to watch the new parade.

We had dinner at Pizza Port, went on Space Mountain, watched Wishes, and took another trip around Small World. And there was when we were all exhausted and called it a night.