I came home yesterday and received 3 UPS notices for packages that were left at our apartment’s leasing office for pick up. I was very excited. All in all, this is what we received:

 1. a Haier 18 Bottle Wine Cellar - we received this from our friends L, L2, S, and G. It was very kind of them to get us something so nice and useful. J belongs to an Ultra Reds wine club at our favorite wine shop and he hasn’t opened any of them, so it’ll be nice to put the bottles in the cellar.

2. J got a set of Laguiole by Sabatier Stainless Steel Steak Knives from my sister PC. These will be very useful, since we are in need of new knives anyway — plus, we’re having steak tonight, so we can test them out!

3. I received my gift from J yesterday as well. I got my new Creative Zen V Plus MP3 Player. It is so tiny and fits perfectly in my palm. It’s a great little player! It holds photos, videos, audiobooks, and music. I’m in love with my new little toy!

Then when I came home tonight, there was a big box sitting by my front door. When I opened it, I was so excited! My sister PC got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer and it’s a pretty red color.  I’m so excited to start using it!!!

So, there you have it. We’ve been pretty blessed thus far. Thanks to the kind people in our lives that got us these really wonderful gifts.

 Welcome Little Guy.

 I got these tix for J’s birthday/X-mas gift. It was well worth it!

1. Last Friday, I went out to lunch with 3 of my co-workers and we stopped by the San Pedro Square Farmer’s Market. We walked around and I stumbled upon a vendor selling some olive oil. There were samples of course, so you know I had to have me some. I tried both the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil and Garlic Infused Olive Oil – both were superb. I bought myself a bottle of the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil and their Balsamic Vinaigrette. It’s the best BV I’ve had in a long time. I’m savoring both. Check them out at: www.calolea.com

2. I heart Vin Santo in the lovely neighborhood of Willow Glen. J and I had dinner their 2 Saturdays ago and everything was excellent. The last time we were there was about 4 years ago when I came out to visit J when he was out here on business. I ordered the salmon stuffed with crab with lobster sauce, which sat on top of asparagus and mashed potatoes and J ordered the rib-eye with peppercorn sauce and came with chard and beet and goat cheese mashed potatoes. It was all delicious. For dessert, J got the tiramisu (it was ok, nothing compares to Olio’s) and I got the pear tartain with hazelnut gelato. Wow is all I have to say. I’m not one for fruit in desserts, but this was wonderful. The pears were not overly sweet and the hazelnut gelato accompanied it very well.

3. The television show Bones starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. The TV show is based on the novels by Kathy Reichs. We just completed Season 1 and Season 2. Since we do not have cable or any of the basic channels…we’ve resorted to watching television shows on DVD. It’s been fun. This is a great show because I enjoy the cast and there are some great lines in the show. Rent it or buy it.

I can’t believe it’s already December…Christmas is only 3 weeks away. Scary.

Happy shopping! We’re like 95% done with our X-mas shopping. Ha ha!

November 5th: My friend L & I went to this 7 course dinner at A Bellagio. It was overall really good. The food was great.

November 9th: J and I went out to Buca’s to celebrate our friend L2′s birthday. We had a lot of good food. Everything was delicious. I gave L2 a box of chocolates and the movie Ratatouille.

November 10th: J and I went over to L’s apartment club house for a going away party. One of our friends, M, is leaving us and going back to Japan. We wish her all the best!

November 11th: J and I went to L & L2′s place for dinner. They made banh xeo, which is a Vietnamese crepe. Truly delicious. I also made my famous chocolate chip cookies. Yum.

My sister P was in town from the 12th-18th. So, we were busy entertaining her and I was busy being her chauffeur. P and I met twice this week for lunch at Vung Tau – excellent Vietnamese restaurant. We also met L, M&N, for dinner at Olio’s. P made pasta with a carbanora sauce on Thursday.

Besides all the outings and being on the go…I’ve been extremely busy at work, wrapped up in several projects.

 Last, but not least, these people deserve a birthday shout out:

my brother M (2nd)

my sisters K (7th – Happy 21!) and N (11th)

my co-worker L (5th)

my friend B (5th)

my friends L2 (9th) and L (20th)

and last but not least, my friend S (8th)

Now…I have to prepare for Thanksgiving. I can’t believe how soon it will be. Our plans for now are to get together with our friends, M&N. I’m preparing a small turkey roast, Cornish game hens, cornbread stuffing, and Granny’s Tatoes (the best potato dish ever from J’s paternal granny — I heart her!) M& N are making a salad with candied walnuts, cranberries, and Gorgonzola, a Shepard’s pie, and her famous cheesecake (to-die-for!) This is the plan unless M has their baby. She’s due any day now till the 29th (the expected due date.) Of course, I have to prepare just in case Baby comes. I look forward to cooking and spending quality time with good friends. Wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The other day I received an e-mail from Epicurious declaring I could make my own recipe book (they call it Tastebook) by following this link. One can create their own book by selecting 100 recipes of one’s choice. It allows you to create a cover for your recipe book, a title, description, and you get to browse around for recipes. You can even add your own personal recipes to the book. There’s even a preview book option so that you can take a look at what you’ve done so far and make changes if necessary. The recipes have all been divided into chapters titled “Appetizers & Drinks”, “Meat & Poultry”, etc. 

So far, I’ve added 24 recipes to my book….I still have a ways to go. I’ve already selected quite a few tasty dishes, such as: Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter, Roasted Salmon with Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Beef Braised in Barolo wine, and Sea Scallops Brochettes with Orange-Saffron Aioli, to name a few. I can’t wait to try these out!

After you select your recipes and your book is complete, you can purchase it for $34.95.

Not a bad deal at all…..I think this would make a great Christmas gift. Feel free to check it out and pass the word along.

The beautiful baby boy was 9 lbz. 14 oz. and at a length of 22 inches. Baby A joins his brother N, who just turned 2 last Friday. Congrats to them!

I couldn’t be more happier for this wonderful family.

 Also, I’m excited to be an “Auntie” again

This is the 2nd earthquake we’ve felt since we’ve been out here….I just hope we are elsewhere when a bigger one comes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.