Invasion of Michigan Beauties

We're lucky to be visited again by one of our online friends, another Michigan beauty, Carlota. Yesterday we finally met her in person together with her husband Tom and daughter Julie. We had a simple get-together at our very gracious host Barb's house. It was originally a lunch date but was extended till dinner because of our unending chit-chats . Barb was as usual an expert cook because she concocted a sumptuous dinner in a flash. After lunch, Tom took a much needed nap at the couch charging energy for another long drive back home, while the women took pictures and exhanged stories. I was very fond of Julie, she's so cute and very sweet and most of all was very willing for me to braid her hair . In the afternoon Amber arrived from her camp and instantly she and Julie connected and not long after were playing upstairs in Amber's bedroom. Tyler was grumpy after waking from his afternoon nap but later was in his usual naughtiness showing his antics. It was a great day and we had fun in the company of Carlotz, she was very nice and friendly. Here are some of the pics I took.

==> READ MORE!

Summer Get-away in the Midwest

Hi guys, I hope everybody had a great 4^th of July holiday weekend coz we did! We’re back from our summer get-away in the Midwest. At first I thought that it’s gonna be a boring trip because Rob always told me not to get my expectations too high since there’s not much to do or see in Indiana, all it has are long open flat fields. Then I asked him why plan a trip this long when there’ll be nothing to do anyway?

Indiana was where Rob and his family emigrated into from England and this was where he practically grew up. His first best buddy was Kris and then later Butch and Steve. They were a bunch of naughty boys with so many funny anecdotes to share; theirs was really one for the book. I enjoyed listening to their daring escapades in grade school to high school. Then in college they went separate ways and attended different universities, Rob went to Purdue University, but even then they never lost touch. Not even when Rob moved out to different states and later settled in Massachusetts, they still got-together a lot, usually on Thanksgivings and New Years.

Unexpectedly, I did enjoy my trip to Indy, not more because of the place but moreso because of Rob’s good friends, they were very warm and welcoming, I felt I was one with them from day one. This was the first time that I’ve ever met them in person except for our gracious host Butch whom I already met in NY in year 2000. Actually the place is not bad at all, it's easier to get around Indianapolis than Boston, but there's more to see in Boston. Here are some of the pictures we’ve taken during our Indy trip.

Since Chicago was only 3 hours away, we also decided to drive there to see my late best friend’s daughter Kitty but unfortunately she had to work so there was no chance for us to meet. On our way to Chicago we swung by Purdue University to drive down memory lane. I was hoping to check out the dorm where Rob used to stay at to take a pic of his name plate by the door of his room, but too bad we're not allowed to come in . Apparently the university puts nameplates of people who stayed in the dorm all the way and graduated. So you must be wondering like I do how much nameplates are there now on the door considering Rob graduated 30 years ago, . Anyway, we only stayed in downtown Chicago for a day but we’re able to join the Fireworks and Architectural & Historical cruises. Rob particularly enjoyed the Fireworks Cruise because of the open bar, . The trip was fun but it would have been more fun if we stayed longer to explore the city even more, maybe next time. Here are some of the pictures we took of Chicago.

BONUS TRACK: Two days before we left for Boston I talked to Barb and got the news that Kookie is coming to town. So we planned for a little get together to meet her and her family. We finally met today July 11^th at International Buffet in Quincy, MA. This place is only 5 minutes away to where Lanie lives but unfortunately she was out on vacation to the Philippines, so she was not able to join us. TO KOOKIE -I’m so glad to finally meet and know you Kookie, I definitely had a great time with our chats and laughs. I didn’t know that you love crab so much, if you were just staying for more days we could have brought you to a much better place called Jasper’s Summer Shack in Boston where they serve real fresh crabs on Wednesdays. Maybe we should plan a much bigger get-together next time. Nice to meet you again Ms. Crabby! Here are few pics I took.

==> READ MORE!

Where Are The Burns?

We’re leaving for Indiana and Illinois tomorrow and we’ll be gone for 9 days. Our 4-legged hairy son Laddie will be left behind and stay at a kennel close by so we’re gonna miss him a lot.

To all my dear blogger friends and avid silent readers, I won’t be posting here for the next 9 days but I promise to share a glimpse of our vacation when we get back. I hope to check you out too once in a while if I get the chance. Enjoy the 4^th of July holiday and see you when we get back .

==> READ MORE!

BBQ Season

Since Memorial Day is the official kick-off of the BBQ season, this funny e-mail I got from my girlfriend Gail is so appropriate to remind us women of our role in the summer-long cookouts .

After 4 long months of cold and winter, we are finally coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved .

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...
1) The woman buys the food.
2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - Beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:
4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....
5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another Beer while he deals with the situation .

Important again:
7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN .

More routine.....
The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:
10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts .
11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women .

And so that's the story of our outdoor cooking life

==> READ MORE!

Weekend in New York

Hi my friends, I was away for the weekend with Rob, and I thought I’d share with you the places we've been to and the things we did. Please read on and I hope you enjoy the trip too!

We had a long weekend in NY and it felt good to escape from household chores once in awhile, . I’ve been there at least five times, and each time I went there were particular things to do – to tour, to shop, to watch broadway shows or to entertain family and friends. This time, it was to apply for UK visa. For the past 2 years, my husband and I have been planning to visit his dad and relatives in England but for some reasons it keeps getting deferred for another time. This year it is finally coming through. Since I’m not a citizen yet I need a visa to visit England and another one to visit other European countries. The interview was very straightforward, the officer just asked me if this is my first time to visit England, and an hour later, I got the visa!

But of course we didn’t go to NY just for the visa, a lot of things happened in NY minute, . Another thing that Rob and I enjoy doing is EAT OUT (meaning pig-out ), we explored different restaurants in Chinatown, Little Italy and around midtown Manhattan where we stayed. Rob is fascinated with restaurants that are Zagat rated. If you want to know the best restaurants around, just refer to Zagat Survey booklet, this will give you the rating of local restaurants in a certain city based on food, décor, service and cost. So you don’t need the help of the concierge actually for some idea of where to go.

But sometimes we also try restaurants that are suggested by friends. On our first day, we felt like eating chinese so we headed for Chinatown to look for Dimsum Go Go, a resto suggested by a friend. It was out of the way from the subway station and it was quite a long walk to get there. If you’ve been to NY, you'll find the subway a bit confusing to use, at least for me anyway , but I admire my husband for having a very keen sense of direction. I didn’t pay much attention to directions and just followed his lead all the time, so I was like a hawk keeping an eye on him, if not I will get lost in the city . On a weekend, Chinatown is overflowing with tourists and sidewalk vendors, so it was so hard to walk without getting pushed, but then it was worth the walk going to that Dimsum place, the dumplings were great but the soup was superb, its called Duck Soup with Chinese Mushroom and served with Shanghai bread. Afterwards we had desserts in Lo Spuntino in Little Italy. Rob had Bitches Brew, a mocha cappuccino with Baileys and Brandy topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and cinnamon, while I had fresh strawberry crepe topped with Pistacchio gelato, they were yummy.

On Sunday, we had breakfast at Brasserie Pigalle, a French resto at the ground level of our hotel Hilton Garden Inn Time Square. Then we heard mass at St.Patrick’s Cathedral and it was a Filipino priest who celebrated the mass. Afterwards we went to NBC Studio to buy some souvenirs, I got a Saturday Night Live tee while Rob got a key ring with his name engraved on it. Then we went back to Little Italy again to have lunch at a Zagat rated Positano Ristorante, their mixed vegetable soup was really good. Then at night we just had light dinner of grilled shrimps, crab cake and salad in Brasserie Pigalle again and capped the night with Margarita and Martini.

But the highlight of my visit was my trip to Serendipity 3, the resto that I’ve been wanting to see to taste their popular Frozen Hot Chocolate. This resto was shown in the movie with the same title top billed by John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. When I saw Oprah featured this dessert in her show and Rachel Ray had it in her $40 a Day show in Food Network, it became my dream to taste it too. It finally happened on this trip, the place was just tiny but very popular, good thing we came in early so we got a table right away. It is so popular that people didn’t mind queuing a long time to get a table. Rob thought the dessert was overrated, but I thought it was really good, anything chocolate delights my taste buds, , but the lunch we had was just ok, not really great.

We couldn't leave NY without having my favorite sushi, sashimi and tempura, so we went in another Zagat rated Japanese resto called Kodama Japanese Restaurant. The sushi and sashimi were so fresh, the salmon and tuna literally melted in my mouth, oh loved them! Plus the staff were so nice and friendly. For a drink, Rob had his favorite hot sake and I had green tea.

Another highlight of our visit was going to Hard Rock Café NY which just opened in August 2005. In every place we go, part of the trip is to always look for a Hard Rock Café, Rob has been collecting t-shirts from the store, he’s got quite a few from every cities and countries he visited, he got two from Hard Rock Café, Makati Philippines too!

Of course aside from good shops and restaurants, NY is known for broadway shows, so we didnt pass the chance of seeing a broadway show, another favorite thing we do together. We saw Spamalot, the winner of Tony Awards for Best Musical, Featured Actress and Best Director. At first I thought it might be boring because I had something else in my mind to watch actually. I wanted to see Three Days of Rain where my favorite actress Julia Roberts is starring in and of course Paul Rudd of the 'Clueless' and 'Object of My Affection' fame, but the tickets were almost sold-out and the only ones left were premium seats that cost $500+ or $1,000+ for both of us which is very outrageous for our budget. So I just settled for Rob's choice, Spamalot which turned out to be superb, very funny and entertaining, we were laughing the whole time.

So that’s how my weekend went, a lot of pigging out don't you think? , I’m sure we must have gained a couple of pounds again, this is just the downside of vacation , but what the heck, we enjoyed it tremendously anyway, .

==> READ MORE!