celebrations – Page 5 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Happy New Year!

Hello 2016! How was your New years day friends? Ours was relaxing, the way I like it! NYeve we had Zach’s parents over and we ordered sushi and Chinese food. We watched the times square celebration on tv and then called it a night! This was the first time we missed the Space needle countdown celebration. It was just a long day for us. I’ve been having a cold for the last couple of days (I’m sleep deprived lately) and Zach did some errands with his dad most of the day yesterday. This afternoon, we had a little family walk. Riley loved it and had a blast. I hope you’re having a great 1st day of the year so far!

My mom in law gifted me this cookbook! Browsing while enjoying my coffee!

Christmas 2015!

Hello friends! We hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year. Ours was a simple one full of family time and going to Church on Christmas eve. For our tradition, we always spend Christmas eve dinner at Zach’s grandmother’s house ( his mom’s side) where we have dinner and exchange gifts (white elephant). We had Mexican food this year and everything turned out great. We bought some skirt steak and made carne asada and guacamole. It was a big hit! Zach helped a lot with the food, so thank you Ga!

We went to Church before going to grandma’s house:

Christmas Eve dinner:

On Christmas day, we “hosted” at home and had my In laws the whole day. We had breakfast, read Jesus’ birth story, opened gifts, watched Christmas movies, my Parent In laws walked the dogs, then we prepared dinner (mostly seafood and Zach made Lobster Mac and cheese), he used Ina Garten’s recipe and it was great!

Christmas Breakfast was Cheddar cheese popovers,Bacon,Bread pudding,fruit salads!

Lobster Mac and Cheese (recipe:Ina Garten)

King Crab Legs!

Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie

Thanks to our families for all the gifts and goodies we have received this year! Thank you for thinking of us and your generosity is so appreciated! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Riley got a new toy!

I got like a 3 month supply of Kcups!

Tory Burch York bag from Hubs!

Merry Christmas Eve eve!

Hi friends! Merry Christmas Eve eve! Just wanted to share my Christmas decorations this year. We got a new Christmas tree for this year which was on sale last year. We like it, but we know nothing beats a real tree. We’ve experienced having a real tree before and personally it’s not worth it for me (maybe that will change next year!). The old one I put in our master bedroom. I simplified our decorations this year (aside from the new tree, all are old decorations). I skipped decorations on our stairs, and kitchen. I did put a santa figurine in the kitchen and a little frame in our coffee area and that’s about it. My Mom In Law Kathy also gave us Zach and Julia’s (my Sis IL) old toys and toy box from their childhood. I think these toys we’re 20-25 years old. So many of them, but I decided to only put half of them out because Riley thinks they are his toys and he keeps on trying to get them.

My nativity set that my Mom In Law gifted me years ago.

My nutcracker figurines on display in our little extra room.

Riley about to attack the toy box here!

Riley being a naughty schnauzer!

Our old Christmas tree I put in our master bedroom!

Coffee area!

Hello there Santa!

Our Christmas card 2015. Merry Christmas friends! We pray for Joy, Love, and God’s Peace on you this time of year!

For to us a CHILD IS BORN,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE. (Isaiah 9:6)

Safeco Field

Hi Everyone! This weekend, my husband’s company had their annual Holiday party. This year they held it at Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners). I’ve never been to a Mariners game (it’s always been a bucket list item to do every summer!) or been to Safeco field, so it was exciting for me to get a tour of the whole area! The whole night was fun, so nice to see my husbands co-workers and get to know them a little bit. Their company is really expanding so a lot of new faces (even the hubs is not familiar with all of them) I guess thats a good sign that the company is doing well.

OOTD! (JCrew sweater,Coat and skirt:Forever21,Booties and leggings: Target)

Press room. This is where a foul ball struck and they decided to never repair it.

Media Room!

Holiday dinner:kale salad,mushroom risotto,brussel sprouts,roast (some kind of tender beef that was really good!)

I have no idea where to look whenever we have a couple selfie!LOL

Group tour!

The only Mariner player that I know! HA!

This weekend, we did some Christmas shopping and sent gifts for our family outside of Washington and it was a nightmare at the post office! We treated ourselves after and ate some good tacos from our local taqueria.

4 kinds of tacos!

Carne Asada for me!

weekend cuddles are a must!

Enjoying a Christmas movie while wrapping gifts!

We also tried a new Indian restaurant in our neighborhood! It was good and we will definitely be back! My husband likes Indian food.

Butter Chicken and Naan bread!

And more pictures of our Safeco field tour:

Derick Jetters must have locker, the one to the right of the tv. Everybody knows this is his place whenever he’s playing at Safeco Field!

Christmas season is here!

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I posted here. November was hectic for us with our birthdays and hosting Thanksgiving so I decided to slow down a little. Next thing I know December is here! The Christmas season is always busy, so I always try to be intentional with our day to day lives. I try to focus on Him during this season, since Jesus should really be the focus! I try to minimize the chaos that surrounds me this time of year, thus, less social media, activities, and stress. I put up some decorations in our home. The tree is up and the mantle is done. The Hubs wants me to decorate the stairs but I’m not sure if I will do that this year.

I watched the Nutcracker ballet with my In laws last week. It’s one of my favorite holiday traditions with them since moving here from the Philippines. The show didn’t disappoint! So good! If you have the chance to watch it, GO, you will love it!

Nutcracker ballet show with my In laws — Nutcracker ballet with my In laws

Parents In law, we had chinese food after the Ballet — Parent In laws, we had Chinese food after the ballet

Watching the Rockettes show on netflix!

Panera dinner with Hubs!

I've been enjoying coloring books lately! — I’ve been enjoying coloring books lately!

I hope you’re having a good week during this holiday season!

Black Friday Tradition!

Hi friends! How was your Thanksgiving? It’s Black Friday today and we went to Seattle (I’ve mentioned before it’s my In laws tradition) to walk around Seattle, be part of the festivities. We checked out shops, walked around Pike place, got coffee, sandwiches and hombow ( siopao in the Philippines); macaroons at Le Panier is one of my fave things to get this time of year?. My In laws also like to get Cashmere sweaters from Macys ( part of the Black Friday deal). We normally don’t participate in the shopping madness but this is the exception! They love their cashmere? (I didn’t buy this year because to be honest, I’m pretty happy with the amount of cashmere sweaters I have). Anyways, it was a nice sunny day to be out and about, but we were still freezing cold, especially Zach. Winter is just around the corner! Stay warm friends.

Parking lot pictorial with Julia!

Goofy DIL! He’s such a funny guy:)

I wanted to buy this for Riley but Zach was not convinced that this will help (Riley is anxious sometimes)

This rocking chair is ridiculous! $5500 for this (260,000 Philippine peso). What the Heck!

The crazy line at Piroshky…

Getting my siopao (Mee sum pastry)

stolen shot from Hubs! Walking around Pike place and happily eating my hombow (from Mee sum pastry)

With the In laws!

The best macarons in Seattle! Le Panier macarons:)

Thanksgiving 2015!

Hello Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! We hope that it was a wonderful time with family, friends, and people you hold dear in your life. We’ve been hosting Thanksgiving for the last 3 years now (my husband’s side of the family) it’s not as stressful because we do potluck style. My Inlaws are in charge of the turkey, stuffing and 3 other dishes, someone takes care of dessert, SIL for appetizers, we made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole! Our house is God’s blessings to us, so anytime we have the opportunity to host and practice hospitality we’re all for it! Thank you God for all of your blessings:) Anyways, we had a great time with our family, sharing stories(so fun to hear how Zach was like growing up based from his relative’s stories) and just spending time together with a yummy Thanksgiving spread. We are now relaxing, watching tv, and cuddling with my fur baby. My hubs ( the birthday boy) took some pictures today, enjoy!

Stuffing,carrots,brussels sprouts,yams

corn casserole

Turkey, sweet rolls, honey butter

Salad,green beans casserole,turkey

Gouda mashed potatoes, salad

Turkey coma! He ate too much tonight..

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Happy Birthday to us!

Hello friends! This weekend we had our birthday celebrations with my In laws. My bday was last nov. 16 and the hub’s is this coming nov. 26 (yup, Thanksgiving day). Ever since we got married we always just combined our birthday celebrations. I personally prefer it that way. No fuss and just a simple time with family is all that matters to me:) On my actual bday the hubs and I had a casual dinner at home, we had charcuterie (we got from Delaurentis at Pike Place), steak and green beans with blue cheese (Ree Dreemond/Pioneer womans recipe).

I told my husband not to give me flowers or a card, I prefer food! This is what he gave me when he got home from work! HA! Mcdonalds has the best fries for me.

Charcuterie plate with pate!

This Saturday, my In laws treated us for our bday dinner at Flat Iron Grill (local restaurant in Issaquah). We like this place because the food is good and prices are reasonable. I used my ipad for the pictures so I apologize for the poor quality.

After dinner,we went back to our house to have our bday cake (baked by my MIL, she’s the best) and opened gifts. We are so grateful for what the Lord has done in our lives over the last year. He is so good! The Best is yet to come:)

Having our Bday dance and song! It’s a family tradition:)

Thanks to my MIL for baking molten chocolate cake! She asked me what I wanted and baked me my fave (chocolate cake of course!).

Spoiled Riley licking the ice cream!

I’m so loving what my SIL gifted me!LOL

Gifts from my Hubs! I got some Lenox stuff I’ve been wanting to get this year. Thanks Hubs:)

Special Day!

Hello Friends! Hope you’re all having a good evening and looking forward to the weekend! Today (8-14-2015) is a special day for us because this is the 10th year that my Hubs and I have known each other. 10 years ago today we “met” online, chatted for an hour (or less) and exchanged emails..and the rest is history! Thankful for Gods blessing for the last 10 years and looking forward to what is in store for us in the coming years! We wanted to have a little celebration and have dinner at John Howie because we really like the place, but the weather was not cooperating today. It’s been raining non stop with lots of thunder and lighting, we hate leaving Riley at home when the weather is this bad. He gets so nervous and scared, there’s no way we’ll enjoy our dinner knowing he’s miserable at home. We decided to take out Chinese food and cupcakes and watch the Seahawks pre season opener game. Nice and cozy time with my loves tonight!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence day, America! I’m so grateful to enjoy the freedom of living the American Dream. The Hubs and I (and Riley) stayed at home,though we had some invites from family and friends (thanks for being so thoughtful guys!) we did watch a movie and did some errands earlier today. We hope you are having a fun and safe 4th of July weekend! God Bless the U.S.A!

Some of the things we did today: cuddle with the fattypuss, Riley, enjoyed some Jamba juice, ordered pizza, did a little couponing:)