3 Kids. 3 Hours.

10:30am - Mar dropped off the kids. Curbside in front of my building.

10:35am - turned on Toy Story 3. Roman woke up. (That's what's happening in the picture)

10:45am - Mia was so over the movie. She wanted to play Bingo instead.

11:00am - Mia was over Bingo. She wanted to play with Isaac's Lightning McQueen laptop, which sent both kids into a frenzy. Auntie Cat came up with a solution--Let's draw! So, I got out all the markers and drawing paper, and they drew and drew.

11:30am - Auntie G and Uncle Ryan arrive! Yay! Auntie G feeds Roman.

11:45am - Started baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with the kiddos. I should have taken pictures of how they came out. Such funny shapes.

12:00pm - Mia started itching because I didn't know she was allergic to milk chocolate, and I only gave her 2 chocolate chips!

12:15pm - The kids ate lunch.

12:30pm - Mar came back and brought lunch for the rest of us. Gave Mia some Benadryl for her itching. Auntie Cat felt so bad she didn't know!

2pm - The Villas go home.

Whew! What a day!

I got my mojo back!

I haven't baked in a long while, but with holiday festivities in full swing, I've been baking more than Betty Crocker herself. At first, I was a little rusty, but 2 batches later, I got my mojo back... Now I'm a baking machine!
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That's a Wrap!

I just spent about 4 hours gathering, boxing, wrapping, tying, and labeling almost all my Christmas presents. I decided to try out online shopping this year, and it turned out to be quite successful. I'm still waiting for two more presents to arrive, but everything is purchased! This is certainly a first... I NEVER get my shopping done before the winter break starts. My tree doesn't look so sad and lonely anymore!


I put my parole at my window. It looks pretty awesome from outside. Thanks, Dad and Mom for passing this on to me. I love it. Ardon thinks I now have the dopest window in the building.

It's a Condo Christmas

It's that time of year to bring good cheer!
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Winter... Or Fall Wonderland

All by myself. Snowed in. Cable is down. The streets are glass, yet the city is gorgeous. So I sit, listening to Christmas music passing the time writing my Christmas cards, sitting by the window enjoying the view of a snow capped city and a cold Lake Union. Not so bad.
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Happy Feet!

Attention all ladies! Forget Band-Aids or sticky inserts. I found the answer to avoid blisters when your shoes rub up against the bone right above your heel!

I was rushing around this morning looking for the sticky inserts to line the inside of the back of my shoes. I couldn't fine them anywhere. I thought, "Well, Band-Aids are going to drive me nuts and fall off after 5 minutes. That's why I bought the inserts in the first place." So while looking for my inserts in the medicine cabinet, I came across my skin glue. I figured it dries smooth and kind of rubber-like, so I thought I'd give it a try. I applied some on the inside of the back of my shoe where it would rub up against that bone and cause a blister... And it worked like a charm! All I had to do was paint it on, give it about 5 minutes to let it dry, so I packed my lunch and loaded the dishwasher while I waited. Then I put my shoes on and was on my way! I reapplied a little bit during my lunch hour just to make sure that I really wouldn't blister, but I think I could have gone without the second application. I wore my shoes for about 10 hours today, and am blister-free!

I highly recommend this to anybody who loves wearing that cute pair of painful flats. I will definitely keep a bottle of skin glue handy, not just for when I get deep cuts, but to also make fashion more comfortable.

I give myself props for this little discovery :)
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Nerds and Gorillas

Ardon and I just celebrated three years of being an item. Time flies when you're having fun. I can still remember the night we met. It's such a classy story, really. It was around 1:30am and I was pretty wasted coming out of Tia Lou's with my best friend Stephanie. We were walking toward the hotdog stand when we heard somebody yelling "Stephanie!" from across the street. Next thing I remember, this funny looking guy with a big afro and glasses ran up to us. Stephanie introduced us, and in typical Ardon and Cat fashion, our first words to each other were spoken in a Vietnamese accent. I had him at "What doing?" Three years later, here we are... still conversing in Vietnamese accents.

If there's one thing besides me that Ardon LOVES, it's music. Being with him, I've learned so much about music--making music, local music, the music business, producing, scratching, and so much more. I can see why he loves it so much, and we enjoy going to shows together, whether big or small. I have also learned to love it all. Music is music and it's all good.

So in celebration of our splendid three years together, we had a two-day celebration. Our actual anniversary date fell on a Monday, so after work we had a lovely dinner at List in Belltown. The following night we went to the Gorillaz show, and opening up for them was N.E.R.D. It was so dope. (I've also learned to say dope after three years.) We really enjoyed the show. Ardon, especially, was giddy like a little boy throughout the Gorillaz set. It was a wonderful celebration with a wonderful dude after three wonderful years. Cheers to many more!

Pharrell and N.E.R.D rocking the stage.

The Gorillaz set up was awesome. Definitely cool to watch.