PLENTY OF GIRLFRIENDS, A BABY SHOWER, A TRIP TO NEW YORK & A LONG WEEKEND

I keep trying to get into the habit of blogging more regularly...really I do. But by the time I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer for another hour. I've still been reading my favorite blogs daily...I'm just having a hard time keeping up with my own. How in the world do bloggers like Weezermonkey and Nanette blog as often as they do? They obviously have busy lives...heck, Nanette is getting ready to have a baby!!! Anyhow, I certainly don't post as often as I'd like to but when I do, thank you for taking the time to read.

It's been a busy few weeks. I went on a trip to New York the first week in August. That went well...it was HOT and humid but the trip itself was good. Although, all I could think about was Kay's upcoming shower. There was still so much to do but luckily, my very good friend Alyssa was gracious enough to help me tremendously with the planning. THANK GOODNESS FOR HER!Honestly, if it wasn't for her, I don't know if I would've been able to pull this event off. But all in all, I think it went well. Kay was beaming with joy that day and I loved being the person to host her baby shower. Now, I can't wait to meet Baby Raphaella! And the wait continues...

The following weekend, Gerric and I had two very special friends come and visit us at our new house. I love having friends visit us at home. It feels so nice to hear them say what a beautiful home we have. Yes, it's small and humble but we are so happy here. :) Gerric's good friend Jessica moved back to L.A. from New York. He's known her for about 15 years and she credits him for having taught her how to play the guitar. They are very good friends and we had the pleasure of having her and her boyfriend Brian over for lunch. We had lunch at a quaint little restaurant by our house and then she treated us to ice cream - it was a great afternoon. Later that afternoon, my very good girlfriend Jessica (2 Jessica's in one day!) and her husband and daughter came to visit us to see the new place. They moved to Texas last year (or was it 2 years ago...gosh, time flies!) and are now expecting their 2nd baby - yey!!!! it was so great to see them - I only wish we had more time to spend with them.

I had dinner with my college girlfriends Rachel and Stefani on Wednesday, the 20th. (No point in having a house-warming now...it seems like everyone is visiting us in pairs or groups! I LOVE it!) Stefani is also expecting her first baby (have I mentioned that I have 7 (SEVEN) friends that are pregnant right now...SEVEN!).

The following weekend, Gerric went to Yosemite with a group of co-workers. Every year, about 50 associates (2 trips, 2 groups of 25) get chosen to go there to work on restoration projects for the park. From what he tells me, it's an amazing trip. The entire weekend is catered and by the time they arrive in their luxury bus, their tents are all set up. Not a very grueling experience is it?Since it was the first time he'd be gone since we moved into our house, I tried to keep myself busy so I wouldn't be scared. Yes, I'm scared to be home alone. On Saturday evening, I had dinner with my girlfriend Elvia. It was a perfect girls' night...dinner, wine, great conversation and a pirated copy of Sex & The City. What could be better than that?!?

The next day, I had the pleasure of attending Nanette's baby shower. The details were all so amazing...my favorite: the cereal bar. I am SO stealing that idea for my baby's 1st birthday someday! Nanette was beautiful and I could feel the love for their baby from everyone that was there.

That afternoon, I had dinner with my girlfriend Patricia. She and I have been friends since high school...she was a bridesmaid in our wedding. I had a great time catching up with her.

Finally, last week, Gerric's cousin from Vancouver came to visit with her 8-year old daughter Jayme. We all took a day off during the week to take them somewhere. We chose Wednesday and took them to Knott's Berry Farm. I haven't been there since last year. It was a great day to go since a lot of kids had gone back to school aready so we didn't wait in long lines. We got there at about 10:45am and we're done a little after 5pm. We had so much fun that day!

This past weekend, we took advantage of the long weekend and relaxed, went to my sister's for a BBQ, shopped for patio furniture and spent more time with his cousin. Gerric wasn't feeling well on Friday night so we just relaxed on Saturday.

On Labor Day, our good friends Mike and Ruby came over for two reasons...to celebrate Mike's belated 30th birthday and for them to see our humble abode. We ordered Thai for lunch and had dessert at Red Mango. They brought us a bottle of champagne and we all managed to finish the entire bottle in record time! We may be getting older but we can still drink! Who am I kidding...I was so sleepy after 1 glass!

So I'm caught up. Never thought I'd be able to do that! Now I leave you with a recent picture of my nephew Adam. He's crawling now!!! Here he is sucking on a piece of watermelon. (I thought the invention was weird...apparently, that blue thing he's holding is for babies to suck on so they don't actually eat the fruit...just the juice! It's like a little net...Adam loves it!)

Until the next time...