What a Weekend!

29 August 2016

family

What a Weekend!

Is it really Monday already? I only ask because this past weekend was not only eventful, but tiring as well! This past weekend consisted of two weddings, and one (really) long hike!
I came home Friday, Saturday, and Sunday extremely exhausted.  I literally fell asleep the moment my head touched my pillow. There was just a lot happening! However, I really shouldn't complain. Over the course of the summer, the majority of my weekends consisted of just relaxing at home or working or going out for a couple of hours on a Saturday night. So, this past weekend was really such a good change of pace. 

On Friday, my God Brother/cousin (2nd cousin?) finally tied the knot to his beautiful bride. What got me the most was the fact that they've been dating for 10 years! I was literally in denial thinking back to the first time I heard about his girlfriend - I was 11 years old. Time flies, and I'm really happy that they get to have many more years together. 
I unfortunately did not attend the wedding ceremony part at the church, I did however attend their reception. I have to say, their wedding reception was beautiful and organized (for once)! Unlike other brown family parties that I've attended, which are literally 2 hours behind, everything was all timed out perfectly! I even loved the fact that they took the time to decide the seating arrangements! It was all to perfect. (This all might be a norm for you at weddings and functions, but not for brown fam jams. Trust me.)

My phone was dying fast that Friday night all because snapchat was being dumb and not posting anything. So by the time we were 2 hours into the wedding, I gave up on snapchat only to find myself with 36% battery left for the rest of the night. Usually I wouldn't mind because I have a backup charger, but that decided to break when I accidentally dropped it earlier when trying to get into the car. So, I unfortunately did not take too my pictures. 

The main cousins and I, as per usual, took photos of each other in our outfits. And, I wore a beautiful pink coloured saree that was simple yet chic. I love simplicity. I also love wearing a saree blouse that is completely different from the saree material and material. Oh, plus the colour of my hair looked absolutely perfect with my saree. Everything little detail really did tie in together properly.
The very next morning, my other cousin decided to get married! I'm not very close with her (anymore), but we still attended and I was genuinely very happy for her and her hubby. They were actually very cute together! You can very well see the love they have for each other, and they both looked absolutely stunning! 
They, as a couple, are very low-key. I'm not entirely sure why, but they decided to pass on having a wedding ceremony at a church. Instead, they had a wedding registration in a hall with only 100 of their "closest" family. Very different from the wedding from the night before. But, nevertheless, it was still a beautiful ceremony.

I decided to pass on wearing a saree, and instead wear a completely different style. To be honest, I forgot what this style is called, but it's a two piece as you can see in the photos above. Like a saree, I wore a blouse, but unlike a saree, I wore a long skirt and a shall. I think this was a great decision, especially since the night before we didn't get home until very late. And, because my mom is Filippina and doesn't know how to wrap me in a saree, I would have had to travel to my aunt's house early in the morning to help me get dressed. So, wearing this was easy to slip on. The only struggle was the waking up part! 

I felt bad about my energy through the wedding though. Because of the late night and early wake up, I didn't feel like me. I was much more quiet. And a little more sassier (okay.. maybe more meaner) than usual.  I guess I was just exhausted. I was definitely not all talks and smiles.
One amazing thing about this wedding was meeting so many family members that knew both my sister and I in our "early days", as they like to describe. A lot of them were also telling us about them being at my parents wedding. I even met one of my mother's bridesmaid. Weird... not exactly sure about the story there and why our families haven't spoken in all the years... My parents were very dismissive about the whole thing as well... weird. But, it was still great to meet other family members. 
That day, I went home, and fell asleep. I didn't wake up until Sunday. 12+ hours of sleep still did not feel like it was enough!  

Sunday, was a bit more of a "relaxing" day. I woke up early, and went on a hike. I actually went back to a location that I did not complete. Again, I didn't get to complete it. This trail had a lot of up and down hills, and found myself having a lot of back pain during the uphills. Because it was my back, we decided to call it quits and hit up a different venue. 
I also got the chance to watch Don't Breathe in theatres, which just came out this weekend. And, what a great thriller that was! I usually love thrillers anyways, but this was on a different level for me. I was actually at the edge of my seat constantly guessing what would happen next, and then be surprised when it went in a completely different direction. An amazing movie! (watch there trailer HERE).
Afterwards, I went grocery shopping before hitting the gym and focused a lot of my back (due to earlier pains). I'm not sure if it helped, but I definitely will be going back to the gym later today. 
So, there you go! Today's post was a bit longer than usual, but hey, I'm blogging on a Monday after an exhausting weekend. And, you're here reading it! So yay us for being some go-getters on a Monday! 
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Weekend Recap: Momma's Birthday!

27 July 2015

weekend recap

Weekend Recap: Momma's Birthday!

This past weekend was definitely an interesting one! Not only was it extremely hot, to the point where I actually did not want to leave my nice cool home, but the momma bear has officially turned 55 years old! It kinda makes me sad, seeing my mom get older and older... it makes you realize that its good to spend as much time as you can with your parents. That is why, this past weekend, my family and I went out of our way to just make her feel special! 

Saturday was her birthday - so, we decided to take her to Mandarin buffet! She absolutely loves anything buffet, she thinks its the best way to get your money's worth. Plus, we knew that she wanted that photo the Mandarin staff takes when "surprising" the birthday guest with a cake/cupcake. That was fun, and absolutely just great to spend time with the family - just the 4 of us. 

That night however, my mom wanted to stay in at home instead of going out. Because she will be leaving for a vacation trip in just a few days, she decided that she should really finish up her packing. And, she allowed me to spend the night at Jay's brother's 26th birthday BBQ. I kind of felt bad, like my mom was testing me to see if I would really leave, but she assured me that she was okay with it. That BBQ... well, if I am being honest here, I would have rather stayed home with my mom. I did not enjoy myself... well, for the most part. 

Sunday, again we decided to take her out to Chako - a Korean grill house where you, believe it or not, cook or own meat! I thought it was a great experience overall! It is definitely something I would love to come back to with friends. Afterwards, we went shopping at a Premium Outlet Mall. They had high end stores - like Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Coach, etc - in the mall... for an OUTLET price. It was fun. We shopped till I literally dropped into a bench on the side. 

We came home, and it was just low-key great. Spent the rest of the night indoors. I really have to say, quality time with my parents trumps all. Happy 55th mother dearest <3 div="">

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Weekend Recap: Brown Fam Jam

13 July 2015

family

Weekend Recap: Brown Fam Jam

In case you don't already know, I am half Sri Lankan. So, as a fellow (half) brown girl, I do have my fair share of attending a lot of the typical, of what we call, "brown fam jams". They are usually fun, depending on the event. Like, I personally like attending weddings! I just think everything, and everyone is just absolutely beautiful.

This past weekend my cousin and his very beautiful wife celebrated their first son's first birthday. In our culture, you do big parties for a son's first birthday, first communion, the occasional confirmation, and later a wedding. For the daughters, you do big parties for when you become a woman - basically a puberty party letting everyone know you are a "big girl". Crazy, I know.

Back to the recap of this post, my cousin, sister and I decided to go shopping the day before the party. Which is usually a big no-no, especially if you were to wear a sari... blouses just does not take a day to make. So on the search for buying sari's and punjavi's, somehow we successfully completed our shopping within 5 hours. AND we ate. Yay us!

Saturday was such a mission, for me. I had word in the morning and I actually asked if I was able to leave early. Thankfully I was, because the stress of getting to my cousins place to get ready was just a mess. My hair was not to my liking, and the underskirt for my sari was just way too tight. But, that all didn't seem to matter when we arrived and just had fun with one another and our other cousins.

Overall, the night was great! I personally had fun being with family. But, after a long morning at work, and a long night at a loud party with full-of-energy cousins, I was just exhausted by the end of the night. I personally wish I took more photos of the cousin on my phone. Because now I am just waiting for them to send me the photos of us in groups...

On the Sunday, my cousin and I decided to just have a chill day and hung out with the hubbies. We went to Kelsey's and ate wings and the guys drank beer. We chilled for a bit afterwards just talking about everything, and putting each other on blast. It was an honestly great way to end the weekend with those I actually enjoy spending time with! 

It really was a great weekend! I cannot wait to be spending more with the cousins before the school year in September starts!

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My Christmas Recap

29 December 2014

Christmas

My Christmas Recap

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It is the weekend after Christmas, and boy did was it a great Christmas! This year, I wanted to give more to others rather than receiving. And because I feel like I already have everything I could ever want since I've been able to afford things on my own, I didn't really have any idea what I wanted whenever anyone would ask me what I wanted for Christmas. Anyways, so this year, I actually put a lot of thought into other people's gift.
My sister and I put our money together and got our parents a spa package. Can I just say, we did not realize spa packages would be soo expensive, especially the couples package. So, theres a warning to anyone trying to get anyone a spa package as a gift, make sure you save A LOT to purchase it! We got our family friends very personal gifts rather than just the chocolate gifts we would usually purchase for the entire family. Then, for us cousins, we decided to buy each other gifts during boxing day sales and exchange them when we see each other for our family New Years party.
Other than that, I got a lot of chocolate this year, and I got a few makeup kits that includes makeup brushes and a pouch, I thought that was pretty nice because I tend to break my brushes fairly quickly! Oh, and I made a lot of cash from the aunties and uncles! Which helps me pay off my credit card lol!
This year, I decided to spoil Jay. He usually spoils me with gifts and lunch/dinner. So this year I wanted to really make an effort and make him feel special. He always talks about how he never had a Christmas where his family would spoil him with gifts, and this year I wanted to really change that. So I bought him more than 1 gift, that definitely put a lot of thought into it. I got him a Xbox One, just because his 360 system was starting to slow down and I feel like he needs a good distraction whenever he's stressed out. I also got him that Call of Duty - Advanced Warfare game... I don't really know the game, but he really ended up loving my selection. I also bought him a few crewnecks. I got him a juicer, since he decided to be more healthier and workout more in 2015. And I got him microsoft word/powerpoint/excel for when he starts school! Yup, I gave a lot this year to my main. 

This year, because I got my own job and made my own money, I really didn't mind giving more to those around me. Words sometimes cannot express my feelings, and I think gifts that have a lot of thought behind them shows appreciation. After all, actions do speak louder than words.
I wish I took my pictures. But, when you have so much fun with family and friends, you don't really think about taking pictures. You just want to live in the moment! But, I really do wish I did capture some of those moment! But, its alright, I do have just a few to share with you all! Hope you guys had a great Christmas! 

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Family Fun

28 April 2014

lifestyle

Family Fun

Good morning, good morning, good morning! I know this is a very early post, but because it is Monday, I decided to start off the day with a positive note. It has literally a while since I've linked up with these two, but today I decided that I will be linking up with Lisa and Bella for the the Weekend Recap. (Here are their past link-ups: Dateless in Dallas and Showered with Design). 

If you think back to the beginning of last week, I actually wrote a post about my Weekly Wish, and wished that I would spend more time with family friends. To my surprise, I actually fulfilled this wish and literally spent 3 days in a row with the same group of family friends. And to my surprise, I enjoyed every bit of it!

Friday

I started off the day with Jay. We spent the day just shopping and purchasing new tools for his recently new position of apprentice! I was honestly so happy for him so I just decided to just spend the day with him doing what he loves the most - which is buying tools and car parts for the car he recently purchased with his hard earned money. He had a great weekend; but let's get back to me for a second :P

Later during late into the night, I found out that my mom and sister were at our family friends place, and the other families (that we hang out with) were there as well. So, I decided to go down their and spend the night just having fun. I knew us "kids" were having fun with one another while the parents were just living their lives. We ate a lot of food, and my favourite of then night has to definitely be the wings that was made; the seasoning was just so spot on, and the honey garlic sauce was just blessed!

We all (for the first time), actually left their place early since many of the "kids" are still in cadets, had an activity to attend to the next day early in the morning. 
Saturday

Saturday was a very eventful day at work. Since the store will be opening up in just a few short days, work was just hectic since we were just trying to get the final details together while ensuring that everything was set into place for the floors to be waxed. There was just so much tedious work to do, and time went by very quickly because of the company I had, and the new friends I made at work!

After work, I went to go visit Jay to see the new car that he literally purchased the night before. It was so beautiful, and I was honestly just so happy for him because you could tell by his reaction to every bit of his car that he spent his hard-worked money on something that he actually loves. He got an Acura EL for those of you who are wondering!

Later that night, I again found out that my mom and sister were at our family friends' place again, and they were both texting me to stop by. Because I had the car, I was also their ride home for later that evening, but that wasn't the only reason I went. We spent the night just laughing and talking. There were times when the "kids" and "adults" were together just joking around and laughing, and their were other time when we were completely separated and the adults were just pulling pranks on everyone. It was just a great time with people I genuinely enjoying spending time with!

We, of course, continued to just eat a lot of food while watching movies and just enjoying each other's company. A few of us (me included) actually kept falling in and out of sleep on the couch. We later had 2am breakfast, prepared by our lovely mother's, which a cup of milk! We later went home early that morning since the parents were just so turnt up. 

Sunday

I don't know about the other families, but I pretty much slept in the morning. When I finally awoke, I actually spent a little time watching Netflix with the lovely Penelope. I love her company, and I could tell that she loves being smothered by me; I spoil her all the time!

And later during the day, you guessed it, we all found ourselves back at our family friends place - all the parents and children were just there having fun. We ate a lot of food, and the kids had a fun time running around the entire neighbour playing and just running away from each other. We even played grounders at the playground, which is something I haven't played in ages! Being one of the eldest children was kind of rough because I just don't have the energy like they to just keep playing! But we enjoyed our day, and later into the night, everyone sat together just talking and laughing and sharing jokes. 

These are truly the kinds of the people I want to continue to surrounding myself with. They are just positive and encouraging people and make me smile and laugh whenever they open their mouths. So I had a very lovely weekend with these guys!!! I wish I was able to take more photos though. But I think I was just having so much fun that there was hardly no need to be on my phone!

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