personal

Florence and old letters

August 31, 2012

Posted in personal,travel

Chris and I love to travel. I blame it on the fact that I was born in the Philippines and had my first passport at the age of two (when my parents and I moved to the States). Domestic, international, regional…we’re always looking for an excuse to go somewhere and to explore new places.

Our first big trip together (actually, our first trip together, period) was during spring break of our senior year in college. We went on a fabulous Contiki tour all over Italy. It was great, we met a bunch of new friends, and best of all, we managed not to kill each other after spending 16 days together. Big step in a relationship, huh? ;)

Florence holds a special place in my heart because well…that’s where I realized I loved Chris. I mean, I knew he was going to be my husband when we both went to Costco, very early in our relationship, ate our hot dogs plain (Polish sausage, yum!), and used the condensation on our soda cups to “wash” our hands. Of course, I didn’t tell him that. But it was in Florence when it hit me full force like, holy crap, I love this guy– overlooking the Arno River just as the sun slipped below the horizon.

Fast forward to about a year and some months later, when I was moving out of my apartment in Irvine. Chris had this idea of writing a note to our future selves and hiding it somewhere in the apartment, with the hope that some occupant down the line would mail it back to us. In the craziness of moving, we didn’t have time to write notes, but we did put a photo of us from that Florence trip in an envelope.

And we forgot about it. We got engaged, got married, moved to Philadelphia, moved back to California, started life together…and we had completely forgotten about this photo.

Until last week, when it resurfaced at Chris’ parents’ house, nearly 5 years to the date.

We had no idea when we would see it again, so we went a bit overboard with the postage.

The photo we took in Florence. We made the climb up to the top of the Duomo, and what you can’t see in the picture is Chris’ DEATH GRIP on my hand. Turns out he’s scared of heights, haha

So thank you, maintenance guy, for sending us back a piece of our early history! (And for the awesome smiley face too!)

Five years ago today, we put a little piece of ourselves in an envelope, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and stuck it underneath the bathroom sink in my old apartment, completely leaving its return up to fate. I’m so, so thankful that we were able to open it together (I’ll admit, my jaw dropped in surprise)…here’s to getting more letters from the past! :)

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Scenes from SF

August 28, 2012

Posted in personal

Christine & Christian visited us this past weekend for Christian’s 30th birthday! We had a great time showing them around the Bay Area, since it was Christian’s first time. Here’s a quick recap via Instagram:

  1. View of the Bay Bridge from the Alcatraz ferry
  2. Ube and macapuno from MITCHELL’S ICE CREAM! Chris tried Horchata and I think we have a new favorite flavor.
  3. Clam chowder from Hog Island Oyster Co in the Ferry Building. It was prettier than my oyster stew but definitely wasn’t as flavorful.
  4. View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands

Not pictured is the ahh-mazing dinner we had at Alexander’s in Cupertino on Friday night! It’s our favorite place in the world, so we’re really glad C&C enjoyed it.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

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Those perfect summer nights

June 22, 2012

Posted in personal

I’d forgotten how much I loved the weather in California. Growing up in San Diego, it’s one of those things you took for granted: 70 degrees year round, perfect breezes, and not having to worry about your hair puffing up.

It’s a little different for me in Nor Cal. While it’s a little hotter, and the breezes a little stronger, yesterday was the perfect summer night for a bbq with family. The kind where you’re standing in the backyard soaking in the scent of freshly grilled sweet corn and the sizzle of the rib eye steak. The kind where you’re marveling at how long the days are getting. The kind where your hair doesn’t puff up, but blows around your face gently instead.

Summer is officially here, and for the first time in four years, I’m not dreading it.

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…and we’re here!

June 21, 2012

Posted in personal

We made it to California! We flew into Southern California last week, hung out for a few days, and drove up to Northern California. We took the long way (on 101, instead of on I-5) so we could stop in Pismo Beach to try Splash Cafe’s clam chowder. Which, by the way, was awesome.

We’ve been here for over a week and it still feels like we’re going to get on a plane (I’ve caught myself thinking, “Hmm I might have to check that in” more than a few times!). It feels GOOD to be back home! Even though it hit 106 degrees the other day, it wasn’t humid at all– I definitely don’t miss that about the east coast!

Here are a couple of beach scenes for ya ;)

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The Diagnosis

May 29, 2012 personal

Back then, we didn’t have Google or WebMD to look up what symptoms meant. Back then, I had the Baby-Sitters Club. Specifically, I had Stacey from the Baby-Sitters Club. Stacey was a main character in the series (my favorite series growing up as a kid who LOVED books), and she had type 1 diabetes. Stacey [...]

New England Encounter

April 27, 2012 personal

Post by Chris…his first one :) Turning off I-95, we ended up on a few windy back roads on our way to Newport, RI, this past weekend. After passing by trees, a nursery, trees, and more trees, we passed a small building on the side of the road with a simple sign out front advertising [...]

Random Facts, part 2

April 9, 2012 personal

Happy Easter Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend with family and friends. We’ve been watching Juno and Daisy for the past few days…what do you get when you dogsit a 1-year-old whippet and a 14.5-year-old one? Hilarity, that’s what! Daisy is a HUGE BUNDLE of energy, and Juno kind of just trots around [...]

Living in a shoebox or two

March 26, 2012 personal

Whenever I have to pack, I start looking through things and get totally distracted. This weekend, I started looking through my hard drives full of photos and found photos from our first two apartments in Philly! Show & tell time :) First, a little bit of background info: the building we lived in used to [...]