Food to DIE for...

As my appetite has been increasing these days, I've been trying to pace myself in regards to food places that I've been dying to eat at.

I mean, I remember clearly how it felt to only take a bite or two of something only to force myself to stop right after bite #3 lest I get super bloated and nauseous the rest of the night...

Great times I had in my first trimester.

So needless to say, eating was not only non-enjoyable but also saddening. I had to watch Andy scarf down awesome food masterpieces while I could only nibble on it and then tell myself "NO MAS".

But I have to admit there was a very good thing about that whole first trimester scenario:

While a few other girls I know, who are pregnant like me, gained weight immediately and excessively, I LOST weight. (And don't worry, my doctor monitored my weight loss and assured me that this didn't have an effect on the baby's growth - trust me, I made sure).

To make myself feel better -besides the fact that I was buying jeans a size SMALLER while others were already buying maternity jeans (HOLLA!!!), I decided to make a running list of places I'd eat at once my appetite came back.

And one of those places is The Boiling Crab in Garden Grove. If you didn't  know about this place before...

NOW YA KNOW

This place is sooooo ridiculously delish, my mouth waters every time I think about it. And I'm not the only one. Every single person we've ever introduced to this place, has then turned around and brought their families and friends here.

Mmmhhhmmm, it's THAT good!

If you don't believe me, go there on a Tuesday or Wednesday night (when you'd think no one thinks about going out to a restaurant) and you'll have at least an hour wait. Yeah, I know.

It's always a guarantee that we'll be waiting for some period of time but it's sooo worth it!

Anywho, Andy and I were supposed to meet up with his mom and sisters (since they too are fans of this joint) but they ended up canceling on us. Obviously, this post isn't going to stop here... Andy and I decided to mosey on down there ourselves and enjoy what they missed out on.

So what makes this place so bomb-diggity???

Well, besides the perfectly seasoned Lousiana style seafood menu, this place boasts a very poppin' atmosphere. Flat screen tv's are everywhere playing sports for your viewing enjoyment. Music is blaring and the servers never disappoint in good, fast service.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there are no eating utensils or plates???

Yup, as you'll see below, everyone wears bibs and you eat with your hands. Since you can't drink your beverage without a cup, they do provide those and also napkins but that pretty much stops there.

This is how a typical meal happens at this place:
You sit down.
Your table is covered with white paper and on goes the bibs.
Then a server comes with a stainless steel tub filled with sliced limes and lemons and dumps a butt load of them directly on the paper covered table and gives every person their own condiment cupp that's filled with salt and pepper.

Now this is IMPORTANT:

When you get your cups with salt and pepper and the limes/lemons, you squeeze the lime/lemon juice into the salt and pepper cups to make your "dipping sauce". This is what will make this place go from awesome to spectacular.

Should you order fries, they bring those in a basket and give you a bottle of ketchup. You would then proceed to squeeze ketchup straight onto the table and dip away until your main food comes.

When your food arrives, everything comes in clear plastic bags. They repeat your order for accuracy and then drop the bag on your table and walk away...

Then it's just dig in time... peel the shrimp, crack those crab legs, dip in your "sauce" and you have now entered food heaven!!!

Truly a dining experience worth sharing and repeating!!!

SOOOO... Should you ever decide to go there yourself and test my food preferences, here's what we usually order. I guarantee you won't go wrong with these guys...

~ Ragin' Cajun Shrimp (MILD)
(you can only order by the pound so we usually order a pound per person and always have leftovers - which are just as delish the next day)
~ Corn on the Cob (it goes in the bag of shrimp)
~ Potatoes (also goes in the bag of shrimp)
~ Cajun Seasoned Fries (MILD)
(we order about 1 basket for every 2 people - they are that good)


We've also tried the King Crab legs and oysters but one thing to ALWAYS get is the shrimp.

I DIE.

Deliciousness is back in my vocabulary. But I promised I'd pace myself on that running list.

(Lest I catch up to all those other pregnant girls in maternity pants).

Until my next foodie conquest...

Romantic Valentine's Day Look

Hey all!!!

So Valentine's Day is 2 days away.

But who's counting.

I mean, who validates their loved ones devotion and care by what they get on Valentine's Day???

Certainly not me.

UNLESS Andy forgets the chocolate covered strawberries that he's been giving me since we were dating.

Then I think I'd create a little havoc. On Valentine's Day. The day of love.

Hey, he's the one that got me all expecting those retched things every February 14th!

Since 1999 people!!!

You'd be twisting your chonies in a bunch, too, if your honey did the same to you.

I mean, a tradition is nice and all, but if you break tradition... I don't know! I think I'd climb to the top of my roof and scream out the lyrics to Fiddler On The Roof's main theme song: "TRADITION".

(And yes, I would be fist pumping and shaking my mini baby bump while I sang the song).

Gosh, this blog kind of went from Romantic Inspired Makeup look to I'll-hit-you-so-hard-your-brother-will-feel-it nonsense...

Ahem. Excuse my violent reaction... Wow.

SO moving on to the makeup look that I created to evoke romantic thoughts on a romantic night...

Very soft looking makeup, yes, but that's why it's called romantic and not sassy.

If you watched my YouTube video on this look, you'll probably hear me mention that I've come to notice that men in general tend to prefer softer, more natural looks than the bold sassy ones we tend to apply on special occasions.

So that is what inspired me to go this route. And I decided to use just one palette - from Wet N' Wild - called Sweet as Candy (how appropriate, right?). And, convenient, if I don't say so myself.

Enjoy!

Until next time...

New York Giants Inspired Look

I decided to post some pictures of a recent makeup look I filmed for my YouTube channel that was inspired by the Super Bowl that just recently aired.

If you watched the game, you know that the New York Giants won. And although I am not a big fan of the quarter back, Eli Manning, I am a HUGE fan of New York in general, so I was rooting for them.

If only I had the notion to bet with Andy, I would've been happily shopping for a much needed makeup haul this weekend.

(sigh)

Anywho, so since I uploaded the New York Giants Inspired makeup look and I also have been taking still shots of my makeup looks, I decided I might as well start putting up those photos here on my blog. Just in case you lovely devoted YouTube subbies might want to see still photos.

And since my lap top sucks and I don't have ANY video editing software that would allow me to insert something as simple as a photo within my videos.... I'm stuck being medieval and posting photos here.

I'm so annoyed with my lap top but that is a whole 'nother blog.

So as I type/you read simultaneously (crazy how that can happen, right?), I am uploading a Romantic Valentine's Day look to YouTube.

So more than likely I'll be posting some pictures of that look in an upcoming blog as well.

The reason I thought to do this (besides having no editing software) is because I know in this day and age almost everyone has a smart phone. And what do we do with smart phones?

Hopefully not stupid things.

If you are smart, like moi, you use the phone to make your glamorous life easy. In other words, you store pictures of makeup looks and fashion outfits to your photo albums and thus have inspiration at your finger tips when you are shopping or when you are getting ready to go out. 

And how can you save makeup looks from a YouTube video? By watching smart people like me who post still photos of the makeup looks to a blog where you can upload and save to your smart phone for future references!!!

See, I told you I was smart! And now so are you for following my smart advice. 

Win.Win.

Until next time...

New England Patirots Inspired Look

So here are a few pictures from a makeup look I posted recently on my YouTube beauty channel for a makeup look that was inspired by the New England Patriots.

If you live in the USA then you know that the Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday, February 5th. And if you know that, then you probably also know that the New England Patriots are playing against the New York Giants.

Well, unfortunately for me, what was a super fun tutorial, turned out to be a tutorial that didn't have the greatest lighting and thus the most important aspect of my makeup look was very hard to be seen.

(sigh) The life of a beauty blogger.

I guess I should have reviewed my video before letting the day pass me by. But I assumed the video was awesome, I had fun doing it, and all would be well.

Now I have to post on my video for y'all to come on over here (not that that's a bad thing) and take a look at the still photos I fortunately took.

Lesson learned. Moving on...

So as you can kind of tell there is some red wings going on in the picture below...

(sigh) I really wish I would've known I would need better close up pictures but I guess this is the best it's gonna get. Sorry peeps!

Hopefully your imagination and my explanation of the look will give you a great idea of the look I was going for!

Until next time...

Makeup Shopping...

Just a really quick random thought of mine...

How often do you shop for makeup?

Whether you work or live off the wealth of another, (no judgment here, I'll proudly do the same once the opportunity presents itself - hint hint - to someone named ANDY), how often would you say you go to the store to specifically purchase beauty products?

If I could, I'd shop every two weeks when I get paid. BUT since I'm married and my husband is metro (likes to "take care" of himself and shop too), I'd have to be fair and expect him to purchase something too. Which basically means, pay days would really be called broke days.

I don't shop high end products but we all know when you get enough products in your cart (even if it's "low end"), things will add up.

And besides having a YouTube beauty channel where it is naturally expected that one should be introducing beauty products and keeping up to date with the latest and greatest...

I just can't keep up with some of these girls on YouTube!

Kind of a downer when I am trying to shoot a makeup look and I find that I am always reaching for the same products. Or when it comes to the "monthly favorites" type of video, I am really close to running out of things to say are my favorite without sounding like a broken record.

But maybe that's something I should be keeping to myself. 

I mean, I don't need you getting all down and distracted during my videos and start to watch my videos to see just how much I use the same products over and over...

That would make me cry.

Well, not literally. I'd probably just slap myself.

That would be more deserving after posting something like this.

You know what? Maybe I should just delete this right now and act like I never uttered these disgraceful words.

No one would know and I can continue my YouTube beauty channel and just fake it till I make it.

Yeah, that sounds like a wiser choice.

But knowing myself, I'm just going to keep typing and then press PUBLISH...

Families are like brownies...

Ever feel like people just want you to go away?

To the point where they will play dead?

Or just straight out diss you by ignoring you right in front of your face?

Oh, yeah, me neither...

Ok, so this is me totally over exaggerating pictures of my family.

But I feel like that sometimes, you know.

And I know it's not hormones, people.

Even family can be down right rude.

But at least I know I can be rude right back to them and we'll be cool by sundown.

Explanation: Actually, the first picture is of my brother in law who is trying to hide his soon-to-be-famous face. He claims he won't give out any "freebies" before stardom strikes, not even us lowly family members.

The second picture is of my nephew, Junior. I just caught him in mid dying mode during an epic battle as Bumblebee the Transformer.

And last but certainly never least, is a picture of my parents. 

But unlike the pictures above them... they really were ignoring me. 

Explanation: We were waiting in the car for my grandpa, whom we were going to take to breakfast, and I was chit chatting away, looking out the window, when I noticed I wasn't getting any answers to my rhetorical questions. I turn around and lo and behold there they were, completely consumed by their smart phones. I decided to address this rude behavior and you know what my dad answers (while never even bothering to look up from his phone)?

"You're the one that got us hooked on these evil devices"

My mouth dropped open at that point.

Seriously, is time running backwards or something? Did I miss the memo that said kids are the new adults in town? Did my DAD just say I , his child, got him hooked on a device he considers to be so evil that even he himself cannot keep away from???

Hmm. Interesting.

Wonder if that'll work with his bank account. Muahaha!!!

Just  kidding.

Anywho, this is just my little blog of randomness. A look, really, into my oh so glamorous life and how I interact with those I most despise dislike loathe fear? tolerate LOVE.

That took a minute. hee hee

P.S. And if you want to know the cryptic ending to this blog title, it goes a little something like this...


"Families are like brownies... mostly sweet with a few nuts."

Until next time...

My humble return to blogging...

Geez Louise!!! It's been a hot minute since I last blogged.

And dare I point out that one of my last blogs stated to be prepared for the whirlwind of blogging I was going to do because of the holidays coming up??? 

I know, I know...

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

 So my reason for being so out of character is because the week right before Thanksgiving, I found out I am pregnant!!!

 Craziness, I know.

That was November 19th and I was about a few days away from being 2 months pregnant. 

Talk about not knowing your own body...

But since then I have been so completely exhausted that all my free time has been spent sleeping. No time for YouTube videos, not time for exercise (pff, like I really did that anyways) and certainly no time to blog.

The only thing that I could possibly do was sleep. I seriously wouldn't even want to watch TV or movies, nothing! Just peace and quiet so I could sleep.

Pretty rough time, I should say.

So, to make up for my blogging discrepancies, I decided to start where I left off. Which I believe was Thanksgiving. But before I blog about that I should back up a little more and talk about the Breaking Dawn party I attended with my bestie, Rachel.

It was at a friend of a friend's house named, Amy! :) And she had her backyard decorated for the event. I have to say the table decor was nice but did remind me a little more of how I'd decorate if I was throwing a Twilight party not a Breaking Dawn party.

To me, the epitome of a Breaking Dawn party would be to decorate the place like you were at an outdoor wedding. So lots of white, green, brown and flowers.

She decorated with red, black and candles. 

Not bad, but not exactly Breaking Dawn. Needless to say, it was nice to go to a party that someone else was throwing and the fact that it was celebrating Breaking Dawn was even better. So no complaints here.

BELOW: Here is a picture of the food (which was DELISH!!!)

BELOW: A pic of my dessert plate. hee hee

So as the bestie, Rachel, and I were enjoying the food and trying to mingle jingle, you can kind of tell the night was winding down.

For those of you that don't know. I, myself, have thrown a Twilight and a New Moon party, so I know a thing or two about themed parties. But the difference to this party and the ones I've thrown is that this is a pre-Breaking Dawn party and the parties I've thrown were thrown long after the movies came out (and even the DVD's actually).

So in my parties, I have a few games that we play and win prizes for, we eat, and then we play the movie and that gives anyone an opportunity to head home or just wind down.

Since this party was a pre-Breaking Dawn party, it was obvious the girls were there to eat and hang out till the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn. So no games and no winding down.

Rachel and I weren't planning on going to the midnight release showing - since we both had work the next day - so we were like the ones who were thinking, hmm, should we leave now, then?

To make an already long story not as long... we decided to thank the host graciously for inviting us and then proceeded to head to the nearest Starbucks to hang out by ourselves and warm up (it was a cold night for a backyard party).

BELOW: Rachel, moi, and Rachel's cousin, Janey (who invited us to her friend, Amy's, Breaking Dawn party)

And that's it, folks!!! Overall, it was a great party to be invited to. 

Thanks Amy! Thanks Janey! Thanks Rachel!

 Until then...

Breaking Dawn Paaaartaaay

So last night I met up with my bestie, Rachel in Buena Park to go to a Breaking Dawn party.

Let's back up a bit...

I've thrown 3 themed parties before.

A Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse party.

And I was very much planning a party for Breaking Dawn as well, but let's just say that things have been a little "ruff" financially. So when my best friend, Rachel, mentioned that her friend invited her to go a Breaking Dawn party and that I was welcome to come too (since I'm kind of known like that), my hopes were up.

I could get my Breaking Dawn on and wouldn't have to worry about planning, hosting, serving, etc.

So, Buena Park, here I come!

Anywho, we both arrived at the same time (whew) and the house was sooo pretty and well decorated (for a house, not a party). We were ooo-ing and ahhh-ing.

And then she directs us to the back yard.

We are in the middle of November, y'all. Even for California, that's kind of not what I had in mind.

But I have to say, once we entered the backyard (which was also followed by some more ooo's and ahhh's) we came upon this reallllly pretty set up of elaborate black chargers, red candles, fog rolling over the table, and lights hung all over...

Purty nice set up.

So since it was outside in the dark, my pictures aren't that fab, but you'll still get the ambiance of the party.

Needless to say, this party definitely wasn't like the ones I've planned (filled with music, games, prizes, and a WARM environment), but it was nice nevertheless.

And I had to realize that they threw this party solely for the purpose of getting together before going out to see the midnight release of Breaking Dawn. So having a dinner only event made sense. The real party was happening at midnight.

Since I had to work the next day and so did Rachel, we graciously thanked the hostess and Rachel's friend for inviting us and proceeding to drive to the nearest Starbucks for a hot cup of joe - or Pumpkin Spice - whatev. 

We talked and laughed and got warm and lovely before saying our true goodbyes and getting some rest.

ABOVE: Meet the bestie! Rachel

Hopefully tonight, I will convince the hubz to see Breaking Dawn with me (since my dinner/movie plans with Rachel and my sister were cancelled), and join the legions of TwiHards everywhere in getting my Twilight on.

Until next time...

Whaaaat?

THANKSGIVING. IS. NEXT. WEEK.

Yeah, I know, right?

It's like when something just sneaks up on you and you know you could totally lose it because you are sooo unprepared.

Has that ever happened to you?

Yeah, me neither.

Actually, I'm one of those overly organized people who has a desktop calender/planner, a personal planner and also utilizes the calender on her mobile phone.

Yeah, I'm one of those girls.

You see,I'm controlling, I just like to plan things and makes sure they go accordingly. Cuz, DUH, no one makes plans and then hopes they come together. You plan it, you make sure it happens. The End.

So on top of Thanksgiving sneaking coming up next week, I also have a Breaking Dawn party to attend tomorrow night, then actually go see Breaking Dawn the following night [with the hubz, my bestie, Rachel, and her hubby and also my sister, Angelina, and her hubby].

Wait, I'm not done.

THEN on Saturday is my nephew, Luke's, 6th birthday party and THEN on Sunday is my mother's birthday.

Whew! 

Are you still with me?

Oh and one last thing, I need to film 3 YouTube videos within those last 3 days mentioned above. (Since I work full time and only have daylight filming hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays).

Yippee.

Don't get me wrong. All of these activities and to do items are completely wanted and are looked forward to. I just need to "plan" a little for it all. 

I am writing this to warn you of my upcoming explosion of blogging overload.

I mean, I get pretty down, on outings and the holidays, when it comes to taking pictures. So much so that towards the end of the day, I'm usually taking pictures of turned faces and the palms of people's hands.

I know, who doesn't want their own personal paparazzi, right? And I don't charge (not yet) for my awesomeness.

So be prepared.

You've been warned.

Until next time...

I have failed you, Team Jacob...

Let's just say that my "Editorial Wolf Lover" look, didn't go quite as planned.

I mean, I got the look and taped it. But after viewing it, and showing the "all supportive" hubz, I realized it was just not at all what I was going for and decided to save myself the ridicule on YouTube - since I'm the next Michelle Phan - and forego my editorial Take A Pic! Thursday look.

Instead, you're gonna see an e.l.f. Haul.

Like my YouTube channel couldn't get any more predictable.

This was exactly what I didn't want my channel to amount to. A sort of bragging beauty channel, if you will, where all I ever post are the beauty products I've bought and how much I just LOVE them... and nothing else... No teaching, no experimenting, no nothing...

I want to run a BEAUTY channel not a vanity channel.

I know, I know, you're probably thinking:

Stop feeling all sentimental, like a littlie, and re-film a new look, dummy.

But it's not that easy...

The only time I am at home while the sun is still shining is during the weekends. Thus, the weekend is my filming time.

So in order to make a new video for this Thursday, I'd have to film one during the week when I get home from work and by that time it's already dark.

See? I bet now you're thinking what I've been thinking since Sunday night.

Foochie, this stinks a big one.

So like I mentioned below, I'll have to forego my "editorial" look and just post a haul video instead. 

Hope you don't unsubscribe from me?

But to let you know that I didn't just totally fall apart and start deleting all my video takes and photos of my "Wolf Lover" look, I saved a few photos that I thought was decent enough to expose here in blog land.

So please refrain from the harsh criticism and laughs. 

Andy already did enough of that on Sunday when this was being filmed and photographed.

ABOVE: I know this photograph looks a little weird, but it's the camera app I used on my phone. Supposed to make the photo look "vintage".

Vintage, my booty, it just added a speck of orange on my nose!!!

ABOVE: Here you can kinda see the shading I was trying to achieve on my face. In my opinion, the only down side was you couldn't tell how ridiculously huge and teased my hair was.

It was pretty ridiculously exaggerated. And I loved it.

And that is what threw Andy off - more than the wolf eye makeup - and thus, had him laughing at me.

So I decided to be the mature one and scream at the top of my lungs.

"THIS IS EDITORIAL, Andy, and besides, what does a BOY know about editorial??? 
Hey! You watch ANTM with me, you should know these things look ridiculous in real life!!!"


So even though I have failed...

At least I tried, right?

Like it or not, this is to all you Team Jacob fans out there!!!

Aaaaooooo! (wolf howl)