Dog Days

On Saturday, Zach & I took Marley to the Masonic Home in Union City for a fundraiser event for the school district. The event was called "Mutt Strut," which as you can guessed, was an event for dogs.
It was a gorgeous day in the bay and Marley had a blast!
It involved a lot of cute dogs in costumes, free gifts, a stroll around the masonic home, and many doggie events.

Marley ended up getting Microchipped there too! Here he is scared off his mind.


Tyrine comforted him afterwards. She's such a sweetie.


Some of my favorite dog costumes:








I had Marley participate in musical chairs, the King Mutt contest for small dogs, and a hot dog eating contest. He scarfed down his plate and also the other dog's plate who was next to us! He ended up losing in everything though. =(


Some cute moments...












All of us, excluding Gam, who was the photographer that day.

*In other news, excited that Zach & I will be moving out at the end of month.

2.8

Ah, another birthday...
When I was a kid, I didn't get many gifts or had birthday celebrations. My parents were never into throwing parties and such for us.
Now here I am, much older, and very thankful for the people in my life for making up for those lost childhood moments I kinda longed for. I blame TV for that.
@ work my coworkers lavished me with flowers & goodies, and dim sum. My sister got me this:


one of the main contributors to my bloated stomach this week


Then Zach took me to Santa Barbara :)


My first time there & couldn't have asked for more.
We took Marley with us







Met with Rose & Ryan who happened to be there that weekend & @ the same hotel as us!


Zach bought me the best case for my iPhone (I'm blogging for the first time on my iPhone btw) & he also got me the coveted petal by the metal mbmj bag!
I got the wallet & other bag @ nordie's, courtesy of my brother who got me a gift card there.









We got back yesterday & had dinner @ boiling crab with some family & friends. I had never gone to Boiling Crab, and it was pretty good! Messy, but worth it!

Kira eating plain ole white rice

Summer Days Pt 2: Yosemite

August 13, 2011 was the first time I went to Yosemite & I fell in love.
Camping, dipping in the ice cold river, hiking the Sentinel Dome trail, Glacier Point, and sitting by campfire. Nature rocks.

Ty, Zach & Me @ Glacier Point



Glacier Point



Kira & Ron walking to Park Ranger event



Sentinel Dome Trail



Bridal Vail Falls



Gazing...



Campside



Group

Summer Days pt 1

Since SJSU cancelled my summer classes, I decided to plan a trip to New Orleans.
Hands down, the liveliest city I've ever been to.
The trip was all thanks to Miguel since I wanted to see him in concert performing my 2011 summer jam, "Sure Thing."
I saw that he was performing at the Essence Music Fest, so I ended up getting tickets to go...
Highlights:

Food


Stanley's Restaurant: Bridge Breaux Benedict



Beignets


Sangria @ the French Market

Essence Music Fest



Miguel



Usher closing the night



Inside the Festival - Superdome


The City



Street Music


Jackson Square


Bourbon St



Southern Homes - St. Charles St


MS River


That was the start of my summer and now it's winding down.
Other highlights (with more posts to come) include:
-5k run
-Watching SYTYCD and loving it again
-Food shows! Chopped, Cupcake Wars, & MASTERCHEF!
-Doing Mission Peak 2-3x/week
-Pinball Museum with Tyrine
-First trip to Yosemite
-Lazy afternoons @ Lake Elizabeth with Marley/Ipad/Zachary

April Showers

This week was eventful. I felt like I got a lot done, but I still feel far behind.

I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in SF last Saturday, for a school project actually, but like most of the events I've been attending for school, it didn't feel like work. It beats taking tests and writing research papers. We took Marley with us. He was scared of the crowd. Poor guy

Sunday & Wednesday were the last two home games for the Warriors. They lost to the Kings on Sunday and beat the Trailblazers on Wednesday. 36-46 record, which is a huge improvement from their 26-56 record last year. I had a great time being the sole season ticket holder this year, but trying to make it to all the games was a little rough. Since starting school again this spring and working full time, Zach and I decided not to renew our account after 3 years of being season ticket holders.

Last Friday I attended the Fan appreciation event, and got Dorrell Wright to do the silly 3 point hand swipe with me. He was cool.

Last night, after a strange week at work, I got a much needed escape by going to the Raphael Saadiq concert. He delivered. Sweat, tears, and his crotch in my face. Check. His talent reminds me to focus at the bigger picture and not let the small bumps in the road get you down. For some reason, I've been letting these little things get to me, and it's not a good look. So thank you Mr. Saadiq.

Fast forward and it's Saturday again. I slept for 4.5 hrs last night and woke up late for a Tech test, a requirement for the credential program, but managed to speed my way to SJSU and get there before the instructor.

Afterwards, my Dad took Tyrine and I to Thai temple in Fremont so I can start on another project for class, but it was also an excuse for me to eat great food. Met up with some coworkers who came out and ate lunch with them there. I gotta say, it was nice spending some time with a different group of people. And it was even nicer to be able to spend some time with Tyrine.

Shopping Adventures with my Niece

I got to spend time with my niece today at the mall and it was just what I needed to end my week with.

It started off with us stalking this man who we assumed was a Warriors player - which was a great possibility because I've ran into 3 Warriors player on separate occasions - but it wasn't the player we assumed. However, I did learn that my niece is really good at spying on people.

Afterwards, we roamed around various stores, including Sanrio, Godiva, and Payless! We spent the most time at Payless just trying on random shoes to see if we could use the BOGO deal, but we were good and left empty handed.

One of the shoes I almost bought, but decided it wasn't practical.

My niece fits a women's size 6 already!

Best Gift Ever!

Thanks to Sis, Ron, BF, and parents.

Bday Weekend

On Friday, ate great Jamaican food and hung out with friends. Happy Birthday to my bestie Felisa & the other birthday girl Rosemarie.

On Saturday, my sis and her family along with Zach took me out to Sonoma & Napa for grubbin' and rubbin' (as in a spa massage).

Today, spent time with my immediate family for more grubbin and some shopping.

Ended the day with this:

Best cake to date!

Best company to end my weekend with.

On my actual BDAY, however, will be at work and school for 11 hours straight.

Getting old sucks.

4 Day Adventure

It all started on Wednesday night when Phili, Zach and I decided to head to LA to catch a taping of my favorite TV show at the moment, So You Think You Can Dance. It turned out to be one of the best trips ever. Everything just fell into place.

Entrance to CBS studio where the filming took place. First there was the 7:45am group dance, and then we came back to the live results taping at 3pm.

Picture Via Fox.com

I had a 'moment' with Brandon. Blew kisses at him like the little groupie I am. He smiled and blushed. So adorable.

Dinner @ Bossa Nova's after the 2nd taping.

Met up with Daryl @ Bossa Nova's and had yummy Sangria

Had Pink's at 10:30am to avoid the line. Haha. Zach and Phili never had, and they both loved.

Mmmm

After Pink's we headed to Chinatown and then returned home to the bay.

The very next day, I had volunteering to do at Scholastics, and afterwards, a mini Jr. High Reunion at BJ's.

On Sunday, it was Father's Day and the family traveled to Sacramento to meet up with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate.

My brother got my dad the shirt. It was a nice day.

The four days were tiring, but it was all so memorable.