Lake Travis

Finally got a chance to take our boat out today. It seems as though every month we pay on this dang boat and every summer it just really sits there. So sad. Well not this year. This summer I’m really going to try to take our boat out more because today I had so much fun and I always do when we go out, we just gotta go out more.

Lake Travis

I know it looks like I’m totally naked but I promise you I’m not. Got my new strapless bikini on because the less tan lines the better.

Lake Travis

Stopped the boat for some down time and um, bathroom breaks. Seriously, where else are we suppose to pee. Don’t act like you don’t do it. Later after the sun baked my drunken body to sleep I was abruptly woken up by the motion of the boat and had to throw. Awesome. Kris was kind enough to photograph it.

Lake Travis

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Today Ray’s baseball team is having a BBQ at Chris’s house (the dude in the yellow). Good thing too because his home is not ugly at all.

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Like everyone else these days, these two just had a baby.

 

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Ray drank lots of margaritas today.

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Ray is drunk.

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Chris has a landscaping company, can you tell? Seriously, they should just have the games here for now on.

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Cheers!

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Usually after the games a bunch of us will go grab some food and drinks somewhere and that’s pretty much the extent of us hanging out with all these guys so tonight was a lot of fun.

Orioles BBQ Fun Day

Check, check, check. That’s right today is a productive “things to do in Austin” check list day. Don’t you just love it when your being productive and having fun all at the same time? We started the day off with brunch at Chez Zee. The name is kinda awkward for me, but they are known for their decadent desserts and we all know I’m one to whore my mouth out to all things desserts. I first discovered Chez Zee at the San Marcos Bridal Extravaganza. The cake they had there was orgasmic. It was like multiply love explosions in my mouth. When I went back for seconds I left with a handful of third, fourth and fifths in my hand and I was smart enough to take a business card with me. Well, it’s been what, like 4 long months now and today is the day Chez Zee and I reunite and I couldn’t be more pumped.

And that is how you do breakfast kids. At least that’s how before you have kids so that you don’t create any bad habits for the kiddos. Crappers, it’s not as amazing as I had remembered. What happened Chez Zee? Oh well, I guess we weren’t meant to be. I’m sure it’s for the best, besides, we’re moving to Dallas anyhow. Yes, you heard me right. We are moving. There’s been talk of Ray and I moving to Dallas and the rumors are true. The last day of August is the last time we declare our residency in Austin. I mean, if you want to know the truth, I think Austin is over-rated. There I said it. I’ve been holding back for awhile because I don’t want to offend anyone, but seriously, who reads my blog anyway. Maybe some random Austinite might one day accidentily stumble upon my blog, and perhaps find me offensive, but really, why hold back for peeps I don’t know. Besides, my friend Shane would have wanted it this way. He appreciates opinionated Doe. Well now you know why we’ve been working so hard at checking things off our Austin list. Not really sure if I would consider Chez Zee on that list, but lets just say it was so we can move the hell on.

After Chez Zee we headed to 360 Bridge Overlook.

photo by Treyerice

Photos like this make be want to renounce any negative claims I made about Austin. Wow, what an amazing photo I wish I had taken. I actually found the photo on Flickr from a gentleman named Treyerice. Here, check out his Austin set. I’m gonna have to buy some of his stuff. Well, 360 Bridge Overlook was definitely on our list. Just a short hike up this hill,

And you get this great view of Lake Austin.

Treyerice’s photo explains it prettier. Man I really need to get my wide angle lens.

photo by Treyerice

In my defense it was a gloomy day folks. Here’s Ray taking a photo with his iPhone so he can Tweet about it.

If you didn’t know, I’m also a photo whore.

Us, being stupid cute.

Ray enjoying the view.

After taking in our marvalous view we kept right on trekking up the path.

Until we were over it and decided to go canoeing instead.

Which also happens to be on our list. Boy, we’re just on a roll today.

Actuality canoeing had already been checked off the list a long time ago. We went shortly after we got married with my friend Becky and some of her friends and their friends that live here in Austin. I don’t even remember what they look like. Guess I should have taken a photo.

Well I remember it being super fun which is why I wanted to go again before we moved. But today was kind of a drag. My husband’s not really built for the outdoors and apparently I’m not so coordinated at rowing and those two factors makes for a lousy time and grumpy husband. Sucks because I really was looking forward to this. I guess the key is to come with a group of friends next time.

So many turtles.

Another day at the office for Ray.

Finally on our way back.

We went home and got ready for The Republic Of Texas Biker Rally (ROT Biker Rally). The ROT Rally is the Biggest Motorcycle Rally in Texas. There were more than 60,000 participants last year so we can only imagine what it will be like this year. Ray and I didn’t go last year, but we’re definitely going this year. Any event that brings in retarded amounts of people to Austin gets a free pass right to my Austin Bucket List as far as I’m concerned.

Hello ROT Rally!

I use to think that the ROT Rally stood for Riders of Texas, which makes more sense to me because there’s every imaginable kind of motorcycle here.

ROT RALLY

How funny, SXSW was like in March. Looks like someone is trying to save money on banners. Hum, they much be Chinese.

SXSW Sign For ROT Rally

Alright, so I know it’s silly but the way I gauge a bike is by the comfort of the back seat. I’m pretty sure it’s because I know if I ever get to ride a bike like this it will have to be in the back seat so I want me a comfy one.

Comfy Back Seat Bike, I Likey

Soon enough hunger declared it’s victory on us and we had no choice but to surrender at The Jackalope. At the time we actually considered ourselves fortunate to have found a table and one right by the window even

The Jackalope

We should have known it was too good to be true because The Jackalope sucks sweaty chode. And yes, I just said chode. Service was crap. The place wasn’t that big and there was like 6 servers. Seriously, I could run circles around them. The chips were stale. We got our food 45 minutes after we had ordered and it was awful. So when the table next to us got sat Ray goes, “we should warn them.” And I go, “do it, I wish someone would had for us.” So he does, and they get up and leave, buy some pizza right outside, walks to the window and thanks us. Man, their pizza looked so darn satisfying compared to our crappy plates and the worst part is they probably paid no more than 5 bucks while we’re stuck with a 50 dollar bill.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, Kris was with us too.

Kris Semmler

More comfy back seat bikes.

Comfy Back Seat Bikes

Comfy Back Seat Bikes

This chick was just a hot mess.

Hot Mess Chick

Lots of people out tonight.

Crowded Night

Cute couple.

Cutest Couple Ever

Bikes everywhere!

ROT Rally

Even bikes with training wheels. Some broad was whoring out her son for tips. I took a photo and left no tip. Here’s my tip, get a fucking job you dumb cunt.

No Tip For You!

No really, by the time Ray told me I was suppose to tip them I had already walked away.  Look one kid is totally working it while the other is totally mortified. I bet he’s thinking, God please don’t let me run into anyone from school. Poor kid. Now I feel bad for not tipping.

State Capital and more bikes.

State Capital

Well that’s it folks. I’m so ready to go home. I gotta say, today was a good day.

Today Ray and I attempted to go canoeing but we made the mistake of bringing Kola with us. It was a scorching hot day and I didn’t want to be stuck on a boat if Kola went into a heat stroke so instead we attempted to hike the Green Belt. We got all of 50ft before Kola wanted out. He looked like he was going to have a seizure or something so we walked back to the car. Ah well, we tried. Today is another one of our leisure days and we wanted to explore Austin.

We decided to head out to Austin Trailer Park Eatery since we still have not been. The first thing I bought was cake balls. Yes, cake balls on a stick. So genius!

Should of had a taco from Torchy’s Tacos but I’ve been craving a good hot dog lately so I decided on that instead. Well all in all it was another great day. Austin Trailer Park Eatery consider yourself checked! Green Belt and canoeing I’ll be back for you.

I love days like this, where your just free to go where the wind takes you. Well we’re taking full advantage of it and being productive at the same time by checking off our Austin list and we’re starting it off at Juan in a Million. Juan in a Million is an iconic business in Austin. As a matter of fact, Man VS Food has even been there. This is how Adam prepares for Juan In a Million.

After watching Juan in his element it really doesn’t surprise me anymore that Juan in a Million is so successful. I think if your a business owner you should make a trip over to Juan for some breakfast tacos, ask for a seat by the front door and watch Juan work his magic. He stands by the door and literally greets each and every guest that walks through. It’s almost as if everyone that walks through is family because that’s how he makes them feel. Shit, I’m not gonna lie, that’s how he made us feel and I totally knew what he was up to. He totally won our hearts and before we left Ray and I are like, “we gotta come back.” Seriously, it’s just breakfast tacos, eggs, cheese, flour tortilla, but Juan’s infectious energy makes you think they tastes so good. I started my morning off with tres leches. It was good but doesn’t come close to Chuy’s tres leches.

Ray and his big ass breakfast tacos.

And mine, just like I like em, potatoes and eggs, but damn it, I always forget to ask for corn tortillas!

Well Juan In A Million considered yourself checked. Check! Next is IMAX theater to watch Shrek in 3D.

After the movies we start to get hungry again so we head over to Carlos’ and Charlie’s, which also happens to be on our list. Check!

Well, the food is not amazing and the service sucks elephant butt. I suggest you come here for the pretty sunsets.

In Huston for business. SocialFly has a quincietta event but since were here we mine as well visit our good friends Marcos. He has a new home that we’ll be staying in tonight. The next day we all went to the Houston Dub Car Show. Heard it was something stupid like 40 bucks to get in but Ray got the hook up from Hack Shack and we all got in for free. Free, I love that word.

Sweet! Low rider bikes. I know I’m so gangsta but can’t help it I love em.

This one is definitely one of my faves. Love the graphics but I think my favorite part is the sweet velvet curtains. Kinda makes me wish I had my dream car, a VW Bus just so I can hang up some curtains.

Hey, a concert up in here. Dim the lights, let’s get our dance on.

I’m pretty sure this is Nelly’s car.

Even had some dancers. They had no ass but still nice eye candy.

Oh my god Becky, look at her butt. Its so big. She looks like one of those rap guys girlfriends. I mean her butt. It’s just so big. I can’t believe it’s so round. It’s just out there.

Play for 5 minutes and get a free T-Shirt. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Glad I we got in free and even more glad there were finally slutty models at this car show. Houston, your still a ghetto bitch, but I love you anyways.

On the drive home Kola sleeps with a photo of us. Awe, my heart is warm n fuzzy.

In Dallas for business but heard through the grapevine that it’s Mama TalPlacido’s birthday. How convenient. Spotted this Mrs. Baird’s car while cruising. Funny I always said that it looks just like a toaster oven.

Mama is loved.

My favorite rug rat.

Afterwords we went out for some drinks with Ben and Mabel.

Wish Mabel would just move to Dallas already.

Today Ray hit a home run! Seriously, my husband hits more home runs than anyone I know. Here’s a video of him running in.

Usually after the games the team goes out, I want to say to celebrate, but they don’t win much games. Not that they’re not good, it’s more like it’s hard to get everyone to show up. On a different day, we went to Sam’s Boat then headed to Little Woodrow’s. I heard we drank something stupid like 18 pitchers of beer. Sheesh!

Yes, I go to a lot of games. Today, we

Seems like that list of things to do in Austin I have is getting shorter and shorter by the day. Well, another to check off the list is visiting Blanton Museum of Art. Before we headed in though we stopped by the cafeteria and then to the gift store where I got to take this sweet bike on a test ride.

The seat was too high and made it kinda hard to ride but besides that it was pretty fucking sweet and I so want one. The bike is super light and I should have videoed it because you can totally fold the bike up to fit in your pocket, well, not that small but you get the point. Lets move on.

Pretty sweet place. This is why I love museums. If I were alone I could stay here all day just reading about each and every piece of art but I’m not and I hate feeling rushed or making others wait for me so I just skim the art.

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a fan and I don’t get it. I feel like my 3 year old kid, had I had one, could do this. I especially hate it when people try to act like they understand it, like they’re so much deeper, intelligent and important than everyone else. Please, someone just threw a bunch of colors on a piece of canvas. It probably took them less than 5 minutes. However I do applaud them for taking advantage of the stupid and getting rich off it. In that sense, kudos to you.

Bones and pennies. The question is who’s bones do these belong to?

This one I like because I feel like it’s something Ray and I could do and put up in our house; a big chalkboard. Dig it!

Now here’s some of my favorite art from today.

Head on a platter.

Boobs on a platter.

Big head on a stand.

There was more but my stupid camera ran out of batteries. Oh well.

After doing a couple of events out in the Dallas area we decided to stay awhile. We met up with the parent the next day for some lunch at Vapiano. Steven Ray and Nycole brought us here last time we were in Dallas and we loved it so much that we had to come back.

We made a spontaneous trip to Inner Space Cavern on the way home.  We totally had a buy one get one free admission ticket in the car but forgot to bring it in. I’m still not over it. Can you believe it cost 20 bucks to get in this bitch. Sheesh! Seriously, there better be roller coasters.

Well this was the closest thing, a train that went something stupid, like 2 miles an hour down to the deep caverns of earth.

This place is cool, kinda reminds me of the caves in Playa Del Carmen. But unlike Playa Del Carmen we had to go on a tour.

This one looks like a Sumo Wrestler  eating a giant ice-cream cone.

Us.

Meringue  ceilings.

Seriously, the ceilings looked like meringue.

Tiny pond.

Us again.

Going to the caves was another one on our list of shit to do in Austin before we peace out. Check! Well, we’re on a roll and none of us wants to be a fun tampon and stop the flow of fun so we decide to go check out the Bats @ Congress, another one on the list.

We arrived at 7:00 giving us plenty of time to enjoy the scene.

Lady Bird Lake.

My sexy husband.

Then we realized that we were on the wrong side of the bridge because we were the only people on this side while the other side of the bridge started to crowd up. Ray was hesitant at first, saying he didn’t want to be a sheep and follow the pack. Well, Kris must have taken that to heart because finally when it was quite obvious that we were on the wrong side Ray gave in and we crossed over while Kris stayed behind. BAAAAAAAAA BAAAAAA.

While over on our side people kept flowing in.

Kris’s side.

Our side.

Kris’s side.

Our side.

Anyhow, you get the point. Man, we sure have been waiting a long time for these dumbs bats.

Had to find some way to kill time so we took more photos.

Awe, can you see poor Kris all alone behind me. We kept texting his ass to come on over but he texted us back and said he didn’t want to be a sheep.

Suit yourself.

Well, by the time the bats finally got the memo, it was just too late to see anything. That’s 2 & 1/2 hours of my life that I won’t get back. Not cool. Fuck you bats. I don’t care, I’m still checking you off the list because I am over it.  Check! Now, Ray and I’ve seen the bats fly by us before while driving once, and it was fucking awesome. It was like the black smoke from Lost just cruised by and that was what I was expecting, only better because we were at the start of it all. Well supposedly they come out at different times, just whenever their little heart desires. Well ain’t that convenient. So after the  bats we headed to EZ’s Brick Oven & Grill.

My food.

Today Ray surprised me with Norah Jones Tickets. Yes my husband can be pretty amazing sometimes. For those of you that don’t know, Norah is my girl. I love her music, voice and think she is the cutest little thing. Whenever any song from her first album comes on it reminds me of the days I would to drive to and from Napa going down the long twisted back roads, smoking, um, cigarettes. I was a massage student back then. See.

That was a crazy beautiful time in my life and Norah always brings me back there. Man I want to fuck her. Well tonight is my chance. I’m gonna send her a hard dose of my “fuck me” eyes. She’ll have no choice but to feel really uncomfortable yet somewhat intrigued and invite me to her after party, you know, the after after party.

We get there early and still the line is like retarded long and poor Ray had to walk back to the car because they wouldn’t let me bring in our Canon 20D. Seriously, how are all these people going to fit.

Finally we made it in and the place is just as I had envisioned, not very big but big enough and yet, somehow they manage to pack the house in with thousands of peeps. Impressive.

This couple was just a hot mess trying desperately to be young again. They stuck out like a couple of American tourists in China. You can’t see but her shoes matched perfectly, hot pink and black, oh boy. Poor guy totally caught Ray taking a photo.

And finally Norah comes on. She rocked the house, playing every song I wish she would and manages to sound even better live. Oh, Norah.

This is my favorite song.

As you can see I had to love her from afar. How can I possibly send her my “fuck me” eyes from way back here? Not cool. I really need to start remembering to bring a pair of binoculars and a small stool to concerts like this.

At the end of the night everyone did the usual encore and she came back out but this time she came off the stage and onto some steps that were alot closer to everyone.

After the concert we even stopped in Stubbs for some BBQ and the food was just as crappy as we had remembered only this time the service also sucked balls. So it’s official, Stubb’s is only good for concerts and it just so happens that going to a concert there had actually been on our list of things to do in Austin before we leave. Check! What you didn’t thing we’d be here forever did you? Ninja Please.

Went out to eat at Manny’s Uptown Kitchen today and yikes, found out they we’re kinda pricey but definitely very tasty.

Afterward we headed into town and got us a pretty new enclosed trailer for our photobooth. That means we’re gonna be renting trailers from U-Haul a lot less for now on. Sweet.

Mary must know Ray hates her because today on her day the only thing that Ray blew was a tire. Sorry babe, but that’s what you get for being a hater.

Mary I miss you very much and I will always love you.

Ray and I have been all about going to car shows lately. I’m still pretty new to the car show scene but I can pretty much guarantee that Austin’s Lonestar Round up will forever be on the top of my car show list. I’m a huge sucker for vintage cars and boy were there a plethora of sexy vintage cars today. Being here makes me desperately long to have one of my own. One day, I know, one day in due time, but as for now I’ll just have to admire them from the other side. There were so many sweet cars that I can’t help to feel slightly guilty when I pick one to put up on my blog over the other, but here goes.

My dream is to have an old vintage car like the one above and below as a family car. So sick.

I’m in love with the flames on this on.

Some dude was free-styling pin art, gotta appreciate that.

Another family car. Can’t help it, I just love em.

Here’s my bad ass Sunday drive car.

And this one is Ray’s.

Here’s Ray’s hot rod. I’m not into them as much as he is but I still dig it.

And this one will be our company vehicle we’ll use to pull the photobooths.

So many sexy cars today.

Hanging out at Ray’s game today. I can’t help it I just have to take a photo every time. But I also like to take photos of my new shoes like this awesome new pair of black boots.

Sexy. They’re just like my brown boots I got in New York, only black and taller. What can I say, I love my brown boots. But I also had time to take photos of my broken ass phone. My friend Rex broke it like 3 days after I got it. I’m too cheap to pay for a new one, so I guess I’ll be carrying around a cracked out phone, at least for a little while.

In Dallas again at Gloria’s, having happy while waiting for Misty to arrive.

Misty never arrived so we moved on to Vickery Park Bar, where she met up with us.

They have big amazing onion rings that I didn’t get to finish because I was still full from Gloria’s.

And afterwords we headed downtown to see our good friend and super talented DJ Love do his thing at Ten Sports Grill. Besides having a words of exchange with the valet for price gauging us it was a great night.

photo taken from Six Lounge rooftop

Our cousin Misty is down with her friend for SXSW and unlike us they have badges. We first met them at Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar.

Then we headed across the street to Doc’s for a beer where a random band came marching by. This is one of the many reason I love Austin, because she is as random as I.

Then we went to Six Lounge, Lance Armstrong’s club, and my new favorite club in Austin.

They have a nice rooftop view and they have my X-Rated Liquor. It’s my new favorite liquor, so good. I swear I’m seriously considering bringing  a flask of this stuff so I have it with me at all times.

I’m totally digging Misty these days.

We headed to Speakeasy.

Having too much fun.

Lot’s of people out tonight.

And lastly we ended the night at Paradise on Sixth.

I must say it was a good night.

Today we’re at Darwin’s Pub checking out the band Pistol Whippin Ike, from Dallas.

What a festive day! I love SXSW.

My Sancho looks smoking hot today.

Don’t forget to tip bitches.

Pistol Whippin Ike doing their thing on stage. I enjoyed them very much.

After our music fix we headed down to South Congress where we ordered me my sexy new black boots from Allen’s Boots. They get here in 7-10 days. It’s going to be a long week. Afterwords we went to South Congress Cafe to celebrate. Man, I really dig this place. It’s cute and trendy, the foods great and best of all they have this killer frozen black berry mojito.

Brie cheese with jalapeno jelly. It was crackalacking.

Ray got duck and get this, he actually liked the veggies more than the duck. I don’t know if that means the duck sucks or if the veggies are just that freaking amazing but whatever makes my baby eats his veggies is a winner in my book.

And I got a salad and it was divine. Ray even said, “if you made salads like this I would eat them all the time.”

Can anyone say “happy hour?”

SXSW Interactive is near it’s end which means Beau is going back to San Francisco. Just like last year we made a stop by Woodland before heading out to the airport.

This pie was actually alright, but talk about sloppy presentation on with the whipped cream.

I asked for more whipped cream and the waiter said I would be charged because they had to make it. Uh, don’t you have to make it anyways? So 20 minutes later I get my whipped cream.

Ray got fish and chips and it was piece of crap. Just a fried blob. He hated it.

Don’t think we’ll be coming back. We’re just gonna have to find a new place to take Beau before the airport next year.

Today Ray and I ended up at EZ’s Brick Oven and Grill for lunner (lunch/dinner). But first we made our way through downtown Austin were SXSW was going on and scored ourselves a couple of Monster energy drinks and didn’t even have to get out of the car.

Looks like at good day at EZ’s.

Ray’s food and my onion rings and his curly fries underneath.

That’s all I got for you, not much more I gots to say. Happy dinning to ya’ll.

As sad as it is, what you see is the extent of my SXSW Interactive experience. A lot different from last year, not that I did much last year, but whatever I did it was definitely more than this. What, sorry I’m not a geek. If I would have known being a geek would have been this cool when I was in high school I would have focused more on school shit and less on whatever the hell it was that I was focusing on at the time, boys, fucking, drugs, who knows.

Well, our good buddy Steve is staying with us and he and Ray were planning to go to the after parties together instead of purchasing a $400 ticket but Steve broke down and bought a ticket when he heard Anthony and Natalie from New York were flying in.

So Ray was left alone to fend for himself, at least for the first night because Steve got bad news the next day and had to head back to Dallas which meant that Ray landed himself Steven’s pass. That’s two years in a row that Ray’s landed a free pass.

This here is our good buddy Beau. He lives in San Francisco. And below is my dinner, grilled cheese sandwich with a shot of tomato soup. Yes, a shot of tomato soup, that’s a first for me. It was good and I would have rather had a cup or perhaps a bowl of it. Maybe they ran out of tomatoes? But who cares because the grilled cheese sandwich was money. The bread was toasted to perfection and had a slight sweetness to it that left your taste buds begging for more. Money I tell ya, money.

Ray got chicken sliders. He enjoyed his meal as well. I guess that means we have to come back to Max’s.

That’s Anthony down there in the hat. Last time I saw him we randomly ran into him while we were in New York. It was nice to finally meet his wife Natalie.

Well after Max’s we went to the Iron Cactus and I’m sure a few other bars. All I know is that it was a wild and crowded night in downtown Austin.

I know I should be jealous but it’s hard to be when your waking up to the cutest thing.

After our meeting with our accountant today Ray and I went next door to a Korean restaurant called Together. This place was as hole in the wall as it gets. Seriously I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a cover up for the Korean mafia.

The crazy thing is I absolutely love going to places like this. Ray . . . not so much.

We are headed to the Loon in Dallas TX to celebrate Anthony’s birthday tonight!

It was so nice to see Anthony’s girl again. And I know Ray really enjoyed seeing all is old high school buddies.

I  met these guys tonight. They were out on a date. I don’t remember their names but they were entertaining.

It was a good night but hard morning because Ray and I work up early and headed back to Austin.

Tonight I’m headed to Vino 100 in Round Rock to catch Sound of AM. My good friend Andrea is the singer and anytime I can come out to support I do. I promise, the wine had nothing to do with it.

Our good buddy Kris met us out.

And after we drank all of our wine and ate all the good cheese we made our way to Schlotzky’s for some delicious sandwiches. I’m not big on sandwiches but Schlotzky’s sandwiches are the bomb and get this, now they have cupcakes. More reason to love them. There’s a serious cupcake revolution going on and I’m all about it.

Long live cupcakes!

This is what I wake up to every morning. The cutest thing.

This is what I woke up to, snow in Texas. Crazy! I mean does it ever snow in Texas? I’m serious, because I’m from California and I use to go snow boarding like every year so snow is not that big of a deal for me. However, I haven’t seen much of it since, well, since I moved out of California and over to sunny, beautiful Hawaii. I’ve been living in Texas for just about 2 years now and I’ve never seen it snow like this. This is crazy sauce.

Ha look at Kola, he’s so not feeling it. He’s like, “fuck this shit, I’ve already done my business out here now get me the fuck in.”

Here’s a video of Ray and I heading to Austin to meet up with our good friends Cosmo & Suzi.

After Cosmo and Ray finished up with their meeting we had lunch at Jason’s Deli. I really like Cosmo and Suzi. They’re just good wholesome people. Definitely a breath of fresh air.

Spotted a little snow man on someone’s car on the way back to Catz.

We drove up to Dallas to watch Nycole’s Performance but since we’re here we mine as well stay and catch the AutoRamo Car Show.

Now if you know me well enough, then you’d know I’m more into vintage cars than I am newer ones.

This is the kind of hunting that Ray and I do. Get that Doe baby!

Ray’s a truck guy. I think it’s a Mexican thing or a Texas thing or both, either way, he can’t help it.

But I think we both could agree on this one. I love it. As a matter of fact we ended up seeing this same one in a few magazines.

These models were the only hot chicks I saw today. How unfortunate.

I’m also a sucker for muscle cars. They’re just sexy.

But I think my favorite of the day had to be this one.

Shut up I don’t give a damn what you think. I just have this obsession with doors. Talk about a family vehicle.

Ray likes the hot rods. Me, not so much. Sorry baby. It’s just not my thing.

But I am a fan of this motorcycle. I have this thing with comfy motorcycle seats. I think it’s cause I want to be comfy while someone else rides me. Yep I know, “that’s what she said.”

Well I’d have to say it was another good day.

Yes, we were just in Dallas 3 days ago for Ray’s birthday but there’s always a reason and tonight is no different. One of our good friend, Nycole, is performing at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Now this is far from her first rodeo, it’s more like another Thursday for her but for us it’s a big deal which is why we’re driving all the way out to Dallas to see her perform. I mean first it’s at the new AT&T Performing Arts Center and I’ve heard that place is pretty impressive and second, well, she’s a good friend of ours and we haven’t seen one of her performances yet. Why? because we’re losers and we don’t want to be losers anymore.

Well I just about want to kick myself beside the head with my favorite pair of boots. Really, did I really leave my camera in the car? Imbecile. Well at least Ray has his iPhone and he did get a good shot of Nycole while she was doing her solo performance but lost it when he unlocked his iPhone recently. So now you guys can enjoy these lovely photos of us at, BuzzBrews, after the show.

The show was sensational. Nycole was breathtaking and looked like a Goddess up on stage.

I came across Tillman’s Roadhouse while searching for the perfect place to host Ray’s surprise birthday party this year and I’m quite certain it would have been the perfect place if they had open on Monday’s. Anyhow, Valentines Day happens to be the day before my baby’s birthday so I guess I’ll have to settle for that. I sealed the deal with dinner reservations @ 9:00.

When we arrived all I could think was, Man I totally wish they were open on Mondays. The next photo I got off their site. It’s of their banquet room and it’s where I wanted to have Ray’s birthday party. Ah well.

They started us off with popcorn, now that’s a first. I dig it.

The ambiance is so fresh and artsy and I’m loving it to pieces. It could also be that I’m just super excited to be here. I mean it’s V-Day and I’m here with the love of my life. What could be better.

This is the only kind of deer I ever want displayed on my wall. Pops, if your reading this, take notes, wooden deer head, not real taxidermy ones. Those are gross.

And the best part of our meal was, you got it, dessert. What better dessert than smores with a real fire. They had coffee, maple and vanilla flavored marshmallows. I was in ecstasy!

Tonight SocialFly Photobooth is off to Spring TX for a sweet 16 event. This was our first Sweet 16 and not just for SocialFly but for me as well. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Sweet 16, not even when I was 16.

Check out the table of props.

Just getting my scrapbook table ready for the festivities.

They went to town with all the scrapbook extras. It was ridiculous! And I mean that in a good way.

Before.

After. These teens were all dressed to impress tonight and they all had iPhones. Sheesh, I don’t even have an iPhone.

Just look at how cute the scrapbook turned out with all the little extra stickers and stuff that the mom bought. I think everyone should bring add scrapbook stickers. They just make the scrapbook look so much better.

It was a great night and I’m already ready for my next Sweet 16. Bring it!

Tonight SocialFly Photobooth is going to have the pleasure of being apart of one of our good friend, Robert Boman’s wedding.

This is SocialFly before the party.

The thing I love best about my job is being able to be apart of the best day of some one’s life. It never gets old and each one is unique in itself, which is why I love taking photos of each one and documenting them.

I think it’s safe to say that this was Robert’s cake. While this one below has to be Rita’s.

The table of props.

SocialFly crew.

At my scrapbook table.

The first dance.

And just like that the booth is crazy busy the rest of the night.

Guest getting down with the scrapbook. It’s really the best gift a bride and groom can get. Think about it, it’s made by the people they love the most, on the most important day of their lives, totally work free on their end and something that they’ll have forever. Genius, I tell ya, genius.

And everyone totally gets into it.

They definitely love taking photos in the booth with props too.

I have to say it was yet another successful night. Congrats Robert and Rita. Married on February 6, 2010. We couldn’t be more happy for you.

It’s Lauren’s  birthday tonight and her man Scott invited everyone out to Donn’s Depot, Lauren’s favorite bar to celebrate. But before Donn’s we joined  Amy, Chris and Eric for dinner.

Since the new year started it seems as though everyone has been so busy. I haven’t seen much of these guys so it was awesome to see everyone.

What a cute couple.

And have I mentioned that Amy is preggo.

All in all it was a good night. I think Donn’s Depot might be my favorite bar now too.

SocialFly Photobooth will be partaking in our very first bridal convention this year in San Marcos and we couldn’t be more excited. And to make things even better guess who happens to be in the booth right next to ours, none other than Thalia and Farahday Morgan, the girls from Memory Lane which is where Ray and I got married. How freaking cool is that?

Here’s my hubby getting the booth ready for action.

And once he did he the booth was running nonstop.

The unlimited array of cake samples is definitely a bonus.

There was also a fashion show going on and lots of prizes given. Some lucky gal even won $45,000 toward the wedding of her dreams. Yes, $45,000! Can you say, “SocialFly Photobooth!”

At first I was a little worried because upon arrival we noticed another photobooth company there but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because this allowed everyone to compare booths and lets face it, other booths just don’t compare. I don’t know how many brides came to us saying how much bigger and better our booth was. Oh we know, but it was still nice to hear. There were a lot of brides super interested in having us at their wedding. Yes, I would definitely say it was a successful event and I look forward to doing more events like this in the future.

For my birthday this year we played it low key. For lunch we had sushi at Maru in Austin.

So far it’s the best sushi I’ve had in Austin.

After lunch we lallygagged around, shopped at the mall and when dinner time came around we went to the Melting Pot.

Heard a lot of hype throughout the years about this place and after today I can say with 100% certainty that it’s overrated and over priced at that.

But at least now I know. If I ever come back here I’m definitely coming having dessert first.

Well happy fucking birthday to me. I promise next year I’ll have a more exciting story for you.

I can’t believe another year has come and gone. It seems as though it was just last year I was living in Hawaii. It’s so true, the older you get the faster time just passes you by. When I was little girl a year would seem like a decade to me. Well this year I must be getting older because I really just wanted to take it easy. To tell you the truth staying home didn’t seem so bad. It’s just that it is new year’s eve which means I don’t want to be the loser starting off the new year staying home while everyone is out. I mean what if I curse myself for 2010.

Our first stop was dinners at Dondra’s.

My baby looks so sexy tonight. After Dondra’s we made our way to Katie’s.

And After Katies we headed to Amanda’s.

Where we finished off her jello shots and played beer pong.

Ray’s getting good.

My pre-new years kiss.

Winners and Losers.

Ray shot it in our mouths.

And then I gave it to Dondra.

And then I gave it to Lauren.

And that’s basically how I started off 2010, getting it in my face and putting it in others. Happy New Year!

The holidays have arrived and now it seems as though every time I turn my head there’s a new event to go to and I’m absolutely loving it. No need to make excuses to be drink and be merry anymore.

Here’s a video of my friend Pepe singing in Spanish. I don’t know why but I thought it was hilarious. I think because at the time I thought he totally just winged it without knowing the words, which is something I could totally see him doing but turns out that it’s actually one of his favorite Spanish songs. Well regardless, kudos to him.

And this is his girlfriend, Michelle, singing Black Velvet. She’s got an amazing voice and together they make the cutest couple, well, almost the cutest couple. Ray and I are pretty fucking adorable. We’ve been known to make people throw up.

And this is my buddy Kippers. He’s a cool ass dude. He’s like a boy version of me, only with a smaller dick. Not that I’ve seen his dick, but I’m pretty sure if I were a dude I would have a kick stand for a dick.

Lauren and I got to talking the other day and comes to find out that she loves the Kardashians too. The season premiere is coming up so we decided to start it off right by getting everyone together and watching it over a few martinis.

Thing is, Lauren and I are the only die hard fans and I’m pretty sure no one else has even heard of them besides Ray since I make him watch it with me. They’re probably thinking we strategically put on this event as another reason to drink, which wouldn’t be completely false, but still we love the Kardashian’s

Dondra brought a friend. He was nice dude.

And guess what else, I finally got that damn ornament that Lauren bought me when we went to the Caswell House a while back. So cute.

Dondra brought some delicious bread that her mom made. Thanks Miss. Wilson again for being the fantastic baker that you are. Yeah, I’ll have to say it was another fabulous night. Oh, but I think we all could agree the worst part of our night was watching Jersey Shore. Serious? Lauren, stop watching that garbage.

Again we have waited till the last minute to get things done. Today Ray and I spent all day looking for an ugly sweater for Lauren’s event tonight. Having to purchase an ugly sweater and all I really didn’t want to spend all that much. My friend Cory spent way too much on one the other day and if that wasn’t enough he went and spent 8 hours sewing lights on the damn thing. No thanks. I don’t have that much time on my hands and even if I did I not using it up on something that’s meant to be ugly. Found our sweaters at a local thrift store for somewhere around $3 and if you ask me we overpaid but that’s the price we had to pay for waiting till the last minute to make things happen.

Well, there were definitely some ugly sweaters out tonight. Ray’s sweater ended up being too small so he cut it in half and it fit like a glove.

Matt rocked out on the karaoke machine to Michael Jackson’s, Beat It.

And Cory rocked out as well.

This is my friend Cory that spent hours sewing lights onto his sweater. You can’t tell but he did a fucking fantastic job. I couldn’t  believe the attention to detail.

Of course there was beer pong. Even after college it doesn’t get old.

Lauren and Scot took off their ugly sweaters so Scot just looked like a dude with a turtle neck on.

It was a fantastic evening. When I returned home I hung up my ugly sweater because I know there will be another on of these next year and I’ll be damn if I have to pay for something that ugly again.

Guess what, I’m going on my first ever Santa Crawl. How fun. Ray and I went out in search for Santa suits but when word of a Santa Crawl got around there was no suits to be found. I guess that’s what we get for waiting till the last minute. In despair I called Lauren and she came to our rescue and went out and purchased a couple suits for us, one size fits all my ass. We all met up at Laurens and from there we headed out to our first bar to meet up with the rest of the Santas.

We were seriously like one of the first to get there but soon more and more Santas trickled in and before long there were a shit ton of Santas drinking and being merry, the way Santas should be. I even found a couple of Santas with their dick in a box.

Seriously, look at all the Santas, it was so crowded and I was getting antsy. I wanted to get the party started and parade down to the next bar but who ever put this event on obviously wasn’t an event planner. We spent half the night at the first bar and none of the bars were informed of our Santa Crawl. So rude. Talk about a surefire way to get pissed off bartenders. So finally we were tired of still being at the first place so we decided to head out ourselves and sure enough more Santas slowly followed our lead.

Now get this the second bar we went to shooed us away. Missed out on a lot of money. Good thing too because it was a super small, swanky restaurant type bar. 150 Santas would have been so out of place and all of us just wouldn’t have fit. Again, bad planning. So we hiked our happy asses to the 3rd bar. When we walked in the one and only bartender goes, “I think I’m about to get my ass handed to me.” Why yes you are.

And slowly but surely the Santas stumbled in.

So finally we all left the 3rd place and headed to the 4th bar, which also happen to be a really nice, restaurant/bar, too small to fit 150 Santas. Seriously, who planned this event? It wasn’t long before we quit that place and decided to take a detour next door for a quick bite to eat. Apparently we we’re the only ones who had this bright idea because a few Santas had already beat us there and then soon more and more Santas deserted the last place for this place and before we knew it the place was packed with Santas.

And looks who decides to show up, Matthew Mellinger.

The group.

And soon all the Santas telepathically knew to just meet up at the first bar. That was really the best bar for all of us to be at.

And there Eric met an icky girl.

And that was enough for all of us to call it a night.

I feel like I work so much these days that I really try to make the most of my days off. Today Ray and I drove into Austin and took a walk through a park we’ve never been before. I thought about going to Lady Bird Lake but we’ve been there so many times that I’m starting to feel guilty for not taking advantage of all that Austin has to offer me.

This park was so pretty. I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. We followed the trail till we reached the end then we realize that we have in fact been here before. This was the park that Ray and I first played kick ball at with some friends Ray had met through one of the geeky conventions. Wonder what happened to those nerds. Well Ray had to use the restroom and I decided to make use of my time by taking photos of random things. This is a photo of the facet in the ladies room.

I didn’t put this photo in black and white, it was just a black and white day. Ugly day but good for photos.

Check out this house we found while cruising back home. Another house to be jealous over.

It’s that time of year again where it’s become traditionally okay to shovel ungodly amounts of food into our faces all day long. I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the ridiculous amounts of food but the holidays for me really are more about family than it is about food, foot ball, movies and amazing sales the next day. This year is Ray’s year, meaning that his family gets us for Thanksgiving, lucky them. Our first stop, Uncle David and Aunt Barbara’s. Dad came prepared and wore his loose pants and everything.

Aunt Barbara made boat loads of food and they had already dug in earlier so we helped our selves to a plate. Aunt Barbara and Uncle David stayed in the living room while we sat in the dining room and ate. While consuming my first Thanksgiving meal of the day I couldn’t help but to feel like somewhat of a freeloader. I mean, it’s Thanksgiving day and I hardly see these people and here  we are coming over to eat their food that they slaved countless hours over in their dining room while they watched television in the next room. This is the part of Thanksgiving that always makes me feel so weird and I hate that it’s become the norm, to just go from family to family just to stuff our faces with food. Whatever happened to everyone sitting around the dining room, watching the turkey get it’s first slice and just enjoying every ones company. Ray and I always talk about the younger days, before we were pubescent teens and we were innocent carefree kids, the holidays were so much nicer then. We have such fond memories of everyone getting together under one roof and even though Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t spent under a candle lit dinning table it was spent with everyone. We miss those holidays and the older we get the more we’ve come to realize that if we want traditions like these to live on we need to start them back up again starting with a family of our own.

The next stop was Aunt Dora’s and Uncle Todds. Luckily Uncle Paul was already there with Aunt Minga and their kids so it saved us a stop. Now this is the part of Thanksgiving I could really do without but everyone seems to love, football so I just roll with it. We sat around for the next couple of hours watching football while stuffing our faces. The girls multitask and went through the sales catalogs while watching football. I had no choice but to join them, and holy crap are there some tempting sales going on tomorrow. Now I know why people wake up so early but still I’ve convinced myself that it’s just not worth all the fuss.

Later that night we made a stop over to Berna and Sams house. Berna really out did herself this year. Her green bean casserole was the best I had yet. Ray and Ben are gay iPhone slutts

Sam’s brother was there and he brought his kids.

And after all that we met up with Steven Ray and his lovely wife Nycole for some drinks. I love that Steven always looks so studious every time we see him.

While telling Nycole of all the ridiculous sales I ended up convincing myself that perhaps I should check out some of these sales for myself. So the next morning Ray and I headed to the mall, not as early as some of these other guys but we were there.

The next day we met up with Steven and Nycole again.

What a fun couple.

We got the call in the morning, Grandpa past away in his sleep last night. I’ve never known neither of my grandpas so Ray’s grandpa was the closest one I had to the real thing. I want to say it was unexpected but only because we expected grandma to go before him. I mean, not too long before they finally decided to put her in an old folks home because her condition had been so taxing on everyone. It was a hard decision but it had to be done. Grandpa past away not too long after she left the house and poor grandma is much too sick to understand so no one told her.

We started the morning off with breakfast with uncle Ray and later paid grandma a visit at the assisted living home she’s staying at. Since she’s been living here she’s shown lots of improvement. She’s a lot less hostel which is awesome because hostel grandmas are no fun.

Think she might have even remembered Ray Daniel, even if it was only for a brief second.

After grandmas visit everyone gathered back at aunt Dora’s.

The next day we met up with our good buddy Steven Ray and his girl Nycole. It’s always so nice to see them.

Check out the sweet tux Nemo got for the funeral.

The day before the funeral Uncle Ray had to be rushed to the hospital.

November 21, 2009 we buried grandpa. It was a really nice funeral. Poor Uncle Ray was still in the emergency room.

After the funeral we all gathered back at Aunt Dora’s. It’s not often we see everyone under the same roof so it was really nice. I think that’s the best part about funerals. Grandpa and grandma would be proud.

I don’t know how we all managed to fit but we did.

Ray and I had to head back home later that night but before we did we wanted to meet up with some of the cousins for a few drinks. Only Nick and Brandi could make it.

Tonight SocialFly will be working a wedding in Dallas. The more I’m in Dallas the more I grow to love her. A large part of me regrets picking Austin over Dallas. Sorry Austin. So like I said, it’s nice to be in Dallas tonight. It was a bit of a challenge trying to figure out exactly how to place the booth in the spot that they allocated for us, but we made it work and it looked fabulous.

Here’s a close up of my scrapbook table.

And this is our prop table. So much to choose from.

And you know during down time I had to go check out the cake. So pretty!

Check out the scrapbook page I made for the bride and groom. So cute.

It was yet another successful event.

Tonight we’re rocking at Hyatt Lost Pines for Directions, a Microsoft convention. This is our first event at Hyatt Lost Pines so we’re all super stoked. The place is gorgeous and really elegant. No wonder why Directions decided to host their convention out here.

They even had a live band rocking out on stage.

This is our set up, right smack between the food and the dinning tables. Can’t miss us.

As precautionary we like to test out our props before all the actions happens.

I like working with my hubby.

And just like that the line is out of control and remains that way for the rest of the night.

Absolutely loved working this event. The best part was the food. Man, they don’t mess around when it comes to dinning. They have their own caterers here and they were fantastic. The boys loved the BBQ and I loved all the vegan dishes. My favorite was the table full of vegan desserts. Loved it!

Pendley Party Productions is hosting the monthly community party and invited us to be a part of it. We couldn’t be more excited to be here tonight and get to know some of Waco’s business members.

We had a sweet spot inside.

They even had a flambe area. It was so good.

And a bunch of hot chicks working the place.

Lots of free drinks. God bless open bars.

The girls loved our booth.

SocialFly is working the Central Market, Deck the Halls with Delicious Event tonight. The event will be taking place upstairs and not in the exact grocery store. I’m excited because Central Market is centered around food which means there will be lots and lots of samples of scrumptious, decadent treats and an open bar too. Yay!

My girls finally arrived  which is good because now I can leave the boys to work while I roam around and explore.

As always the booth is jam packed.

But we still manage to make it in for a couple rounds of photos.

It was a good night.

Thanks Central Market for having us.

Tonight SocialFly is working the Suncity Community Costume Event. Suncity Community predominately a community for older adults and this was probably one of the funnest events we worked yet.

It brought me so much joy to see all these older folks so full of vigor and zest, dressing up in some of the cutest costumes and dancing it up. You could tell they’ve been waiting and ready for this night. And we we’re so excited to make it that much better for them.

And seriously these people put us youngster to shame when it comes to partying and dancing. As soon as Johnny Dee and the Rockets hopped on stage and played the first song the dance floor went from empty to jammed packed. Man these guys are ready to party and they want to dance, dance , dance.

Now this is a bad photo but just look at the line for the photobooth. Seriously, the line was long and it was long all night long.

And Johnny Dee and the Rockets were bad ass. These guys played songs from the 50′s & 60′s all night and they we’re on key and really good. I was pleasantly shocked.

Thanks Suncity for having us be apart of this awesome night. We had a blast.

After the Haunted Mansion of Terror we met Lauren downtown at a Chinese restaurant, called Chinatown. Chinatown is starting this new thing where they’re doing karaoke every Thursday. Lauren happens to be good friends with the owner because she was the event planner for their grand opening so she wanted all of us come out to show our support.

Lauren’s crazy and ballsy. I don’t get embarrassed too often but for some reason when it comes to karaoke I just can’t bring myself to do it. Ray’s the same way but somehow Lauren managed to drag his ass out on the floor and they busted out Sir Mixalot, “I Like Big Butts.”

And then after that she ditched Ray and went solo with Bon Jovi, “Living On A Prayer.”

Oh and Chinatown was packed with cougars so we now called the place Cougartown. There’s definitely lots hungry cougars out tonight looking for some fresh meat. We left cougartown we met Matt, a friend of Laurens, at The Cats Meow, a small bar downtown for a couple of drinks.

Tonight my husband is playing kickball and I’m a little jealous. It’s a co-ed league and they don’t need anymore female players but dudes are welcomed. Ah well, and as usual, my sex kitten kicked ass.

Oh, and Lauren I would like to thank you again for putting my baby in a sexy, undersized yellow T-shirt.

Barton Spring Mall is having a fashion show and they hired us to glitz up their event and bring in the crowd. I’m not sure if anyone even knew there was a fashion show going on once we opened up shop. By now we’re use to being the main attraction at every event. There was even free food, alcohol, massages and free giveaways. I won free queso for life at Abuelos. Sweet deal and I don’t even like queso! Soon after that I left the boys to do some shopping, I mean since we’re at the mall and all.

So today was another one of those driving around town because we’re bored days. Every time we drive through Austin it seems as though we find a new place to add to our mental list of places we need to check out one day. Sandy’s was among that list and, well what better day than today to check it off? Ray is a hamburger whore. I know sounds kinda gross and that because it is. Is it weird that never in my whole entire existence have I ever craved a burger and I end up marrying the whore of all burgers. And me, I’m known throughout the land as a sugar whore. All sugary goodness shall serve it’s purpose and be consumed in my kingdom and ice cream is a top priority on that list. So whenever there’s the word, “hamburger” in the title of a business, or “sandwich” for that matter Ray jots it down on that list and every time I see a cute little bakery or creamery it gets jot down on my list. Sandy’s Hamburger’s was actually among both our list because not only does it clearly state the word, “hamburger” in it’s name but it also has this huge soft serve figurine in the front to lure in innocent civilians such as myself.

As you can see today for lunch I had me a chocolate dipped vanilla soft serve and it was, um . . .  messy. Seconds after the lady behind the counter handed it to me it magically turned into a hot mess. Yes, the soft serve was a tasty treat but if your gonna have a giant soft serve statue figurine out front I’m gonna expect something to knock me off my feet and this unfortunately this did not do that for me. Also, the service sucks balls. The lady that took my order had just about as much emotion as a dead fish and spoke just about as much English. Ray ordered a burger, fries and drink, all ala carte and after we ordered did we realize that there was a big sign to our left that had everything he’d just ordered as a meal deal on special for something like $3.95. So instead of looking out by informing us of the meal deal the bitch at the counter would rather stick it to us. Yep, that’s a surefire way to ensure we patron this place again. Ah, who am I kidding, we’ll probably be back, bad service and all, we’re a bunch of suckers. Anyhow, fries were delightful but sparse and the burger patty was kinda skinny. When I use to eat burgers I would prefer my burger patty, thin so I probably would have enjoyed it. Ray says it was mediocre burger. Not a lot of great qualities but not a lot of bad ones too. I do want to add though that everything was hot and fresh, just the way every meal should come out, unless it’s ice cream of course.

Tonight we cashed in Ray’s free burger from TGIF. TGIF was doing this thing where if you request some guy as a friend on FaceBook and if he gets more than a million friends, then all the friends would get a free burger. Well they had Ray at burger. Yes, my husband  will be your friend if you give him a free burger.

Tonight Ray and I are going to a Pink Party. I think all proceeds go towards breast cancer survivors. I’m not sure but it’s for a good cause. They had pretty pink drinks that were delicious. Our friend Scott, whom I met that night, gave us his raffle tickets because he had to go and we ended up winning. Sweet. It was a good night.

We are once again on our way up to Dallas. Dallas just can’t let go. Ray’s high school reunion is here and it’s at a bar. This should be interesting. First we need to fill our empty bellies at Outback Steak House, dad’s pick of course.

Ray and I had a blast at his reunion. I was so surprised at how much fun I actually had.

The next morning we went out for breakfast with the TalPlacidos at The Original Pancake House.

I think Guav loves his little dude.

Later that day Lyric lost a tooth. Wonder how much he’ll get from the tooth fairy, probably not very much. We are in a recession. She’s probably not doing too hot herself.

On the way home our car hit the 100,000. Yay! Of course we had to stop to celebrate.

Boy do we have our hands full this week in Dallas. Infocus Dentistry booked us for the Uptown Dallas Festival, the Dallas Fair is in full effect, Ben’s kids are having their birthday party and he wants me to be in charge of the games, and as an added bonus Bea and even Mable are in town. Wow! First we celebrate the twin’s birthday by going out to eat with the family.

The next day we hit the Texas fair. Now I’ve never been to the Dallas fair before but I’ve been under the impression that it could well possibly be the grandest fair of them all. I mean, have you heard of all the fried crap they come up with. Now I’m not the biggest fan of fried shit, but when you have things like fried snickers, twinkies, and even fried coke, you definitely have my attention.

Gotta take a photo with the iconic Big Tex. Now is it me or does he look like he’d just had a breast enhancement procedure? He’s all square and boxy up there like they were freshly done yesterday. Hey, to each his own Big Tex, to each his own.

Me and my fried snickers.

This year the big hype was fried peaches and cream. That sounds pretty safe and boring compared to some of their past concoctions.  And the verdict . . . well fried, nice crispness yet a bit greasy, cream was too runny and bland, serving size was too small and like everything else, way overpriced. Hello people, we’re in a recession here!

Unfortunately we didn’t ride any rides this year. I’ve never been a huge fan of fair rides, just not my thing ya know.

And we ended it with a BMX show.

I don’t want to say I was disappointed but I’m not gonna be rushing to next years fair.

Oh yeah, and everyone had a photobooth this year, but they were all ghetto rigged.

Oh and I also forgot to mention, Bea brought Brixton. He’s so effing cute and I can’t stop plotting new ways to kidnap him.

The next day was the Dallas Uptown festival. Infocus Dentistry had hired us to lure innocent pedestrians to their booth and you know what, it worked like a charm. Seriously, who comes to a festival to see a dentist? But you throw in a photobooth and everyone is instantly interested. Ingenious!

Now while that was going on I headed off to Cloe and Lyric’s birthday party because I was told last minute that I was to be in charge of the games. Alright Ben next time some notice would be nice, you know so I could do some planning, get some props, but hey I’m amazing and I’ll make due and make it happen because I love you brother.

We had a sack race where the girls totally opened a can of whoop ass on the boys.

We also did a few games of tug-a-war.

Where the girls reign total domination.

Oh and then Cloe decided to rub some salt on Lyrics wound by kicking his ass in front of his friends. Bad Cloe!

There wasn’t enough props to play all the games I had in mind but it was quite all right because all the adults had had enough. We handed out prizes, kids got their face painted and now it’s time for cake.

Cake, sometimes it’s better than love.

And of course I got my face painted too, old school like Jem and the Holograms.

After the birthday I headed back to the festival and guess what, Dallas Morning News came by and took a photo of me which later that week ended up online.

Awesome! Here’s a link if you want to check it out. It’s on page 10.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2009/09/nq_1001_uptownfest/

Went to the Hula Hut for lunch today. Ray enjoyed their shrimp enchiladas. I don’t remember what I ordered but I know it wasn’t dessert because I would of remembered that. Guess I should of ordered dessert.

Today we have an event in Galveston, TX located about 4 hours away from Austin. Yeah, I know that seems a bit far but we’re a couple of rookies when it comes to road trips.

Since it was a themed event we only used props that we’re appropriate for the event.

This is my scrapbook corner.

Their wedding was a 1950′s themed event hosted in an old Victorian style home. Everyone was dressed like they were straight out of an old classic movie. How fun. We were told that all the pictures were to be taken in black and white. Awesome, that’s my favorite photo setting.

Chris is working the booth.

This is usually how the booth looks during the ceremony, empty.  Since Galveston is located along the coast and we we’re located outside the mosquitoes had a field day with us. Never before had I felt more like a human buffet. Luckily someone let us borrow some bug repellent.

Me.

They had the most delicious popcorn out on display for all to snack on. Blueberry cheesecake, that was my fave.

The beautiful bride and her bridesmaids.

Some photos from the event.

Meagan and Adam, married 9-20-09

So things have been pretty hectic since I’ve been back from Mexico. I don’t think I mentioned it yet but Ray and I once again have jumped, head first, into a new business venture, called SocialFly, a photobooth rental company. It really is so random how it happened but it’s been surprisingly really successful. I do believe everything happens for a reason and I know something great will come of this. I’m not saying this was meant to be, but I’m not saying that it wasn’t either. It’s crazy but we’re just rolling with it. Why fight the current?

The photobooth is 100% ours and when I say ours I mean, as in we’re not part of a franchise or have to pay anyone monthly fees to use it. As a matter fact it was our good friend, Kris that sparked the idea one day and Ray and his entrepreneurial mindset that brought it to life. The next thing you know we have a real working photobooth that looks better and works better than any other photobooth I’ve seen. Throw in some props and a scrapbook and we’ve got ourselves a lucrative business.

Basically it goes like this, you and most likely your friends will put on whatever props you’d like, hop in the booth where you guys will choose the lay out of your choice, 3, 4, or 6 photo layout and then choose to have your photo taken in black and white, sepia, or color. It takes only 12 seconds for your photo to print out, that’s 12 seconds, most booths take about a minute to print. You then can either keep the photo or put it in the scrapbook for the guest of honor, and in most cases, the bride and groom. It’s like a modern twist on the traditional guestbook but instead of a boring name you have a photo and a special greeting from your guests. By the end of the night you have a finished scrapbook that was totally work-free made by those you love the most on the best day of your life, such a cool idea! There’s no limit on how many photos you can take and we also host all the photos online on our website, SocialFly.com. We also send the guest of honor a DVD of all the photos that were taken in the booth.

I’m what we call a “scrapbook professional.” In essence I help clueless guest with the scrapbook. It’s really not hard, you just cut, glue and paste. Hell you don’t even have to cut, just glue and paste but for some reason people get all flustered and need direction when it comes to this sort of stuff so I am there to guide them through it.

That’s Ray and our good friend and business partner, Kris during down town. Down time is usually when the bride and groom are actually getting married because that’s the only time the booth is empty. Seriously, we’re always the main attraction, with a ridiculously long line from people just waiting to get in the booth.

And the best part of my job, unlimited amounts of decadent cake. Man I love this job!

Dan Frommer and his new wife. Married on September 19, 2009. Congrats guys it was a beautiful wedding. Thanks for letting us be part of your special day!

My friend Tiffany is officially a baccalaureate and I couldn’t be more proud of her. At first I was a bit worried that she wasn’t going to make it to her own graduation on time. Luckily her last name is Wilborn which meant she was the 3rd to the last in line and that bought her time. Lucky girl.

Parents, in-laws, sisters, children and anyone whose anyone came out to congradulate her.

Okay now my turn.

After pictures we went to The Salt Grass Steak House.

They have a nice view.

What in tar-nations is going on here?

After dinner we went back to their place where I made strawberry margaritas for everyone, Hawaiian style.

Congratulations Tiff!  Now go get busy on that Masters.

So are we still considered newly weds after a year? Every time I tell someone I miss my husband or I say something sweet people always say, “oh, you guys are cute, oh but wait your still newly weds.” Well I think it’s sad that people stop being in love after years of being together. I certainly hope that after years of being married our love only grows stronger. So far it certainly seems that way. It’s been a year since our wedding day, a year, can you believe it? Even though we’re practically joint at the hip now I still love being with him. He’s my best friend and we’re totally going to grow old together. I love you honey, happy anniversary.

My baby hit another home run today. I’m pretty sure this is his 3rd home run of the season and he didn’t even get to play a full season. All the boys came out to high five him and spank that sexy ass of his. Never really understood the spanking thing, but I like it.

It’s Scot’s birthday and his lovely wife, Shawna, is throwing him a super hero party. How fun is that? I finally get a chance to wear my ninja mask. Yesss! And it just so happens that Ray has a Mexican wrestler mask lying around. How cool are we?

Cosmo as came as Super Hyperwear and Suzi dressed as Butterfly fairy princess.

Tim as Disco Dude and his wife, Tonya, as Disco Dudette.

Jessy came as Donatello from Ninja Turtles.

The Incredible Hulk.

My hubby and Indiana Jones.

Awe shucks.

Sup.

Taking a break from fighting crime.

I challenge you Superman . . .

Ninja vs Ninja

Vengeance is mine.

Apparently Tim blames his reckless chair dancing on me and like 8  jello shots.

Scott and Shawna are just too cute.

But I guess we’re pretty darn cute too.

What a night. With all the jello shots I took I’m surprised I didn’t get wasted. I can’t wait till the next costume party. Maybe well have to have it at our place next?

Dad is visiting so now’s our chance to take him all over Austin. First stop, the iconic Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue located on Lady Bird Lake. After that we drive him around hill country for a bit.

We made a stop at the state capitol.

The next day Ray had a game and we were sure dad would stay long enough to at least watch his son play ball but he had to drive back home to water his grass. Yep, you read that correctly.

It’s game time and that means my honey has a 50/50 chance of getting an injuring. Well not really but he is super accident prone and tonight we weren’t so lucky. In the last inning my baby got knocked in that hard head of his with the baseball. After the game I had to rush him to the hospital. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about the outstanding hospital fees that would follow and plop itself atop the already outstanding hospital bill I have from my pneumonia scare late last year. Being hospitalized for 5 days is not cheap. But what’s money if I don’t have my bunny to share it with, right? So off to the hospital we go.

Seriously, I don’t appreciate you looking up that sexy night gown of his. Stop that, my baby’s in distress and he doesn’t need you  poking fun at him and he certainly doesn’t need anyone taking photos of him and posting them all over the internet.

After a $5500 dollar cat scan Ray is diagnose with a minor concussion and we go home. But wait, before we do, I have them pull up my file and see where we’re at with financial aid. The lady behind the counter kindly pulls up my case and replies with, “it’s been paid off by charity.” Two words, “FUCK YEAH!” I have her print me a copy of that, initial it and even though my honey is in distress I can’t help leaving the hospital prancing all about with a huge, I mean HUGE smile on my face. Good-bye $30,000.00 of hospital debt and thank you charity. I was wondering where all that extra karma I had stored away went.

What haven’t you ever wore a life jacket diaper before? It’s super durable and sexy as hell. Today we spent the day soaking up the sun at the lake. We were going to bring our boat but the boys couldn’t get the hitch on Blake’s car. Luckily Brian’s boat is big enough for all of us. My friend Tiffany and her man has a slip on the lake where they store their boat. Super convenient and now we totally want a slip too so we don’t have to deal with things like having a hitch and backing that ass down the dock. Another glitch that we came upon was the belt on the boat broke causing the boat to come to a stand still which then caused me to pull out my GIRL CARD and the boys were forced to swim the boat to the dock. I can tell you now that Ray wasn’t very happy with me taking pictures of him pushing the boat. All I can say is, “that’s what you get for marring an Asian honey.”

Hey no worries, problem was soon fixed and the rest of the day was nothing but good times.

I think the best part of the day was shoot’n  the shit while floating on life jacket diapers, drinking beer and trying to knock each other beside the head with a wet hacky sack. Yep, that was definitely the best part of my day. But if you ask Blake, the best part of his day was probably eating ass while attempting to wake board, which he did so well, over and over and over again.

In his defense, he progressively got better.  I’m pretty sure he stayed up for at least 15 seconds in the end.

The rest of the day was smooth sailing.

Even for Blakey Blake.

When dawn came upon us we took our over baked bodies and empty bellies to Iguanas for some good ol Mexican. Wish more days could be this good.

The great thing about having so many friends is that eventually one of their birthdays will come along which gives us yet another reason to have a party. The time has come for Tim to get older and lucky him, because this year his beautiful wife threw him a wonderful party.

As always Bill rocked the house.

Wouldn’t be a party without the sexy ladies.

Chilling with my honey.

So glad that Tiffany and Brian made it.

Smile guys.

It was a great party. Happy birthday Tim!

Happy Birthday Tim from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Just for the record I don’t take pictures at every game, just most of them.

It’s another Friendsday Wednesday! This time we decided to meet up at North by North West because our friend Andrea was singing there. None of us had seen her band yet so we were all pretty excited to see what she’s got and to show our support

Man does she have a voice.

I swear the table wasn’t divided by ladies and dudes, at least not the whole time.

My honey and I.

It was a great night. Andrea and her  band rocked. Service sucked balls but not a big deal when your in the company of good friends. Thanks everyone for coming out.

Our buddy Marco’s is down visiting and with him he brought his family. Ray’s family was also down because his cousin was playing ball here so we gathered everyone up and brought our support out to see him.

That’s his cousin up to bat.

We mingled with them a bit after the game and then parted ways.

The next day Ray had a game too. Marcos was ready to play if they needed an extra player but apparently they were good.

Boy was it a hot day.

The boys had to find ways to make the time go by faster.

I almost felt bad for being the only one with a chair and covering but hey I offered and everyone was too polite to take it out from underneath me.

Well it was a short trip and shortly after the game Marcos and his family bid us farewell. Thanks for coming out guys and even more thanks for coming out to see Ray play. I know it meant a lot to him.

It’s Father’s Day which means we need to spend some quality time with Pops. We took dad out to lunch at Pappadeaux and then went back to grandpa’s and hung out with him for a while.

Time’s like this really makes me miss my dad. He’s in China right now probably sleeping under a bridge.

I love you dad and miss you very much. Hope your happy and safe.

Wicked Insect from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Here are some photos from a couple of Ray’s games. Not sure which ones really or who they were playing but I do know that my baby hit a home run on his second game and then another one his third game.

Yes I’m that crazy wife that’s out there constantly snapping photos of her hubby.

Grabbed some breakfast with my hubby today at the Omelettry.

And then he took me out for ice cream afterwords at Freddy’s Frozen Custard. Never been there before, but they had me at frozen custard.

It’s Adrian’s birthday and he is a big 5 years old this year.

Happy Birthday Adrian! from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Birthday Wishes from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

I think we’re almost ready for some babies of our own.

Adrian Eating His Birthday Cake from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

There was a lightning storm going on. Pretty crazy and scary at the same time so after cake and presents we all gather around outside for a better view.

Happy Birthday Adrian.

Hey we got a new dining table. Had to call Chris to the rescue to assist us in retrieving it because he’s the one with the big SUV.

And look at that, there’s a chip in it. Awesome. I don’t think I could live with this. We’re gonna have to return this one. Sorry Chris.

Sonic is giving away free root beer floats today! And if you know me then you know they had me at FREE!

We finally got a chance to take our boat out. It’s about time. We looked like a bunch of morons backing the boat down the dock since none of us had much experience at it but once we got the boat in the water it was smooth sailing from there.

Unfortunately we had to cut it short because I had prior plans to meet my girl frineds at the Oasis. The lake was a last minute trip and I’d be damned if I let Ray go out without me, for the first time anyway.

Looks like we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Bea’s is flying in for her baby shower. My best bud, Jack, is flying in from Florida and Ray and I couldn’t be more excited to see everyone. We make plans to meet everyone at Snuffer’s when we arrive in Dallas. After dinner we drag poor preggo Bea to Loft 1610 where VIP table side service awaits us.

I got really drunk and got scolded for getting my own drinks by both the wait staff and the bouncer. I don’t really remember the situation but I’m sure it was funny.

Loft 1610 in Dallas from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

The next day was Bea’s baby shower. I was in charge of the games because I’m totally awesome.

The boys sucking apple juice out of a bottle. Come on guys, it’s just like sucking on a nipple.

Kuya Ben mentally preparing himself for the pudding shit he’s about to consume out of a diaper.

And the winner is awarded . . . a lovely photo of preggo Bea!

The boys listening carefully to my instructions.

Kimmy’s little boy, Max.

Bernh’s little baby.

Little Cloe wrapping a toilet paper diaper. This doesn’t look good. Please don’t photo shop this anyone.

Lyric gets one too. Man, Jackie’s good at this.

I get one, but McKayla wasn’t very gently and the paper kept ripping.

Team Cooper.

Kuya Vince, I have no words for you right now.

Winner!

Next is time for Bea to get some practice feeding the baby, blind folded. If you ever wanted to get Bernh back for anything Bea Bot here’s your chance.

So close.

Good job! Your mother instincts really kicked in there. Way to go!

Bea and Mama. I love them both very much.

Next was musical diaper shit. This game sucked.

After baby shower extravaganzia Jackie and I went on a trip down memory lane to see her old house.

But it was gone. The house was apparently knocked down awhile back. Sorry Jack, you can cry in the car lets move on shall we. It’s dinner time.

Oh God, am I drunk already. Sheeesh!

After dinner we all wandered to some club.

I always have so much fun when I’m around Jack.

All I remember is being in a totally crowded elevator and getting everyone involved in a high five session.

It’s morning and I’m still not home. What a night.

Our friend Steven Ray is an awesome photographer and since I’m an aspiring photographer I thought I’d asked him to teach me a thing or two. So the next time we went to Dallas we stopped by his place on the way home for my first photography class.

Ray was our sexy model.

Him and this beautiful chocolate lab.

Ray’s upset the lab made a better model.

Can never  leave home without the iPhone.

My hubby’s hot.

Nycole and I.

She’s a dancer and  suggested a few sexy poses for us, but I don’t think we executed it correctly.

What can I say, we’re cute.

And violent.

I could use more classes like this. Thanks Steven Ray and Nycole. You guys are too cool for school.

Ray and I were invited to join Jacey’s birthday festivities. She had a small get together at a small wine bar in down town Austin.

John Mendoza showed up too.

Hey, hey, no holding hands at the table. Oh what the hell, it’s your birthday, carry on.

After barrels of wine we headed next door for Mexican.

And Ray’s food.

I can’t get over how adorable Jacey is. Happy Birthday Jacey. Thanks for inviting us to celebrate with you.

Bea’s flying in which means we have no choice but to drive up to Dallas to go run her belly. Oh, don’t know if I mentioned it yet, but Bea’s prenant. Yay! I’ve never seen a pregnant woman so effing adorable.

Kuya benn looks good in a hat and I don’t care what anyone has to say I rock in my clip-ons.

I snapped a photo just as Ray threw a ball on Ben as he was sleeping. Oh how we love to torment him. Poor Ben.

Before we head home Ray finally gets to work on his car with his dad.

Amet’s coming down for a party and since we were somewhat in the area we decided to meet him there. We got lost along the way and unfortunately by the time we got there everyone had already eaten so most of the food was put away. Oh well, at least the drinks were still out and by the way, Yes that was Amet’s drink the whole night, no cup necessary.

300 Austin

I’m a fan of bowling because it’s the only sport where you can eat and play at the same time. How awesome is that?

300 Austin

Blake came along too.

300 Austin

As you can see I need lots of practice.

300 Austin

It was a fun night.

300 Austin

On Easter Ray and I, I kid you not, actually went to church.

It’s Bill’s birthday and this year his girlfriend decided to throw him a surprise Gangsta 80′s themed birthday.

Themed parties, count me in. I finally have a reason to buy those high top converse I’ve had my eyes on.

Our new BFF’s Lauren and Blake.

Bill arrives, check out the video.

Bill’s Surprise Birthday Party from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

The line up.

Gangstas Boys.

All the gangsta ladies.

Don’t judge her.

Those must be some good wings.

Come on, just give him a kiss already.

What happens in the ladies room stays in the ladies room.

My new BFF’s.

Good times.

The pizza guy arrived the and all the ladies swooned to him.

Bill it’s time to take it off.

And get wet. I love this photo.

No birthday would be complete without cake.

Bill’s Birthday Cake Blow Out from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

I totally look like Eircle here with my shorts so high up and camera around my neck.

I wouldn’t mess with them.

Gangsta love.

Toward the end of the night we gathered everyone around to played games. Someone tell that annoying little Asian to sit her ass down.

What a great party.

Today was our first day hanging out with our new friend Blake outside of Catz. We grilled up some food on the BBQ and soaked up the sun by the pool side. It was a fun filled day.

Untitled from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Later that night Blake took us to the Hula Hut.

It was right on the lake and everything.

After dinner Blake took us to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar.

Where he danced his heart out on stage.

Blake Getting Down at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

I actually got up on stage too but luckily no one recorded that.

Ray came down with the worst case of sun burn he ever had, so bad that he wouldn’t let me post the photos of him up on here but after poking fun and taking a bunch of photos of him I came across this in a magazine I was reading and then felt bad.

Astronaut Ice Cream

Normally you couldn’t get me to pay 1.99 for one ice cream sandwich, but this isn’t any ordinary ice cream sandwich, this is astronaut ice cream, the stuff they eat in space . . . NOT.  Actually my friend Marco’s works for NASA and he said this stuff never made it to the moon. Well it might not have made it to the moon but rest assure it will make it to the cavernous abyss of my mouth, where it will get swallowed up never to be seen again. I promise you that.

Astronaut Ice Cream

I couldn’t wait to get home and sample this foreign object. I examined it first. It was hard, not hard like I could use it as brass knuckles and beat you with it because it was super light, like hard styrofoam.  It’s not something I would crave on a hot summer’s day but if it were lying around the house and I happen to be walking by I would definitely pick it up as a quick snack out of mere boredom. You know, this would be the perfect dessert food to bring along while camping.

Here’s Ray’s analysis of it.

Astronaut Ice Cream from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

There you have it, Astronaut ice cream. Go out and try it for yourself.

Dallas here we come again. I don’t remember exactly why we drove up this time but it was a busy trip. First we met Steven at Ten on Main Street. Frank a.k.a D.J. Love was D.J.ing that night and I finally got to see him in action. Check it out.

Frank a.k.a D.J. Love @ Ten on Main from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

The next day we met everyone at La Cubanita.

Me and pops.

My order and it was so good.

Mable was in town, yay! Wow, they totally already look like a family.

After brunch we headed to Dallas Black Dance Theatre where Nycole teaches dance.

We got the V.I.P tour of the place and even got the see her students perform an African dance for us. Check it.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Then a bunch of us went to the mall with where we met Bernh and her family for movie time fun.

For dinner we went to Benihana or was it Kobe steak house?

The next day we ate at some well known burger joint.

But the best part of our trip was going to Sprinkles. Can you believe I never heard about this place until today?

It was amazing.

And later we went out for Vietnamese, another one of my favorites.

The next morning we took pops out to Cafe Brazil.

Ray’s food.

My food. What can I say, I like salads.

Culver's

I’m not really what you call a burger and fries kind of gal but I do enjoy more than my fair share of desserts. It was our first time here and we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all just mediocre food and that’s me being nice. In my opinion there’s just too much good stuff going on in Austin to have mediocre food in my belly.

Culvers from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Culver's

Game Night @ the Semmlers

It’s game night @ the Semmlers again. It’s not often that we get to hang out with our good friends Chris and Tiffany so when they invited  us over for game night and even offered to make us dinner we were so there. Really, you guys had me at dinner.

Snapped a photo of Noah before his bedtime.

Dinner @ the Semmlers

I forgot Chris just had knee surgury so he’s cooking with crutches and all. I almost felt bad for the guy and then I forgot he’s indestructible. Carry on, carry on. Bread, shrimp fettuccine, and steaks and wine for dinner tonight. And for dessert we had strawberry short cake ala mode. It was money.

The Semmlers

Aren’t they just the cutest?

Semmlers

Are right already, get a room, or go to your room and I’ll help myself to more strawberry short cake ala mode. So dirty.

Semmlers

After dinner we played Pictionary Man. It’s a lot like Pictionary, but with a man and a block.  Here check it out.

Pictionary Man from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

I’m not gonna lie, they sucked donkey balls. I don’t know if the girls did that bad, probably not. But just so I don’t have to hear Ray cry, here’s another video where they stepped it up a bit.

Ray Plays Pictionary Man from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Good job boys, way to not completely suck.

Ever since I met Brandi, Kimmy’s sister, at my wedding and found out that she too lives in Austin I’ve been meaning to give her a call. Finally only eight short months later I did exactly that and now I’m wondering what the hell took me so long. I mean this girl is a lot of fun and really cute.

Before we met up with her we had some tapas at Malaga’s Tapas and Bar.

Malaga Tapas and Bar

It was exactly as I had suspected, small portions of overpriced mediocre food. Hey, but I had to know, every time Ray and I drive by this place I’m like, “oooooh, we need to try that place one day. It looks cute.” And that it is. It’s a really cute restaurant, service is great and they have wine galore to choose from.

I don’t remember the name of this dish but it was like a slice of potato pie, a mushy one at that with a burnt bottom crust.

Malaga Tapas and Bar

I’m not gonna lie though, if you come here try the Portobellos Alinados dish (top dish), marinated portobellos on top a bed of cheese and then drizzled with warm balsamic vinegar dressing. It was money.

Malaga Tapas and Bar

The best thing about Malaga’s is that it’s “a 21 and up establishment.” So if your here on a date you don’t have to worry about any annoying  little brats in the distance.

South By South West was still in effect. The streets were busy and the air was fill with beats and rhythms. We were now on our way to Shiner’s Saloon where Steven, Brandi’s boyfriend was playing.

Shiner’s Saloon

I tried to get a good picture of Steven and his band but failed. I don’t remember the name of the band but I do know that they fucking rock. As soon as their band came on the crowd instantly tripled in size. You can kinda make him out in the back, the guy in the green shirt playing guitar.

Shiner’s Saloon

We warmed up the sad lonely saddle and put it to good use.

Shiner’s Saloon

Me and my sexy husband. Hey ladies, you can look but if you touch I’m gonna crack your skull open with my beer bottle.

Shiner’s Saloon

This is me practicing my sweet air guitar moves.

Shiner’s Saloon

I forgot this chick’s name but those aren’t her drums. She was a lot of fun and thinking about moving to Austin. Who knows, maybe we’ll be friends.

Shiner’s Saloon

Me and Steve snuggling it up for the camera.

Shiner’s Saloon

What a great night. Brandy was so much fun, Steven’s band rocked out with no cocks out, and it’s SXSW!

Keep on keep it on.

Austin Green Living Convention

The day after the  Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show Convention was Austin’s Green Living Convention held at the Austin Convention Center. The Cake and Sugar Art Show should of been here because this place was awesome.

Austin's Green Living Convention

Just pass these doors lies an eco geek’s dream.

Austin's Green Living Convention

It was pretty spectacular.

Austin's Green Living Convention

It gave Ray a boner and now he’s got all these ideas on how he wants to go about building our home.

Austin's Green Living Convention

I saw some chicken coops on Planet Green television once and ever since I wanted one. Guess I’m really a country girl at heart. Well they had some chicken coops here and they were awesome. For as many eggs as we go through we’re definitely getting one of these when we have a home of our own.

Austin's Green Living Convention

I’m thinking Ninja Fries.

I think the Austin Green Living Convention was a success. They even had tons of edible samples, lotions, scrubs, etc. Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show take notes will ya. We left with lots of great ideas and contacts to assist in executing out those ideas in the future. The day was still young so we headed to one of my favorite stores ever, Anthropologie. I swear they always have the most creative design in this store.

Anthropologie

I love this store but everything is always so expensive. A cheap Asian in an expensive store is not the best mix so soon we left to grab a bite to eat. After a long and thorough process of elimination we decided upon the Waterloo Ice House.

Waterloo Ice House

Not really the best place to dine for a non-meat eater like myself.

Waterloo Ice House

But the important thing is that my honey seems to like it.

Waterloo Ice House

And they have lots of beer.

Waterloo Ice House

The button mushrooms were bomb diggitty, crispy, piping hot and not greasy at all.

Waterloo Ice House

And my small green salad was fresh and crisp.  Yep, no complaints from me today. I’m as happy as a scary clown.

Maki Sushi

Today Ray and I went to Maki Sushi. The place is polished off with a modern retro design.

Maki Sushi

But unlike most sushi restaurants you order at the counter. The procedure is very much similar to the way you order a sandwich at sub shop. You pick the ingredients you want, they roll it, you pay, sit and then bon appetite. I applaud them for taking chances but call me old fashion, I’d rather just order something off the menu, which is exactly what I did. I got the special of the day.

Maki Sushi

A little too much creamy stuff going on. It was good but definitely tasted nontraditional, or Americanized, or like a white person that was given 2 hours of training on the art of rolling sushi made it, which was probably the case.

Ray bought one of those weird but yummy Asian drinks that has some kind of odd contraption on it. If you’ve had it before then you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Maki Sushi

For even more delicious this drink . . .

Maki Sushi

But the best part of this meal was the bubbies ice cream balls. Bubbies is a Hawaii company; Ray and I use to go there all the time when we lived in Hawaii. You can read about it here and here.

Maki Sushi

Orgasmic.

maki.us.com

I must of made a really good impression on Brandi because before we left Shiner’s last night she invited me out to brunch. Fuck yeah, I love eating. I’ve never been to Shoal Creek Saloon but they can bet on seeing more of me in the future. They have a very inviting patio out back, large television so you sports fans can watch the game and fresh craw fish galore. There’s nothing better than getting your hands dirty, watching the game over a few bloody Marys and beers with a group a friends on a Sunday afternoon. What could be better?

Shoal Creek Saloon

What could be better? Ask and you shall receive. As we where heading out this is what walked right past us.

Just another Sunday stroll

Oh boy, oh boy! I effing heart Austin. What a great place to live!  Brought back fond memories of living in San Francisco when this walked by . . .

San Francisco, CA

One of my favorite places to go in Austin is down around Lady Bird Lake, also know as Town Lake. On July 26 2007, the Austin City Council passed a resolution authorizing the renaming of the reservoir from Town Lake to Lady Bird Lake in honor of Lady Bird Johnson, the former First Lady of the United States and a long-time resident of the Austin area. It was so confusing in the beginning because we were told it was Lady Bird Lake, and then there were signs that said Town Lake, we didn’t know what lake we  were at.

Ray and Stevie Ray Vaughan

In 1994, the city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake, the site of a number of Vaughan’s concerts. It has become one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions and definitely was one of ours when we first moved to Austin. Stevie Ray Vaughan is Ray’s all time favorite guitarist and musician. He’ll try to test me sometimes by asking, “who’s my favorite guitar player?” or if we’re walking by the statue, “do you know who this is?” I made sure I knew.

Lady Bird Lake

During this time SXSW was still in effect but the interactive part was over and the focus was music and film. The parks were busy with concert stuff and for some reason these mushrooms were placed randomly on the side of the park. I don’t know, I totally dig it and hope they’re here to stay. If I could I would steal them and place them in the backyard of my home, but I don’t have a backyard and there’s not enough room in my little Scion for these mushrooms.

WordPress BBQ Luncheon

Yeah, so I’m a little late on current news, what can I say, I’ve been busy making shit happen but a lot has happen since and I finally got some time to tell you all about it.

First Chris flew in but he flew in for a different conference, it just so happens that his ran into the week SXSW began. One of the first things we did was go to Buffalo Billiards for a few games of pool,

Buffalo Billiards

where Ray opened a can of whoop ass on us, as usual and Chris and I played the longest game of pool in history. To make Chris feel better about loosing so bad Ray let him teach him how to play foosball and pretend to really care.

Buffaalo Billiards

What a boring game.

Foosball

Chris knew more about the bar scene downtown than we did, which really doesn’t surprise me. He took us to one of his favorite bars called Legends Sports Bar to end the night.

Legends Sports Bar and Grill

The next day Beau flew in and that’s when South By South West really started for us.

Beau, the Victim

Beau is a super nerd and definitely one of the smartest friends we have. He was way more involved in SXSW and was even there to represent Word Press.

Beau, the Super Nerd

We bar hopped to a bunch of random bars that I don’t really remember, but what I do remember is that is was cold as fuck.

Beau, the Alcoholic

So the best thing about the picture right above is the man standing behind Beau. I was actually trying to slyly take a photo of him by pretending to take a photo of Beau. I obviously wasn’t that sly because the dude knew and looked right at me and smiled for the photo. Unfortunately he’s not in focus but if he were you’d see that he had a tiny telescope attached on the right part of his glasses. He just walked around the bar like that the whole time. It was weird, creepy and hilarious.

Maria Maria

Later on Ray, Chris and I had dinner at Maria Maria. It was a cute place but the service was shitty. There was a long piece of hair in my appetizer and  on top of having meat in my entree it was super salty. I sent my meal back and got dessert instead. After dinner we went around to a few more bars that I don’t remember. I took a cab home shortly after though because too much drinking fuels my fire. I’m not much of a drinker and sometimes being around certain people I can’t help but to get rubbed the wrong way where all I want to do is connect faces to my dark, brown, sexy boots. Going home was definitely the right choice because the Universe saw my nasty mood and delivered the perfect cab driver right to me. By the time I arrived at my destination I was in a completely different state of mind. It’s funny how different people can manage to bring out the best and worst in some. Ray stumbled home with Beau, Chris and our good friend Steven Ray some time later that night.

Ray Hernandez, photo by Beau Lebens

The next day I was on my own because the boys went off to do what they do best, be super nerds. They created a “Photo with Beau Scavenger Hunt Contest” that night that I followed on FaceBook every time they tweet about it. At around 3 in the morning the boys stumbled in and Ray got scalded for not calling me all day and night. Bad husband.

WordPress BBQ Luncheon, photo by Beau Lebens

I did tag along the next day though. I was actually signed up for one event, the Word Press BBQ Luncheon. They had me at free food and organic vegan cupcakes.

WordPress BBQ Luncheon

I took the last of the cupcakes.

WordPress BBQ Luncheon

Sorry Chris.

WordPress BBQ Luncheon

We hit the bars after the barbecue.

Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill

Later on that night we ended up at the Tumblr party.

SXSW Tumblr Party

They had me at open bar.

SXSW Tumblr Party

Ray was a fan of the open bar too.

SXSW Tumblr Party

Steven was planning on leaving that night back to Dallas so we didn’t want to stay out too late. We sobered up at the coffee shop next door and bid one another farewell. I was ready to be home, but poor Ray, he had to head back out in a few hours to pick up drunken Beau.

The next day we grabbed lunch at Woodland Restaurant on South Congress and drove the last of our guests to the airport.

Woodland Restaurant

Creamy Tomato Soup @ Woodland Restaurant

Woodland Restaurant

Cover 3

Ray and I had dinner or lunch here a while back. It’s a nice sports bar, the kind of place where you see a lot of pretentious assholes in suits.

I like the big screens they had throughout the place.

Cover 3

Cover 3

Food wasn’t bad either.

Cover 3

Cover 3

So the whole reason why we had to leave Dallas after only one day was because the next day was the Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show. I’ve never been to one but I watch them all the time on the Food Network wishing that I had. Well a lot of crazy things happen here in Austin and it just so happens that they have their own cake club called That Takes the Cake and they were putting on the Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show. So sorry Bea and Mable, I know your in town, but cake awaits me so I must go.

Retro Nintendo. I’m sure this brought back fond memories for Ray.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Of course being in Austin the theme was music this year. Humm, I wonder what it was last year?

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles. I took this photo for Guav.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Pretty jukebox.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Naughty mice.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Can you Believe this horse is a cake too?

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

The Beatles and The Yellow Submarine.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Yes this duck is a delicious cake too.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

This was my favorite. Looks just like a real porcelain doll.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

This one was interesting.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Kinda freaky if you ask me.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Yep, definitely creepy.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

This is one way to make your kids eat their veggies.

Ausit Cake and Sugar Art Show

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

This was Ray’s favorite.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Looks just like a real Coach Handbag. Nope, ladies this one is a knock off. Here let me get rid of it for you.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Guitar Hero. If you don’t like this one your lame.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

This is another one of my favorites. So so cute.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Seriously, how cute is this.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

But if I had to pick I think this would be the one for me. I could totally relate.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

I was kinda disappointed because I was hoping to there would be samples of all kinds of delicious goodness here but just a lot of eye candy instead. So I made Ray do a search for Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop, a cupcake place I recently read about in Tasty Touring, a local Austin blog. I’m gonna have my cake and eat it too, even if it’s a cupcake.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Juicy Fruit the tastes is gonna move ya. Burgers and gum on this one.

Austin Cake and Sugar Art Show

Yay we found Sugar Mama’s and it was glorious!

Sugar Mama's, Austin TX

Glorious I tell you glorious!

Sugar Mama's

I can’t decide. I want them all in my mouth.

Sugar Mama's

This is how you end a cake convention Austin. Come follow me. I will teach you the way.

Dinner @ Alo in Dallas

So Ben calls in the morning, “I’m picking Bea up from the airport now, are you guys coming up?” “Uh, well we weren’t exactly planning on it but since you use Bea against me, yes, yes we are.” That’s the story of our life, we never make plans but somehow we always have them, spontaneously. Mable was already in Dallas and we had put off driving up to see them in hopes that they would give in and just drive down to see us instead. I’m so tired of traveling but since we were going for just one day I guess it wouldn’t be that bad.

Me and Mabel

We made plans for everyone to meet at Alo, a cute little restaurant in Dallas. Wow, I didn’t expect so many people to show up. One thing led to another and before we knew it we were waiting on a table for 11. Kuya Vince came, Bernah and Sam, Raul and his wife, even Dad decided to come along. It was awesome.

Mabel, Awesome Person, Bea

I got to finally met Mabel for the first time. It’s true, she’s more alluring in person than she is via chat and FaceBook. But the best part of the night was the tummy rub I got to give Bea. I mean what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t come see one of our bestest friends and rub her pregnant belly for the first time. Yes, you heard right, I’m going to be a new auntie come August. I can’t wait!

Delicious Food

A great way to celebrate is with dessert. Famous Berry 4 Leches Cake above, $7.75. Yes 4 and not the usual 3. It was awesome, but I’ve had better and for a lot less. We couldn’t just get one. As they say variety is the spice of life, this is certainly true when one is dealing with dessert. We also ordered Josefina: hazelnut – caramelized sugar pastry, vanilla bavarian cream & berries, $7.75. Josefina is like an overrated prostitute. On the outside she’s luscious, sexy and overpriced but once you get a taste of her you’ll soon come to find she doesn’t put out a lot of action. She was also so difficult to eat that Ben and Mabel gave up on her early and left her all to me. Hey when it comes to desserts I’ll take sloppy seconds. Everything at Alo was actually hit or miss. My drink was orgasmic. Mabel and Sam’s rice was dog food. Ray’s enchiladas was right on and the service sucked sour dragon  balls.

Delicous Food

Ben, Mabel and I shared because sharing is caring and not sharing will get you killed.

Dinner At Alo

Girls on one side of the table and boys on the other. It was like we were speed dating. Sheesh, my date sucks, how many more minutes do I have with this loser. I kid, I kid. Your the king of Awesome honey, don’t ever let anyone tell you different.

Speed Dating @ Alo

Anyhow, after dinner we went to a Sherlock Pub but it was so crowded that we left and decided to go bowling instead. Yes bowling, because we’re crazy like that. But 300 Dallas had a wait of 1 hour and 30 minutes so fuck that. We ended up at a dive karaoke bar called Outer Marker. I said it once and I’ll say it many many times again, dive bars rock. No one karaoked but I give Ben props because he really wanted to go up there, just not alone and all of us bailed on him. Sorry Kuya Ben maybe next time.

Outer Marker Karaoke Bar

Hill Country Excursion

We’ve moved to Austin about 8-9 months ago and it suddenly dawned on me that we have yet to take advantage of it’s beautiful county side so when Ray asked me what I wanted to do today I said, “let’s go to Mount Bonnell.” I looked it up on line and soon we were out the door.

Hill Country Excursion

I expected a long vigorous hike, but it was lots of stairs up and then a really nice view of Lake Travis instead. But who could be disappointed with a view like this.  Just looking at the lake made me so excited for summer to get here so we could finally put our boat to good use. Man, would I love to have a vacation getaway here. I mean seriously, check out the size of some of those homes.

Hill Country Excursion

There was a little bit of a hike though, but don’t expect a workout unless your fat and out of shape. With benches and tables it’s a perfect place to pack a lunch and just enjoy the scenery. I kinda wish I would of found this place before Ray’s birthday so I had some place nice and free for us to drive to in the awesome Ram Charger I gave him.

Hill Country Excursion

After Mount Bonnell we went on a excursion through the beautiful Hill Country and boy am I glad we did. The drive was gorgeous and really made us thing about getting our hands on some acres out here. It’s so nice to know we live so close to all this.

Hill Country Excursion

Honey, get off your damn iPhone, your on my time right now, sheesh!

Hill Country Excursion

Family day wouldn’t be complete without Kola.

Hill Country Excursion

Messing around with the camera, as I always do.

Hill Country Excursion

Litter bug. Hey, “don’t mess with Texas,” that means don’t fucking litter you selfish bastard or I’m gonna donkey punch your ass.

Hill Country Excursion

Ray and iPhone.

Hill Country Excursion

Kola found a dead fish. Gross!

Hill Country Excursion

The happy couple.

Hill Country Excursion

I found a small wooden post sticking out of the ground and laid my camera atop it for a family photo.

Hill Country Excursion

Yippie Kai Yay!

Hill Country Excursion

Hip hip hooray!

Hill Country Excursion

Or as my best bud Jack MFD would put it, “Dunt da da dun . . . Fuck Yeah!

Hill Country Excursion

Waiting on me.

Hill Country Excursion

It was a good day.

My Favorite Guys

Wake Up Birthday Boy

Yay! The 15th is finally here, and that means it’s Ray’s birthday. Wake up sleeping beauty, I got a surprise for you and your gonna love it.

It’s been Ray’s dream for some time now to find and reunite back with his first car and resurrect her from the dead, but of course finding his original 89′ Dodge RamCharger was out of the question so when we got back from Houston I set out on a quest in search for the second best 89′ Dodge RamCharger and guess what, I found her, right here in Austin Texas of all places. I think it was destiny. So now I had to strategically devise the best way to retrieve this Beast of a car since Ray and I are practically joint at the hip and because I’m not yet geographically inept to be driving on my own in Austin, especially since my sancho, Tom Tom was kidnapped from me in New York. Well as we all know trickery and deceit comes fairly natural for me. I was born a professional con-artist. With the directions jotted down in my note book I tricked Ray into driving me right to the place I needed to be the next day to pick up the car. I memorized the route as he drove down this street and that, turning here, making u-turns there.”Why do you want to go down Ceasar Chavez,” he says. “Because we got our vegan wedding cake on that street and I just want to go down and see the store again,” I responded. The next day I compiled a long list of grocery items and set out “grocery shopping” because I know Ray recoils at the mere thought of idling around a grocery store for too long, which just happens to be one of my favorite pass-time activities. Beside a few minor battle scars that Riccardo forgot to mention in the Craigs List ad the car seemed to be in pretty good condition. I used the battle wounds to my advantage and haggled a sweet deal and since there was only one of me and two cars I kindly requested Riccardo to followed me back home, where we dropped off the Beast on the other side of the parking lot and then I had to transport Riccardo back home. Oh, I also asked Riccardo to e-mail both Ray and I back the next day stating that the car was no longer available just in case Ray had any inclination of what I was up to. Three and a half hours later I Ray phones me, “honey, where are you, I’m hungry,” he wines. I make up this huge long lie about how I got lost twice, went to Whole Foods and lingered around the beauty section for hours, then the Indian Grocery Store, and now I’m going back to HEB Grocery Store for a second time to pick up a few items I forgot the first time around. I arrive home after four hours of leaving and rustled up dinner for my husband as quickly as I could. I know, I know, I’m the best wife to ever have walked this earth. I hear it all the time.

The next four days were difficult because they were filled with anxiousness and stress. There were days you can see the Beast as clear as day on the other end of the parking lot. I counted down the days and every night while he slept I would devise the best way to present to him his gift. What seemed to be to be an awesome idea in the middle of the night would never fail to seem too elaborative the next day. Finally I just decided to keep it simple and sweet, yet still creative and fun. On the morning of his birthday I woke up extra early, shit, showered and shaved, minus the shower and the shave and filmed this in the parking lot.

For Ray from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

If you keep up with my blog, you might have already seen it. Whatever I was planning on doing I had to do it fast because the Beast had hardly any gas; I wasn’t sure if she would even be able to even make it to the gas station. The first two tries was a disaster but 3 times is always a charm or in this case, good enough. I forgot to zoom the camera out which made the video all grainy, but like I said, good enough. When I was done filming I had to park the car outside where Ray would easily see it as soon as he came out of the building after watching the video. Luckily, we scored rock star parking the night before so I gave the Beast my parking spot, which meant now I had to re-park the Scion upstairs. I scurried back home filled with excitement and woke him up, “lets go eat, I’m hungry, hurry, get up. It’s your birthday, aren’t you excited? I’m excited for you. I’m starving. Let go get some breakfast. I’m so hungry.” While he was getting ready I uploaded the video on to Vimeo and posted it on to my awesome blog. As I finished I told him I would meet him downstairs and to go over to my computer and read todays post on my site and then I left. I waited for him so totally impatiently down stairs, ready to film his reaction when he got down.

On Ray’s Birthday from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Yes, yes, I know, the best wife ever. I know

I was expecting more of a reaction for the car but he just wanted to love on me first before checking it out. We then quickly got gas and test drove the Beast on our way to Juan in a Million, another famous landmark here in Austin and another restaurants featured on the Man vs Food show. Well, it was Sunday and the line was out the door and practically wrapped around the corner. Sorry, even if you were one in a million, it wouldn’t be worth it for me to wait in that line. Actually, in opinion, no Mexican food is ever worth a line, but hey, that’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it. We headed for the Waffle House next but took the back road since both the inspection and registration was expired on the Beast. The Waffle House ended up being just as packed. Sorry Waffle House, even your not worth waiting in line for. So we drove around until we ended back around our neck of the woods at Mimi’s Cafe, still packed but the wait was do-able. After our delicious meal we went home, grabbed some towels and Ray gave his Beast a bath, while I stayed in my car with Kola and read.

Bathing the Beast

Bathing the Beast

All clean and pretty, but still butch-like.

Pretty Beast

Sorry, no hubcaps on this side.

Pretty Beast

Pretty Beast

Time to douche the Beast with armor all. Wax on wax off, Ray Danial-Son.

Douching The Beast From The Inside Out

After the car wash we went home, got ready and headed back out, this time to down-town Austin. We went to one other bar before it got too cold for me to bare sitting outside so we left and ended up here at the Flying Saucer for another round of drinks.

Flying Saucer

And then it was getting past our bed times so we headed back home, but before we did we grabbed some dinner at Mighty Fine Burgers. I don’t know if the burgers were mighty fine or not but the milkshakes most definitely was.

Mighty Fine Burgers

Happy birthday honey. I love you.

Riding Dirty

The weekday is here and that means nothing to us. Monday, Friday, Sunday, it’s all the same day. Hell most of the time we don’t even know what month were in. If you want to know the truth, I’m writing this now at exactly 2:47 a.m. while Ray is playing Need For Speed on his Play Station.

It’s kinda sad but one of the reasons I was looking forward to coming home from Houston was because of freaking donuts, but in my defense this isn’t just any ordinary donut, it’s a massive, soft toilet seat of a donut.

How Many Donuts Fit Inside One Box?

I don’t know if you heard of the Man VS Food show or not, but it’s basically a show about a man that eats a lot of food, you know my dream job. Well there was this episode where he was eating this ginormous donut in Round Rock, which happens to be just next door to Austin. I’m really not a crazy donut fan but I do like my fair share of sweet goodness in my mouth, and I’m also a sucker for icons and landmarks.

One Sweet Glorious Donut

Round Rock Donut is not your average donut shop. People wait out the door for this giant whoopi cushion, which definitely makes it a landmark. Personally, I don’t really get the whole donut for breakfast thing. Trust me I’m not one to ever knock on sweet treats, but seriously lets just think about it here for a moment. Donuts have long been an American breakfast staple but why. How come it’s okay to eat bread covered with sugar, chocolate, sprinkles and all kinds of sweet heavenly goodness in the morning? Why not ice-cream, or ice-cream cake? Cookies? Brownies? Pie? At least ice-cream has some sort of nutritional value. Of course none of these are an acceptable way to start your day off with, especially for children, which is why I can’t understand why so many parents allow their kids to eat them. As a matter of fact, it’s probably the worst piece of food you could start your day off with. They are loaded with sugar, refined flour, saturated fat and partially hydrogenated oil trans fat all of which happen to increase the risk of heart disease. And fruit or jelly donuts is concocted from sugar, corn syrup, corn cereal, partially hydrogenated oil, natural and artificial flavors and dyes. Now why would anyone want to start their day off like this or allow their kids to? This contradiction kinda makes you think about why America is fat as fuck and that maybe our diets should be revised just a tad bit, but in the mean time, lets eat!

Round Rock Donuts

After our healthy breakfast we went home and took a nap for hours and then we woke up to take a donut shit and then we went back to sleep. Actually, we decided to work off all the empty calories we just ingested so we headed to a local bike store where Ray got his bike tighten and we bought a bike rack for our car because now that were riding our bikes all the time it’s becoming a pain in the ass to load both of them up into our tiny car and besides we look so sporty driving around with a bike rack on our car now. It took us a long time to get our bike rack situated in the parking lot, but once we did we loaded our bikes and drove South of Austin.

Riding Dirty

It was a good day.

Riding Dirty

Nasa VIP Tour

Just when I thought we were good on traveling for a while Ray decides to take us to Houston for about a week to visit with our good O bud Marcos. The first night we met up with some of his buds at a dive bar. They had a set of pretty sweet doors.

Houston Trip

We also headed down south to Galveston Texas to check out the the disaster that Hurricane Ike left behind back in September. Galveston was still in shambles and it was quite obvious that she still had not yet recovered from being raped and pillaged. As a matter of fact, Marcos was our troubled hurricane victim that we kindly took in with our big hearts and open arms.

Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

Look at the sad trapped truck. From a full view you can see chunks that Hurricane Ike had riped straight out of the board walk.

Aftermath of Hurricane Ike

I really should of taken more photos but it was shocking and kinda depressing. But honestly, hurricane or not, Galveston was in dire need of a makeover so this was probably for the best. Galveston has so much potential to flourish and be totally rad as fuck. I mean seriously, it’s right on the coast. Not a lot of towns in Texas have that luxury, so they should live up to it and make it happen and I promise you the tourist will come by the boat loads, ready to dump trunk loads of money right in the heart of Galveston. Potential, so much potential. Well, like I said, it was depressing so we went to Buca De Peppo to grab a bit to eat.

Buca De Peppo

It was del-rish-ous! Probably the best Bucca De Peppo meal I’ve had yet and we didn’t even have dessert. Oh, we also invited Marcos’s room-mate. The muscle in the back row, and whimps in the front.

Bucca De Peppo

On the way home we got to witness Marcos’s car reach 8888 miles. What a historic moment for his Dodge Ram.

8888

Of course the highlight of our trip was our sweet VIP tour at Nasa. Yes, our very good friend, Marcos, whom is like a brother to me, works at Nasa. Have your people call my people and I’ll see if I could get you in.

Nasa is building a space tent, or maybe it’s a space garage, for a space-ship. All I can tell you is that it’s on a need to know basis and if your reading this you probably don’t need to know, carry on, carry on.

Nasa VIP Tour

Before I left for the moon I had to run a few test, make sure everything was working and all, just proper protocol.

Nasa VIP tour

And here we have a new space trampoline that’s in the making. Astronaunts like to jump into space when they are in space. It very invigorating.

Nasa VIP Tour

And directly next to it is the biggest swimming pool on the face of this earth, at least that’s what we’ve been told. But if you don’t believe me go watch Armageddon and go see for yourself. I talked to a lot of the real astronauts that were there during the filming of that movie and they all agree that Ben Affleck was a little bitch and cried like one too, especially during the whole under water training scene.

Nasa VIP Tour

The pool is 40 ft deep. It doesn’t look like it but it is and as you can see the water is super blue, but I promise you no food coloring was added to the pool for a more dramatic effect; the pool is just ridiculously filtered.

Nasa VIP Tour

Our tour guide, aka Marcos Jaramillo, and Ray in deep thought about the design of the space suit.

Nasa VIP Tour

I found a friend.

Nasa VIP Tour

And I like him.

Nasa VIP Tour

This is an acutal space suit that went to the moon, Neal’s I think.

Nasa VIP Suit

They even got suits for the Chinese.

Nasa VIP Tour

Tour guide and Ray still going over the design of the space suits.

Nasa VIP Tour

Control Room.

Nasa VIP Tour

If you’ve seen Applo 13 then this might look familiar to you. The red phone is used to order pizza during those long work shifts.

Nasa VIP Tour

The main reason that brought us out to Houston wasn’t Nasa, wasn’t Marcos, it was Soft Ball. Ray’s fantastic at base ball and he’s been itching to play for a while now. Marcos is on two soft ball teams that happen to be booked to play at the same time. He asked Ray to fill in for him in one of the games, assuming it would be okay and Ray quickly accepted the offer. Well as it turns out not everyone was okay with it and my husband wasn’t allowed to play. If you ask me it was a stupid mistake on their part and if Ray had played they probably wouldn’t have lost.

Houston Soft Ball Fields are Sweet

The next day we packed our bags and loaded up the rocket and shot back home to Austin Texas in 2.8 minutes flat.

Up Up and Away!

American Citizen

It’s official, I’m finally a citizen of the United States of America and it feels phenomenal. If nothing else amazing happens this year I wouldn’t be at all disappointed because this is definitely a big one for me.

American Citizen

I called the INS recently because my 3rd application was still pending. Just knowing I have to deal with the INS leaves me with a feeling of apprehension and anxiety. It’s such a stressful situation to be in, especially for me and every time I get off the phone with them I dispise them even more and I’m left in tears. You know when you feel like nothing ever goes right for you and no matter what you do shit just keeps on fucking up. Well that’s the way the INS has been for me. And even then it’s just one of those things I know I have to deal with and just get through, like taxes. So it was on my to do list and finally when all was checked off and the only thing left on the to do list was call the INS I had no choice but to adhere. Like I said my application was still pending and I was calling to inquire about the status. In December I sent in a birth certificate along with an English translation for it, a letter from the translator, my mom, stating that the translation was true and another letter from myself stating why my parents wedding certificate was not included because they had asked for that as well but I was unable to deliver it because it was destroyed in the Vietnam War. So after talking to Maria, the officer handling my case, she made me feel as though there was no way around not having it and that my only option was to travel back to Vietnam to retrieve it, but in the mean time she would consult her supervisor on the matter. So again I was left in tears. First off, how can I travel to Vietnam to attempt to get a copy when I don’t have a passport; it’s not like I could leave the country. And second, when she read me her manual over the phone it even stated that a lot of marriage certificates were destroyed during the Vietnam War, which is exactly how my parents wedding certificate was destroyed, why they don’t have one and exactly what I told them. Maria said she would get back to my by the end of the week but to my surprise she called me back within the hour and asked my for my address so she could send me my certificate. I was dumbfounded at first; did I miss understand her but then her supervisor got on the phone, Patricia and said, “no forget the address can you come in tomorrow to come pick it up.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “are you serious?” I responded and she snaps back, “I take my job very serious.” Well alright then. The next day Ray and I drove to San Antonio to retrieve my Certificate.

American Citizen

So your probably wondering why it took me 3 tries to attain citizenship. Well let my tell you why. I came into the states on November 2, 1981, when I was just two years of age. Becoming a citizen was the last of my worries because I was too busy being a regular American kid. Finally my parents became citizens when I was 17 years old, before I was 18 which means I officially became a citizen as well, but they were so excited that they didn’t take me in with them to take the oath. So when I turned 19 I applied for citizenship myself. It took them 3 freaking years to process my application only to be denied because I was arrested for shop lifting when I was 14 years young and according to the INS I can’t be approved for citizenship if I was arrested within 5 years of applying. Well if the stupid INS would of told me this when I did apply then all I had to do was to wait a few months then apply. So I get this news 3 years later at age 21. The shitty part is that I didn’t even had to tell them that I was arrested, they never would of found out, but I was just too intimidated so I played by their rules. Also, the INS should of just told me to apply for the N-600 instead which states that I’m a citizen through my parents, but the INS sucks and doesn’t like to help or make things easy for anyone. Years later I applied a again, and was denied yet a second time. This time they said it was because I was already a citizen of the United States through my parents. So while living in Hawaii I try to get a passport but was denied because they needed proof that I was a citizen and to get proof I have to resort back to the INS for a certificate that states that I am a citizen of the United States. So I apply this time for citizenship yet a 3rd time for the N-600 application, which states that I acquire citizenship through my parents. Should be a breeze right, since I got a letter from the INS themselves recognizing that I am already a citizen? Wrong. Nothing is easy when it comes to the INS, at least not for me. So they tell me that I must show my birth certificate and my parents wedding certificate to complete the application, the exact two items that I don’t have. “Go back to Vietnam and get it,” they tell me like it’s an easy trip down the street to Walmart. How, how the fuck do I go back to Vietnam and get it, and even if that were possible what normal non-citizen could just afford to do that. It’s like the hospital expecting me to pay 30 grand in a year. “The hospital will allocate you up to a year to pay off your bill,” they tell me. Really? Fuck you! Trust me, you have no idea of my frustrations. Not to mention, I’m the last of my family to become a citizen. My parents, my younger sister, because she was born in the U.S. and my two older sisters because they were both over 18 years old and had to apply on their own, the way I tried to on my first attempt and not to mention my husband is an American citizen, and English is my main language. Come on, sometimes rules should be bent because whoever invented them obviously missed a few things. Anyone can see that I’m as American as apple pie, just not as sweet. It’s just so gosh darn frustrating seeing people come into this country, don’t even speak a lick of English and become American citizens just like that. Something is obviously wrong with the system here. So that’s my story and now you can understand why this is so BIG for me and even now, after 11 days it’s just barely hitting me.

American Citizen

You know, when your already an American citizen as most of you are, you don’t think about all the privileges you have but when your not, like I use to be, you think about all the privileges you don’t have that should be rightfully yours all the time. The biggest thing for me was not being able leave the country because I was unable to attain a passport. The only reason I was able to go to China was because my parents were able to get me a re-entry permit from China. As handicapped as my parents are for having such broken English they sure do surprise the hell out of me with all the loop holes they manage to get their sneaky little hands on. Seriously, has anyone ever heard of a re-entry permit. I would not even know that exist or was at all possible and I wouldn’t know how to attain one from another country or if they even allow them. It was a pain in the ass going from China to Hong Kong back to China, the Chinese didn’t even know what it was. Well I can’t depend on good O’ mom and dad forever and just thinking about being stuck in one country for the rest of my life makes me hyperventilate. If I think too deeply into it I will want to ripe my skin off from claustrophobia. Now, I can leave the country and travel to my hearts desire or until the money runs out and not only that I can get a job and not worry about any complications, like being denied, having to show my alien card, not being able to get full benefits etc. I can finally change my name to Hernandez. The social security office denied me my name change because they wanted to see proof of citizenship, well now I have it. If I ever win the lottery or jack pot I don’t have to worry about being denied my winnings. I can vote, although I did anyways for Obama. If I ever get arrested at the airport, or anywhere for that matter I will be protected under the United State Laws. Yes! You see, this is the kind of stuff that I thought about, a lot and now I will never ever have to again and that is enough to make 2009 an awesome year.

When we got to the INS building they wouldn’t let us bring in any electronics, no phones or cameras. Bummer because I’ve been waiting over a decade for this moment and I wanted to document it. I always pictured it where I have to take an oath and maybe put my hand on the bible, even though I’m not religious and someone in uniform or a suit handing me my certificate, with the American flag waving in the background, I guess very similar to receiving a diploma. It didn’t happen like that at all. I was put to work as soon as I walked into the room, erasing the gloss on the side of all my photos so I could write my name on it because she was in a hurry to go home on her lunch break to consult with someone she paid to lay dirt on her house. However, my officer liked me so much she practically offered me a job, told me to apply on line @ USjobs.gov or something like that then she handed me my certificate and sent me on my way. I definitely didn’t happen as I had envisioned so Ray and I took the matter into our own hands. Since we were in San Antonio we headed down to the Alamo and took a shit ton of photos, as you can see, of me with my certificate in hand. I even asked the Alamo guards there to take a photo with me and to pretend like they were presenting the certificate to me.

American Citizen

After my pretend glorious ceremony we took a stroll down the River Walk, another one of San Antonio’s famous landmarks.

San Antonio River Walk

Ray bought me candy.

San Antonio River Walk

San Antonio River Walk

And we had lunch at one of the several Mexican options we had to choose from.

San Antonio River Walk

When we got back to Austin Ray and I didn’t stop celebrating. We went to Banana Republic and got me a cardigan and blouse and even got Ray two pairs of slacks. Then we went to the Daily Grill and par-took in their happy hour and I splurged on dessert again.

American Citizen

I’m finally an American Citizen, can you believe it!

Hawaii Love

Happy Valentines Day to everyone I love.

This is Cloe hard at work.

Cloe the Busy Little Worker from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

And this is Lyric showing early signs that he will never be a cowboy.

Ben and Lyric Cowboy Up from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Sunday Cruise

We had so much fun taking Kola out that the next day Ray decided to finally put my together my low rider and we went out for a cruise but without Kola this time. Getting the bikes to fit in the car was a pain in the ass, so much that we still haven’t taken them out of the car. After our bike ride we went shopping and made it back just in time to watch the super bowl. It was a stressful game and in the end our team lost, (I just route for whatever team Ray routes for). It didn’t matter to me none because it was still a really good day.

By the way, I thought it was a pretty bold of Denny’s to offer to give everyone in America a free breakfast on the following Tuesday from 7-2 p.m. on a commercial during the super bowl no less. Count me in. Seriously, Denny’s you had me at Free. So on Tuesday Ray and I got in the car and headed for Denny’s. The first Denny’s was not in service, just an empty shell of a business so we headed south and hit up every Denny’s possibly in Austin. Every single Denny’s was packed, lines out the door. It looked like a homeless shelter on Christmas morning. We must of hit at least 4-5 Denny’s before deciding to turn around and head north to Round Rock. Although the line still ran out the door it wasn’t as long as the line at other Denny’s and the Denny’s here seemed less ghetto. Then I notice an employee passing out Denny’s rain checks. That’s fucking awesome. I asked for two and we got Double Dave’s Pizza instead because by this time we were famished.

Rain Check Please

Family Day

The weekend is here and I’ve been feeling like a really bad dog owner so to make up for it we’re taking Kola to the river. Not really sure if this constitutes as a river or a lake but I do know that it’s gorgeous and large. I know this because I’ve been jogging here a couple times. Last time was the day before, the morning of my birthday. I know, who goes jogging on their birthday? Yeah, I’m an odd one. Well, not only did I go jogging here on my birthday, I went jogging here and I went hellish far. I just kept jogging and jogging assuming it would eventually swing me around to where I started, but it never did and I ended up getting lost in nowhere land. It went from being gorgeous to being destitute and scary so finally I decided the best thing to do was to turn around and jog back until Ray calls to pick me up. Well, today was dedicated to our Lil Kola Bud. At first parking was a total bitch. I didn’t know this place got so busy on the weekends. But we were determined to make sure Kola had his cake and ate it too.

In the beginning Kola was not really into it. He hates crowds and I think the sweater he was wearing was bogging him down. He walked for about a good 5 minutes before he stopped, looked up to his dad and telepathically said, “pick me up,” and that Ray did. How embarrassing, all these people and all these dogs here and we were the only ones that had to carry our pet. “Kola, what is wrong with you, lazy old fart?”  Finally, I had the crazy idea of taking his sweater off of him and after that he was a ball of fucking sunshine. I guess it was the sweater that was bogging him down.

Family Day

Just a word of advice for all you single and cheating folks out there, a small, adorable dog is the biggest babe magnet. Ray was blocking the P all day and that’s including guys. Again, that’s a  small, cute dog, not small, ugly, yapping, nervous, can’t stop shaking dog. There’s a difference. Kola is hands down small and adorable.

Kola is Fucking Adorable

Any questions? I didn’t think so. Now where was I . . . oh yeah, Family/Kola day. It was a good day for Kola. You can always tell when Kola is super happy because he gallops when he runs.

Family Day

How cute do we look here?

Family Day

Awe they’re so cute together.

Family Day

And then he had to go fuck up his cuteness by throwing a rock at me. Dick.

Family Day

I love you Kola. Everything I do, I do for you. Well not really, but I do have the best of intentions.

Family Day

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! It’s official, I’m not in my twenties anymore. I always dreaded the day I turned 30 because 30 just seems so old, like I had to instantly get my shit together and be a boring adult but as it turns out, 30 isn’t so bad. As a matter of fact, it’s fucking awesome. I feel great. And in tribute to how I have blossomed into this luminescent figure of awesomeness I decided to get a tattoo, ninja stars, one on both wrist.

Here I am before the tattoo.

Happy Birthday

My wrist are ninja stars free.

Happy Birthday

Drum roll please . . . . . . . . Killer Ninja Stars!

Happy Birthday

Looks awesome right? I got my tattoo at T3xture Tattoo Shop and this is my tattoo artist, Crtzn, pronounced curtains, or cur-tens, either way close enough. After searching online I finally decided he was my guy.

Happy Birthday

I actually got my tattoo late at night on the 29th, so late that it ran into my birthday, the 30th. We did the right wrist first and I came back the next day, on my birthday to finish up with the left side. Later that night Ray insisted that we go do something for my birthday so I let him take me to the movies to watch Taken, awesome movie by the way, but before we did I insisted he take me out for a late night dinner.

Happy Birthday

We weren’t planning on going to the Cheesecake Factory, but I wanted dessert of course and it was close to the movies.

Happy Birthday

Not only was it my birthday this year, but it was also my Golden Birthday. To tell you the truth, I never heard of a Golden Birthday before until recently so it wasn’t that big of a deal to me as it is to some people, like my friend Jack Mother Fucking Dogg with a double G. Which is a bit of a coincidence because this year 8-30-09 is going to be her Golden Birthday and she’s going all out. Nothings really planned yet but we got a few leads. All I can say is it’s going to be legend, wait for it . . . dairy. I just got the box set of How I Met Your Mother by the way. A bigger coincidence, it was just my good friend Bea’s Golden Birthday last year, 8-27-08. So Bea first, then me, and then Jack Mother Fucking Dogg with a double G. Coincidence because were all really close friends. By the way, Golden Birthday just means you turn the age of the date of your birthday.

Road Trip Up the Mid West Back Home

As you can see from my previous post that our trip to California has been pretty spectacular. We got to talk to Mel, which was our number one goal for coming out in the first place. And on top of that we got to see a shit ton of friends which was pretty awesome because we don’t get to hang out with much friends these days. We extended our stay pretty much as long as we could but the time has come to say good-bye. Since the drive to California was a bit of a drag Ray and I decide to go up the mid west this time. This was actually Ray’s idea. He wanted to a better scenic route but completely failed to realize that it’s January, possibly the coldest month for possibly all the states in the entire year. But hey, Ray’s a smart man, I thought he knew and you know me, I’m just down for the cause.

At first it wasn’t so bad. We went up through Reno, to Tahoe and got to see snow. It was totally exciting and invigorating. Then highway 50 just got flat or just went on for miles and miles without any notice of the last gas station for a while. It got to the point where Ray and I just filled up every time we encountered a gas station for fear of being stranded. At one of the gas stops we even got a sticker from the clerk that reads “I SURVIVED HWY 50 THE LONELIEST ROAD IN AMERICA.”

Stupid HWY 50 Sticker

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

But then it went from the roads being lonely to being extremely lonely and cold.

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

As always Kola managed to stay cozy.

Road Trip Up the Mid West Back Home

We stopped to get gas at a gas station across the street from this one from fear of catching a venereal disease from touching the gas pump. Besides, can you imagine what the rest rooms would of been like here? Gross.

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

After stopping to get gas is when it got scary cold. It was snowing, the roads were icy and wet and we had the Colorado Rockies to conquer. Did I mention we were driving a mini Scion with no 4 wheel drive, no chains on it’s tires and not a lot of power but where it lacks in muscle it makes up for in experience, miles and miles of road trip experience.

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

Besides the car hydroplaning a couple of times and causing traffic because we were going 30 mph in a 60 things went fairly well. I realized that although my car had loads of experience in miles it had no experience in snowy mountain weather. None whatsoever.

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

We stopped at the visitors center for a rest room break. When he got out of the visitors center Ray asks me if it was just him or if the ground was shaking? Humm, that’s weird, while squatting over the toilet it totally seemed like the ground was shaking. Sounds crazy I know but it did, but  I suppose it could of been the high elevation.

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

I finally got my snow board back from Marci while we were in San Francisco. I know it’s kinda out dated but I have a significant bond with my snow board for reasons I’d rather not say, but it’s just special to me. Seeing the snow come down really made me think of all the times I went snow boarding. It’s been years since I’ve been so I guess the next best thing to do is to pretend like we did. So here are the photos to prove it. What, you’ve never seen anyone snow board in leather boots before?

Road Trip Up The Mid West Back Home

Here’s a video of our rest stop break.

Rest Stop Break from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

After the Colorado Rockies Ray and I keep heading east to Kansas. But before we did we called our good friend Amber up for a place to eat in Denver. We got lost, parking was a bitch, it was extremely cold, everyone had a staring problem and we forgot our wallet so we had to walk back to the car  in the freezing cold. Kinda took that as a sign and got fast food instead.

Let me tell you, Kansas was fucking cold. Made Denver look like Honolulu, Hawaii. I hated getting gas in Kansas because that meant we had to stop and someone had to pump gas, get coffee, take Kola to the rest room and even though that someone usually wasn’t me, it still meant that the door would open and the wind would suck out all the warm air in the car and cut your skin like a chain saw. From Kansas we started to descend south toward Texas but before we hit Texas we made one last stop in Greensburg, Kansas. About a year ago a cunt of a tornado hit Greensburg and basically riped her a new one. Since then the towns been reinventing itself with a new and improved eco green vibe and putting it’s progress out on display for all the world to see on television. Ray and I watch the show from time to time and thought it would be fun to check out the town. Well it wasn’t fun at all. It got late, which meant it got dark and what we could make out was not really impressive. Also, people in Kansas stare at me like they never seen a slanty eyed person before. And to make matters worse some crazy Kansan tried to kill himself by walking right in front of my car on the Interstate late at night about 15 minutes after we left Greensburg. Yes, moron was on a suicide mission and was hoping to use my vehicle to take him to see God. He obviously doesn’t know I’m a ninja, with sharp as attack reflexes. I swerved to the left, luckily on coming traffic was still coming otherwise I would of had to make road kill out of him or hit an oncoming diesel, going 65 + mph . I’m not gonna lie, I freaked the fuck out and had Ray take over the wheel. Kansas sucks red donkey balls and I couldn’t wait to get the fuck out.

In March of 2006 Ray and I moved to Oakland California from Vacaville. We had only lived in Vacaville for 3 months before we realized the commute was killing us. I would drop him off at work, drive back home and then drive back to the bay area and pick him up, a total of a 4 hour commute, without traffic each day. Anyhow, while looking for a place to live in the bay area we stumbled upon this building. It was an old warehouse that use to be a French Fry Factory. I would of never, ever, ever, even considered living in here, but Ray, well, lets just say he has more vision than I most do. At first I thought it was asinine, I mean have you guys seen the photo above? But I have always been one to just go with the flow, and Ray is what I like to call a hopeless visionary.

But you got to admit, it totally has potential. Even I could admit that. But again, did you see the photo above? It was taken through a hole in the front door. The building was 8000 sq ft. Uh, no that’s not a misprint, there was not an extra 0 put in by accident. Yes, we lived, worked, renovated, bled, sweat, cried and even threw a few parties in an 8000 sq ft building for an entire year. Crazy kids, I’m sure that’s what everyone was thinking.

The pile of trash we had hauled away almost reached the second floor.

It even had two walk in refrigerators, one of which I was planning on turning into my walk in closet.

We flew dad down because there was no way we could of done all this work without him.

We put a lot of work into this building. In the beginning it was scary, but I got over it and soon it was as though the Universe had answered our dreams, but with a little sacrifice and hard work on our part. Ray had always dreamed of renting out a huge warehouse that had a urinal from a rich old man that gave him a super cheap deal and turning it into his modern urban living dream. Yes, our warehouse even had a urinal. And I had always wanted to have my own massage business, with 4 rooms, one for myself and the other 3 I would hire or rent out to other massage therapist. The front of the building on the second floor had 4 rooms. The more we thought about it the more uncanny and perfect it seemed.

But soon, life just took a toll. Ray detested work and the more he saw his boss the more he loathed him. I was getting burnt out on massage. What once was filled with passion and energy fizzled and soon I felt like a well paid slave. Ray and I decided to call it quits and tackle yet another dream of mine, to live in Hawaii. Somehow, this dream seemed so much less painful and stressful. We had a 3 year lease so we took on the role as property managers and sublet the building for the remainder 2 years of our lease and for over twice what we paid, split the rent with Mel, the nice old man Ray dreamt to life, every month and started a new chapter of our lives in Oahu Hawaii.

Hawaii was a totally awesome experience. Every month we used the money we made from the building to pay off the debt we put into it. I’d like to say it was easy but it wasn’t. I can say it was a huge learning experience. This last trip to California was to find a way to come to an agreement with Kevin, the man we rented the building out to. He ended up subletting the building to Raphael, a total pathetic douche bag that couldn’t pay rent on time to save his life and couldn’t move out when asked to leave. But our main concern for coming out to Cali was to make sure we uphold our contract with Mel and leave on good terms with him. When we got to the building it was in shambles. All the hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and money we put into it seemed wasted. Did I mentioned that Raphael had secretly turned the building into an illegal club/bar he called the Radiance Factory. Just a word of advice for Raphael, it’s not smart to advertise an illegal club. Fucking retard.

Here’s a before us and after us photo.

And after then after we did more work and started to settled in. In the very back behind the glass windows is where where the 4 massage rooms laid.

From the opposite direction. Ray loved his pool table.

A closer look further back. To the left was our bed room, middle was Ray’s desk and to the far right was our closet.

A better view of our closet. I had a lot more shoes back then.

Our living room in it’s earlier stage.

The kitchen area and dining area. Ray and I built that wobbly table one night when we had nothing better to do. He swears one day he’ll redeem himself.

Here’s what the building looked like on our last visit.

Looks like they built a kitchen room.

We turned this room into my workout/yoga room.

This is what it looks like by the time we were done with it.

And this is how it looks now.

This was suppose to eventually be a massage room #4, but in the mean time we just made it a guest room and it was also Chris Miller’s room when he stayed with us.

And this is how it looks now.

A before and after of Massage Room #3.

Same room, present day.

Before and after of Massage Room #2.

Massage Room #2 today.

My Massage Room before.

My beautiful massage room after. I actually worked countless hours in this room. It was the perfect massage room.

And this is how it looks like now.

A few before and afters of the lobby we fixed up. We were planning on getting more furniture to fill it up but I think we did a pretty spectacular job.

And here it is today. Animals.

We took back our blinds.

A before and after of the mens restroom. Behind the wall next to the sink was where the men’s urinal was. I forgot to take an aftermath photo but it’s probably for the best because it was bad.

They badly built what looks like lounge rooms downstairs. But the whole are downstairs area was pretty muck a junk yard.

Oh, our mistletoe was still hanging up. I bet it launched a lot of kisses.

I’ll never forget the day we lifted the super industrial air condition unit up on the rooftop. It was insanely crazy and scary. We had to set it on top of a shit ton of pallets in order for Ray and his dad to reach it. Ray had originally wanted to tie the heavy unit to a rope and pull it up. That made no fucking sense to me so I walked over to the Chinese produce factory and asked if they would help us out with their fork lift. It took some per swaying but my charm won in the end.

There were more pallets than what you see here. Trust me, people came out of their buildings to watch. It was totally wobbly and insanely scary.

Oh course it wasn’t only us that sweat for this building,

we put our loved ones to work too.

Kola did a lot of supervising.

Of course it wasn’t all hard work. I miss our parties

Drinking wine on the rooftop.

Having friends over to play pool. Hell, I miss having friends.

I even miss the skaters.

It was definitely an experience. But I gotta tell ya, I’m so glad it’s over.

The End.

Ahhh, I hate it when my eyes are closed? That always seems to happen to me. During our trip to California we stayed with my sister Lana and her husband Kevin. Luckily for us they just moved to Walnut Creek about a month ago. Lucky for them we extended our trip so they got to see us a lot longer than expected. I was telling Ray the other day that if his work ever brings us back to the bay area then we would be looking for a place in Walnut Creek. No more renovations in Oakland or freezing my ass off in San Francisco, or long commutes from Vacaville. Nope we would be going straight to the East Bay. Walnut Creek is a great place, only 20 minutes from the city and it’s always clean, not as cold, and the home town where my boobs magically appeared for $6000 . I’m really happy for Lana and Kevin because they seem to love it too.

One good thing that came out of my marrying Brandon was all the wonderful friends that I met because of where we were stationed, being in the military and all. I didn’t actually meet anyone of any importance through him because we’ll he was gone all the time. We lived in Fairfield and I worked in the next town over, Vacaville.  I have made a lot of great great friends there and so many wonderful memories to go along. Since we were so close now, just under an hour drive, I decided to give everyone whose anyone a call to meet up for dinner. At first I was slightly disappointed because it seemed as though everyone was too busy but what could I expect with my late notice and all. However, the night ended up being a huge success and what I thought was going to be a small event ended up growing to be an all night extravaganza.

Monica came late, but the important thing is that she showed up. I don’t even care that she was drunk when she appeared, that actually put a smile on my face.

These are my Burning Man friends, Victor and Luu, and Victor’s new girlfriend, Jennifer, who is a huge upgrade from his last bogus ex-girlfriend may I add. If he doesn’t keep her I might have to take her back to Texas with me and make her my new BFF. “Once a burner always a burner,” this is true. Although I’ve only been there once in my life I was there every year after in spirit. I think Burning Man creates a tight bond between you and those you go with because your out in the desert for a whole week sharing and this amazing experience with them. It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Becks came to see me for a little bit and my night would have pretty much sucked if I didn’t get to see her at all. So that short 20 minutes made all the difference in the world Becks!

Originally Christina, Sammy and Monica were the only ones who could manage to come on such late notice. It’s a funny thing because I haven’t talked to Christina and Sammy in years. We were the closest of friends a few years back but we had a falling out and just basically deceased our friendship. Just recently we started messaging via MySpace and being the new year and all I decided to give them a call and start the year off with a positive attitude and energy by reconnecting with old friends. I was kinda glad it was going to be just them at first because it would give us a chance to make amends in person and catch up but then everyone started calling back, one thing led to another and the next thing I know I’m popular again.

This is Cammie’s husband Eric and his friend Josh. Cammie couldn’t make it because she was in busy in Texas doing time in the Reserves. I’m so glad that Eric and Josh decided to come though because they came early and put our name on the long ass waiting list. It was really nice to see Eric, even without Cammie.

This is me and my husband, Ray Hernandez. I love him very much.

After dinner we all headed to Star’s. Star’s is a large bar/pool hall/bowling alley/wild milf dance floor.

This is Justin and his girl Tiffany. I went to Burning Man with Justin and we’ve been the best of buds since. He met Tiffany the following year at Burning Man, about the same time I met Ray.

I think me and Tiff would be the best of buds if we lived a lot closer.

But it seems as though me and Christina are again. Yay!

Sammy heard that I was in town so he drove all the way from San Francisco to see me.

This is my friend Amy, cutie in the hat, who was also a really good friend of mine back in the days.

Another funny thing is that Lou called me up very recently the other day. I hadn’t talked to him in years and most of my memories of him are from Burning Man and a few random crazy events after. He’s an awesome guy, definitely a character and now he’s my friend on FaceBook.

Star’s was awesome. I felt bad because I left Ray alone to fend for himself several times throughout the night. I just kept running into people I knew that I haven’t seen in a while. After Star’s Monica took us to a random house party, you know the kind where there’s at least two beer pong tournament going on in the garage. It was cool because I saw more old friends there too, most of them I couldn’t remember their names though. I hate it when that happens.

On our way to California Ray and I are contemplating places we have to go or see before we head back to Texas. The sad part is that the only thing that crosses our minds is Nara, the most delrishious sushi restaurant in all of San Francisco. I guess when one has seen and done all that there is to do the only thing left is to eat.
Earlier that day we met up with Todd at an internet cafe. He’s just a happy go lucky guy so it’s always a treat to see him.

It was definitely a nice surprise to see Robin as well because we weren’t so sure if she would be able to make it because Beau had mentioned that she had some prior arrangements to attend but I think she might have broke them on our account. If so, thank you very much Robin. It is always a pleasure to see you.

After dinner we took our full bellies on a walk to The Tavern. It happens to be the place where Ray husseled himself a date with me and the place where Bea and Robin met. Many fond memories were made at The Tavern. You should go there and make some right now.

Evan and Beau wait their turn on the pool table.

Marci didn’t make it to sushi but she did meet up with us later on and she brought a friend and he’s a lot older than us, but very nice.

BFF’s forever.

Just for old time sakes we went to Pizza Pino at the end of the night. Still taste so good after a few beers.

You know how Ray and I travel a lot, well, yeah. There’s just always somewhere to go, some other thing to take care of. This time we headed to the bay area in California to take care of and finalize the old warehouse we’ve been subletting for the past 2 years. All I can say is that I’m so glad it’s run its course because it has been just a huge learning experience and a lot more stress than I had bargained for.

We have a lot of friends in the Bay Area so we took full advantage of our trip and tried to pencil everyone we could into our short visit. We had dinner and game nite at the Miller’s. I think we had Mexican.

First time I played Apples to Apples some card game that makes a really fun drinking game. By the way, is it me or does Beau look like  he’s 12 here?

We didn’t stop at our drunken card game. Oh no, after that we tackled the Wii.

Chris is about to do the hula hoop. Not so sexy when boys do it.

Chris Miller Does the Hula Hoop On Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Marci Does The Hula Hoop On Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Ray Does The Hula Hoop on Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Beau Does The Hula Hoop On Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Doan Does The Hula Hoop On Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Beau Does Pilates On Nintendo Wii from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

It’s been a while since I got to hang out with Marci. It’s good to know that she hasn’t been corrupted my Chris Miller.

So remember the trip we took to California earlier this year. It was such a great trip but I left out one event, dinner at Christina and Sammy’s.   It’s been years since I’ve seen these two and to see them twice in one trip was a nice treat. And they surprised me with Jen which was like a bonus on top of a bonus. And she brought her camera, bonus, since it was the one time that I happen to forget mine. I just had to wait for her photos to make to it to Facebook so I can steal them off her.

Wine and dessert just completes a meal.

Group photo, minus Moe.

Sammy and I.

Seeing these photos made me sad to think that we ever fought. We went from seeing each other all the time to not talking for like three years. I guess that’s another life lesson. Grudges are stupid and only hold you back. I’m not gonna lie, I still hold grudges, but not as bad or long.

Um, that’s chocolate cake on my teeth by the way.

It was almost a year ago that I started my first post on this blog, January 9th 2008. Since then I’ve written 121 post. I don’t really know who’s all reading it, but it sure has made my hand written journaling take back seat.

I cut my hair super short for the first time ever. It was kinda cute wasn’t it?

Ray got a new iPhone.

Ray and I ran in The Annual Great Aloha Run, just a little over 8 miles, and we all know eight is a good number to start with.

We voted for our first time for the Democratic Party. But just for the record, once Hillary was out of the election Ray and I voted again for our first time for President for Obama of course.

Ray bought me my first brand new computer. Mac 4 life baby!

MyBabyOurBaby Launched.

We finally found the dock where Lost, our favorite television series, was filmed at. We searched the island for it forever.

We went camping at Melekahana, our first time camping in Hawaii and Ray’s first time ever. He’s not a fan.

Rocked out at the Kokua Festival, a festival Jack Johnson puts on every year in Hawaii.

CheapPlacesToEatInOahuHawaii.com, my blog had become a major hit and one of Hawaii’s most popular food blog websites.

I called some lady a cunt on my last day of work, because she was.

We got to swim with dolphins.

We moved back to the main land, California first.

Ray got to meet some of my extended family.

Tried wake boarding for the first time.

Got to ride dirk bikes again.

Moved to Austin

Where we met the Semmlers, Shane’s older brother and his family and now mine.

Kidnapped Kuya Ben’s dogs.

Found the Agave Homes and fell in love.

Ray introduced me to Marcos. He works for NASA.

Went to our first roller derby.

Spent Bachelorette week in Florida with my best bud Jack Mother Fucking Dogg with a double G.

Got married, 080808.

Got my first tattoo with my old crew from V-Town.

Traveled to New York, but just for a couple of months.

I stopped eating meat.

Met Guav Mom and the Roses and I have to tell you I’m a fan. Hope we get to see them again soon.

I got to freelanced at Jimmy Z’s, thanks to Bea.

We got to be extras in Friday Night Lights.

I almost died from pneumonia.

I met the Semmler’s, the rest of Shane’s family, and now mine as well and went to my first professional basketball game. Go Mavericks!

As you can see I love recording my life and 2008 was a year worth recording. There was a lot of cherry popping going on and I got to meet a lot of people that will be in my life for the long haul. We also moved around a lot, Hawaii, California, Austin, New York, Dallas. Things are just never boring with us. I’m looking forward to a healthy, happy and prosperous year for 2009. I know great things are to come.

Ray and I are headed back to Dallas this time to move our boat. You see it was at Kuya Ben’s house, but Ben’s getting ready to empty his house so he can sell it. Fortunately, dad has a friend at work that agreed to have it stored at his place. We met dad at Ben’s where we had to pry the back gate open to retrieve our boat, hooked the boat onto dad’s truck, tow it back to dad’s house, where he towed it to work that night and then to his friends house in the morning after work.

It was suppose to be a one day event for us so I only brought one extra underwares and a set of sleep clothes just in case. Of course I should of known better and brought more stuff. We ended up staying 3 days and I was stuck wearing the same sexy outfit. On the first night we hung out with John Broom and his girl Penny Kim. We went to her new her new apartment where she had hot, delicious cookies waiting to be eaten and watched a movie that didn’t suck at all, Wackness. You should check it out, especially you, Shane Semmler.

The next day we had lunch at a really great Greek Restaurant with Steven Ray. Though we don’t see him often he’s one of my favorites that I met through Ray. He’s always so happy and just a really nice guy. He also has a beautiful wife whom I met once at our wedding and she is equally as pleasant.

That night Rare Medium was meeting up at Chuy’s for dinner. Rare Medium is nonexistent now but a lot of the co-workers still manage to stay in touch. It was Ray’s first job as an intern and the start of his web design career. It was also just a really great place to work, I know because I had heard it from Ray several times and now I was hearing it from everyone else as they reminisce of the good o days at Rare.

Tish and Robert

Derek and his girlfriend.

Mary and Kara

Everybody loves Elvis.

Me and my husband.

Robert and Ray

Robert and Me

I don’t remember the last time I had closed the house down but we did that night. I wasn’t the only one with the camera this time so after we all did a quick photo shoot we all bid one another fare well and parted ways. Hope I see these guys again, they were a lot of fun.

While some people make new year resolutions, my baby just likes to start the year off with a clean slate, a clean, soft, and smooth as a babies ass slate.

I think it’s his way of cleansing. You know how some people have garage sales, donate their clothes to charity, or just throw out any unnecessary items. Ray cleanses himself of his filthy sins by shaving his beard and mustache.

Hey don’t judge him. While you may not think this to be so courageous, it most certainly is. It has been over 10 years since my honey has had a smooth ass face, literally, depending on whose ass.

And he really took off his stache . . . seriously? You know what that means, no more mustache rides for me. Ah, well, I’ve used up all my quarters on laundry anyhow.

Tell me Sancho, how do you feel? Do you feel liberated? Free? Like you’ve been given another chance at life? A new person starting off with a clean slate? I tell you what, when I kiss you it feels like I’m kissing a new person if that makes you feel any better. Maybe we can trade in those mustache rides for some role play action. Come here and kiss me you fool you.

Every year for the holidays Ray and I will switch off. For example, one year we’ll spend Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with his and the following year we’ll spend Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine. We timed it perfect to where Bea and Guav end up being in town too because they do the same switcheroo but only with Christmas.

Christmas in Dallas goes for several days and holds many events. Since marrying Ray I’ve seemed to have married into several other families as well and we have to manage our schedule accordingly so that we’re able to fit everyone who’s anyone in. It was the first Christmas in Dallas where Ray didn’t get to spend with his BFF Chris Miller. However we did spontaneously run into them at the Gallery Mall and ended up having lunch with them.

Shane Semmler was in town from Hawaii. Yay! I happen to miss Shane very much and have never met his parents but he use to always speak very highly of them so I was looking forward to meeting them along with the rest of his family. He was in Austin during the time I was in the hospital and paid me a visit then. After several attempts of trying to reach Shane via phone while we were in Dallas we decided to pay him a surprise visit. We got there at the perfect time because as soon as we arrived was the exact moment that they were planning on going out to eat. So of course we joined them and then went back to the Semmler’s home and watched a video his parents put together every year of the family for the family. There was even a photo of Ray and I in the video. Yay, see we are family too! We also played Rock Band where I failed miserably at singing Living On a Prayer by Bon Jovi.

The Semmler’s loved me so much they invited us to join them at what would be my first Mavericks game the very next day. It was so exciting at first, the stadium was so big, lights were flashing, and music so loud with the hot dancers shaking there ass on the court below. Yes, yes Go Mavericks!

I think Shane is a spitting image of his dad.

A little blurry because I was trying to find the right setting on my camera but here is Ray and Shane being a goof ball.

Mavericks fans.

It was a sad game at first, so sad that I was embarrassed to be a Maverick fan but then I remembered that I was at home stadium. Luckily they ended up winning in the end, not by much though, it was a close game.

The next day was the Eve of Christmas and what better day to shop and what better place than Wal*Mart. Yeah, especially when Christmas at the TalPlacido’s was going to be that night. You know I wasn’t the brains of this operation. I have two words, Kuya Ben. Bea and Ray are testing out the bikes Santa’s gonna get for Cloe and Lyric with Ben’s money. Speaking of Santa, Cloe came up to me earlier and said Santa wasn’t real. I asked her who told her that and she said I did when they were down visiting us. I did? Oh, yeah, I did, didn’t I? Let this be a lesson to all of you. Think twice before you have Aunt Doe babysit.

This is Chrismas at the TalPlacidos.

Christmas At The TalPlacido’s from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

LEGOS! He was real excited about his present.

Christmas is all about the kids, it was no different here.

Look what Santa got the rug rats.

Look What Santa Got the Lyric and Cloe from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Even Nyny got a present, and if you look in the background Papa’s got a brand new plasma.

Ny Ny We Got You A Present from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Me and Bea. Photo by Guav Gauvin.

Christmas day was spent at Aunt Dora and her husband Todd’s home. I was a bit disappointed this year because there was no pineapple cake. I’ve been looking forward to this cake all year long and the maker of the cake happen to be sick. Sheesh, the nerve.

Aunt Dora is truly one of the nicest people I know. Every time I go over to her house she has several presents for me. She’s the type that goes Christmas shopping the day after Christmas and then every other weekend just for presents for the fuck of it so when some one comes over there will be a present for them. Look at how many presents she bought for her brother Ray alone.

Dad’s got a brand new jacket.

Nick’s got brand new money.

Aunt Dora got an angel.

Todd and I are the photographers.

Aunt Dora made sure she had several presents for everyone that arrived. Nick bought his girlfriend and his girlfriend brought her sister and she brought her boyfriend.

Uncle Ray brought his new girlfriend and her son.

Aunt Dora and Todd take time to pose for a photo.

Ray looks handsome wearing a tie.

Grandpa was there too.

The next day we went to Guav’s favorite store in Texas, Fry’s, home of anything and everything electric.

That night Ray and I toilet papered Kuya Ben’s car as payback for the last time he and Bea toilet papered our car on Random Ass Day.

Our first attempt was a failed disaster so we merely drove back to 711, bought some more toilet paper and a gallon of water and just threw wet bombs at his car. The funny thing is, no one cleaned it up the next day and they just drove off with it like that and let the wind blow it off.

Bea and Guav drove back to Austin with us in Ben’s car to help unload the washer and dryers we bought off Kuya Ben and a bunch of random other stuff we got for free. We grabbed dinner at a local Indian Vegetarian place I’ve been meaning to try out. Ray didn’t like it but it’s okay because all the non-eating meat folks did. Ray also got a ticket that night, two actually, because he was driving Kuya Ben’s car which happens to be expired on inspection and registration. The next day we headed back to Dallas ready to celebrate the New Year.

So during my whole stay at the hospital I kept in contact with my family. They were so worried that they kept contemplating if they should drive down to see me or not. I really wanted them to but didn’t want to push it. I know driving from California is not easy and if your wondering why they just didn’t fly since that certainly is easier than driving, it’s because they they are fruggle, very much like me, or I’m like them. But in the end they ended up loading their car up and heading east bound to Austin Texas. Ahhhh, it certainly feels good to be loved.

My mother cooked for us everyday. I loved it.

I taught my dad how to navigate around on my laptop. He still struggles with it.

I didn’t take a lot of photos while they were down visiting, probably because I was being cared for most of the time. When I was feeling well Ray and I took my parents to Zilker Botanical Garden’s. How cute are my parents in this photo?

My adorable little sis.

Me and Kola. By the way, here’s a better photo of me and my new hairdo. I cut short ass bangs and about an inch off of the front of the sides so it was even with the rest of my hair instead of sloped. Did it all by myself one day to release some anger. It’s only hair, it’ll grow back if I don’t like it right, but right now I’m kinda digging it.

My dad got down on his knees to pose with the flowers.

Me, dad, and Kola stop at a bench for a photo shoot

Our little family.

My mom and Selena.

Taking a stroll.

Me and my sister, but the funny part is my dad in the back ground. He’s picking plants up off the ground and planning on planting them back home.

Now look at him, he’s posing with them. What a goof ball.

I don’t know why he even wants them, they look like tiny birds nest.

Looks like this photo is taken from up top but no, Ray’s just tall, especially compared to little Asian people. I love this photo because while I’m trying to secretly be in their photo my dad is still picking up plants off the floor that fell from the branches of trees.

Don’t know why there’s one dino in the front of the botanical garden, but there is and I kinda dig it.

Afterwards we all went to the mall. Hey Austin does have a mall. Ray and I have been trying to figure that out since we’ve moved here.

Coming here was risky because my dad loves to take photos inside the mall, especially during Christmas time. I think it’s all the decoration and lights that put him in the spirit.

And just like that they’re heading back but before they do they make a stop at H.E.B. for some water. I begged and pleaded for them not to go but in the end I got tired of begging. My mother had things to do back home. It’s not often I get to see them. I love them so much for coming all this way to see me and I love that my mom is such a mom and cooks, cleans, and takes care of me. It was nice.

Ben runs away from his cunt wife and he brings along his kids, Lyric and Cloe. In an effort to keep them entertained and occupy all of our time we took them to the Austin Children’s Museum.

Ray will take any nipples he can get his filthy hands on.

Lyric took off with Ben and Ray while Cloe and I explored the museum together.

Kuya Ben I’m glad your not a cowboy.

Builder Bob.

Me and my Kuya Ben. Oh, by the way, I cut my hair myself and gave me some bangs. Just thought I mention that since this is the first photo of my hair cut.

Ben goes grocery shopping.

Hmmm, I wonder why this little girl doesn’t have to pay.

Ray is having lots of fun.

Later we go grab so lunch. Look at all the busy little workers they have back there. Three words, child labor laws.

Hey can I get some service here. I’m famished.

Yum, I love plastic ice cream.

Ray and I were extras in Friday Night Lights. They gave us props like the pom pom you see in my hand, Ray’s yellow scarf, my yellow sweater, and Ray’s black coat, which he decided to take back home with him as a little souvenir. The turn out for extras was low so we had to play fan’s on both the opposing team and home team. Black clothes was for the opposing team. Booooo!

We met a friend that day, Lynn Greenfield. She drove hours just to be an extra and all by herself.

Scoreboard.

Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke.

Fans for the home team.

Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins.

Brad Leland as Buddy Garrity.

Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen.

Jeremy Sumpter as J.D. McCoy.

Connie Britton as Tami Taylor.

Not the best photo but it was the best shot I had. Adrianne Palicki asTyra Collette sitting next to Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity (in the red hat).

Again not the best photo but it’s what I could take. Connie Britton next to Aimee Teegarden as Julie Taylor (curly blond chic).

Kyle Chandler, Taylor Kitsch, Zach Gilford, Jesse Plemons giving away a signed T-shirt as a raffle prize.

Me and Lynn.

Those who stayed till the end got free pizza.

Oh, and some douche bag asked his girl to marry him. Yeah, real original dude.

So the first half of the game they get their ass handed to them. In the second half they make a come back and make you think that they have a chance to win it but in the end they remain losers. The end.

Ray stole a sweater, I took a pom pom, we made a friend but haven’t spoken to her since we met so I guess it’s safe to say we had a friend for a day, Ray got free pizza and we both made a whopping $114.75 for like 10 hours.

Every time we take a visit to Dallas we try to pay a visit to grandma and grandpa.

It’s Elijah’s birthday and what was suppose to be a father and son trip turned out to be the Rose’s, Gauvin’s, Hernandez’s and who ever else wants to tag along. Yay! Happy Birthday kid. Let’s do this shit up right.

We went to the Museum of Natural History. Not only was this the coolest place to take a little boy for his birthday, but it was also the coolest place for grown ups to go on any day.

They even had a whole section dedicated to the dopest people that ever lived.

Poser.

We took a shit ton of photos of dinosaur bones and what ever else caught our eye.

Aaaahhhhh!

Taking a photo of my hubby.

Seriously, look at the size of the dinosaur compared to us. Kinda glad they’re not around anymore.

Bea’s in training.

So afterwards we headed for the next coolest place to take a kid on their birthday, F.A.O Schwarz.

It was a pretty night for a walk.

I’m a thinker.

And a fighter.

And then we went to one of the raddest places to eat, especially if your a vegetarian, Pukk.

We’ve been here for almost two months now, how are we just finding out about this place?

Awe, I think baby Judah likes Pigg.

We passed baby Judah around for a photo shoot.

Toy Tokyo was next.

I like Pigg.

I like Boe-Bot too.

The boys are waiting outside while the girls get some sesame covered chocolate balls. Yummy!

Back at the subway on our way back home.

Elijah can’t wait to play with his new toys.

And this is where Sue and I almost kicked the shit out of a classic douche bag inside of Cold Stone Creamery. What a fucking asshole he was.

The next day a ninja attacked Elijah.

But he fought back.

Our car got broken into.

Yes you heard that right. On the day Ray and I planned on going home, someone breaks into our car to steal my boyfriend Tom Tom. Now who am I to talk to when I drive? Well I guess things could of been worse. At least they didn’t steal the car. Sad window on the ground.

Well I guess we’ll be heading to the city with all of you.

The champion. Can I get some Rocky music please.

Nothing like vegan dim sum to start the day off.

Kid Robot is expensive but very cool.

It takes two men to change one diaper.

Back at the sub way.

The next day was a very sad day because Ray and I packed our bags and headed back home after two months. Living with Bea and Guav was awesome. There’s not a lot of people I can live that long with but with them it was more like living with family. I miss cooking with Bea and waiting for Guav to come home because he was always the last to get in. Meeting the Roses was a treat. They are definitely my new favorite peeps. I just wish they lived closer because I could use more friends like Sue around. I would totally kick the shit out of anyone with her. I love all of you and thanks for an awesome experience.

The weekend came and were headed upstate to Syracuse where Ray and I finally got to meet Sue, D.J. and all their lovely offspring.

This is baby Judah. He’s the newest addition to the Rose family and he’s also Bea’s Godchild. I think I love him.

Yes Kola, I love you too.

D.J. is the owner of a very cool tattoo shop called Halo Tattoos.

I got a free T-shirt just for coming.

Can you spot Kola?

The crazy boys.

Sue’s can cook a mean meal.

Everybody agrees, it’s delrishious!

Gay boys like to snuggle on the couch.

Scrabble fun.

Early next morning Bea and I had our priorities straight. We headed straight to the ATM and patiently waited for our husbands to hand over some funds for our flee market extravaganza. It was amazing.

Later on that day we took a road trip to Ithaca. Ithaca’s gangster, at least that’s what I read somewhere once, Think it was on a T-shirt.

Shortstop Deli, an incredible place to get sandwiches. Ray couldn’t wait to come here.

Sue is beautiful and breast feeding.

My happy dance. You taking notes Guav?

It wouldn’t be the same without Kola.

I’m like so vintage.

My Be-Bot.

Ray loves sandwiches.

This is where Bea and Guav got married.

It was breathtaking.

I heard a troll lives somewhere up here.

Heart hug.

Guav’s the man.

I like it here.

The foxy ladies.

D.J. and sleepy Judah.

Fuck Yeah!

Very nice.

Photowhore.

Alone and deserted. Photo by Guav.

Just chilling.

Wish they lived closer.

Me and my husband.

Onward Bilbo Baggins

Love it.

Rocky.

Gangsta.

Fall time fun.

Bea is literally trying to knock Ray in his ass. Get him Bea, get him good.

GuavMom. She’s a sweetheart.

Mother and son.

Bringing the night to an end at a local cafe.

Awesome photo of Bea and Guav.

Ray is a man of mystery.

Sue and D.J. drove back home that night and we did too. The End.

When I think of New York I think of the Statue of Liberty. She’s just one of the great land marks that I associate with New York so when we decided that we were going to come here the number one thing on my list to do was to get inside Miss Liberty, as deep, or in this case as high as I am allowed to go and look out into the vast horizon so I could see what see sees and scream, “Dun da da dun – FUCK YEAH!.”

We took off from the port of Jersey from what once use to be an old train station. It was really cool because everything looked really historic and I envisioned how it once must of been liked. I sent Ray back to the car to get my jacket; there’s always something I forget. When he returned the security guys were dicks. I’m just glad it didn’t ruin our day because it could of easily ruined anybody else’s day.

The cruise ship brought us straight to Ellis Island, which was a nice surprise because we had no intentions of going there.

Ellis Island was cool. It’s sad but I’ve never heard of it before the movie, Hitch, with Will Smith. It’s definitely a place I would bring my family back so we all could learn about and have a greater appreciation for our history and the perseverance and hardships many had to endure to come here. It would of been great to stay longer but not today; we had 40 minutes till the last ship takes us to Miss Liberty.

Super high ceilings.

On the internet it said to give yourself a good 3 hours to be able to fully take in everything here.

Hey, they had candy for sale. Sweet!

Checking Out the Statue of Liberty through a window.

Ellis Island is pretty awesome but it was time to take off.

Don’t your worry your pretty little head, we’ll be back.

And now we’re off to see the Statue of Liberty.

Bad news. When we got there they told us that the Statue of Liberty was closed. Seriously, shouldn’t they tell us that before they take our money. It’s just so shady to take our money but not tell us it’s going to be closed when we get there. WTF!*?

So we had to choice but to shit in a brown paper bag, light it on fire and chuck it straight at Miss Liberty’s pretty little face, but the bitch was too tall so Ray did fingered her instead.

Jumping photo.

The city isn’t too far off.

Since we weren’t able to go inside of her we walked around her and took photos of her from every angle possible.

We made it back to just in time to dock.

It was windy on the ride back.

So long, fair well.

And now were back in Jersey.

It was so sad to see him go but I’m just happy he ended up staying a week longer than he originally intended to. I pleaded for him to stay but then I thought about it and since we’ve moved to Texas we see Kuya Ben more than anyone else these days so I’m not so sad anymore.

I think we had a pretty fun filled time during Kuya Ben’s stay. Bea made some delicious spring rolls and all got hands on training on how to roll. We were rolling with the homies, get it . . . rolling with the homies. Yeah, anyhow . . .

Bea – “Please Kuya Ben don’t go.”

Ray – “Fuck you Kuya Ben.”

Ray’s on his way out the door. Guav and Bea stay behind to clean their beautiful new home.

Peace out Kuya Ben. We’ll see you in Texas soon I’m sure.

Yay! It’s game night. Tonight we play Dallas Monopoly. The last time I played monopoly was a long, long time ago and if you’ve ever played monopoly then you’ll know that you’d better not have any plans afterward because it’s a long ass game. And if you don’t negotiate properties, as you see Bea doing here, then the game will only be even longer.

Monopoly Negotiations from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Kuya Ben stop being such a dick and just trade with Ray.

Guav made everyone use the dice on his iPhone.

He also had to kick like a cheerleader or pay 50 dollars.  He kicked like a cheerleader and even gave us a cheer – “Whose the best, B-E-A, Bea. Yay!” It was more than we bargained for.

Guav Is a CheerLeader from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

First Ray was out, then Bea, and then Guav. Finally it was down to me and Ben. Ben had a good strategy, he just stayed in jail most of the time so he didn’t have to pay while everyone just landed on his property.

The game lasted a really really long time. But in the end I am champion with almost 9 thousand dollars left.

My Sleeping Beauties from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Now that Jackie’s gone we could start having some real fun. See, Bea’s having lots of fun here.

We scurried back to the city because this was suppose to be Ben’s last day so we wanted to make the most of it.

I think Bea’s talking to Guav. He’s been working late.

Um, Kuya Ben, I’m kinda busy.

Hey he’s Philippino

Close up

New York is pretty.

Checking out Rockefeller Park.

Close up.

Subway Gangstas.

Grabbing dinner at cute restaurant called Republic.

I won’t hesitate to bust a cap in yo ass.

Bea’s bad ass. This is actually Ray’s new wallet that Bea design, but Bea’s still bad ass.

Checking things out.

Catching a flick in Time Square where Guav will be meeting us.

Tasty treats and I didn’t even have to sneak em in.

In New York the possibilities are endless. So when it comes to things to do, it’s best to always have some kind of idea of what it is you want to do. Today we had big plans of having a picnic in Central Park, rowing in boats and of course playing by ear because what’s meant to be will always find a way… All I know is that whatever happens today, it’s gonna be a fucking blast.

Everyone is on there way to the Light Rail. Oh, and you know we had to bring Lil Kola Bud with us too.

In the subway.

Guav – “Stop hurting my Kuya Ben, Ray.”

We made a quick stop at Whole Foods for some picnic food. I got kicked out because I had Kola with me and Bea being the sweet pea that she is came with me so I didn’t have to wait alone. Me being the bitch that I am left her with Kola and went back in to get some food.

It was a gorgeous day today, perfect for a picnic in the park.

Apparently we weren’t the only ones that were out today. The park was full of energy and life.

Kuya Ben really gets in the zone when he eats

I’m happy.

So is Guav.

Kola too.

Snuggle time.

After our picnic we take a stroll through Central Park and walk right into a roller rink right in the middle of the path. It was totally random.

Seriously, there were all kinds of characters skating here today. I love eccentric people.

It was pretty packed at the park today so my family stood on top of a rock so they can check out all the action.

We keep on keep it on down the path and I spot a rainbow dude in a dress and a very big beard talking to 3 guys. WTF?

He even had a dog to match.

I still think Ray and Kola are way cuter.

We also came upon a group of kids and hula hoops. I had to stop and show those brats how it’s done.

Doan Can Do The Hula Hoop from Doan Chung on Vimeo.

Now we’re on our way to the boats. I can’t wait to start rowing. We’ve already decided that it’s gonna be the boys against the girls and they’re going to get their asses handed to them.

The sexy ladies.

Dun da da dun . . . FUCK YEAH!

How pretty is this. Day’s like this make me love life.

I love Ray too.

Ahh Shit! We didn’t make it in time, the last boat took off at 5:00. We’re just too slow. No worries. This is where we just play it by ear . Today we are travelers today and go where the wind takes us.

I think Guav loves Kola.

I think Bea loves Kola too.

Ben and Bea climbed a rock just to take a photo. Dun da da dun, FUCK YEAH!

We left the park and cruised the wild streets of New York. Lots of taxis.

New York has a lot of interesting things to look at.

Doan – “Hey you, stop taking photos of me and my friends. Let’s get him Jack.”

We’re gonna kick your ass!

Lots of high buildings around here.

Awe, I think they love each other.

Time Square is amazing at night.

Elmo hates Kuya Ben.

Of all the places we decide to go we pick Toys R Us.

I don’t know what this is on my head, but it feel magnificent.

Guav – “Hey man, you think you can stop taking photos of me and little dude, Your fucking with my reputation.”

Spider Man hates Jackie.

There’s always someone sleeping on the subway, today it was Ben.

It was getting late so we headed to Hoboken to grab a bite to eat and play Skip-bo, a card game Jack got me into.

Quit checking out my cards you cheater.

I don’t think Guav would function without his iPhone.

And then we all went home. Good Nite.

Hey the whole family is here now, it’s a gorgeous day and the weekend just started so ready or not New York here we come.

At the start of our commute, waiting for the Light Rail.

The Light Rail took us to Hoboken where we stayed a bit to strike a pose.

While others took the time to relax.

Jackie just makes me happy.

Siblings, I love that they love each other.

Bad Boys . . .

Lip gloss rocks!

The Path took us straight to Ground Zero. You can check it out through a mesh screen.

Escalator fun. Wake up Ben.

I was trying to get everyone to pose like they were in a boy band.

As soon as Ben saw the first food vendor on the street he went straight for it.

He’s in the zone.

Jackie int the Big Apple.

Steps have great potential for a photo shoots.

It’s music band cover time.

Boys waiting for the girls to finish shopping, and waiting and waiting and waiting . . .

Look, Guav’s pooping out a pole.

We ran into a art show in an open building. I absolutely love this one. Ray make me a duplicate now.

I love this one too because I have hard nipples for Barack Obama.

I believe this piece was found walking the streets but I love it just as much.

Ray loves burgers.

It’s like looking through window blinds.

Jackie is pretty.

This is where Bea got her tatts.

We make a great team, and we’re cute too. It is about the time Bea and Guav ditched us for a wedding.

Close up photo time. Me.

Jack Mother Fucking Dogg with a double G.

Kuya Ben. Kuya is Filipino means stinky big brother.

He’s even adorable when he doesn’t smile.

After sushi we went across the street to a cute little bar where they were having a two for one special.

We stayed a bit.

And had some drinks.

Usually when Ben disappears it’s because he’s on the phone with Mabel.

After drinks the three of them shared an ice-cream cone. I wanted some but I’ve been going strong with not consuming any dairy and I’m not going have a little delicious ice-cream fuck it up for me.

Ray found a sad bike on the way to Aaron and Spencer’s house so we took a photo so Guav could mourn. Um, a moment of silence please . . .

Jackie found a happy bike and she was drunk so she tried to talk me into getting inside the basket. Your tactics won’t work on me Jack, besides, I’m not drunk yet.

It’s a good thing that bike is locked to that meter, otherwise you might of had an accident.

Skipping is always so fun after a few drinks.

Ask Ben, he knows.

Ray’s pizza.

Me and Jack

Sexy people smile.

We made it to Aaron’s house. I don’t know him but he’s not very good at pushing. Aaron use to be Ray’s neighbor in Dallas. It’s a small world.

They look so intrigued.

This is Aaron and Spencer’s first photo together and now it’s on the internet for all to see. Awesome, never trust the Chinese guys. Look guys, he’s got 60 bucks.

At the bar.

Whoa, slow down Ben.

Sexy ladies should never have to pay for drinks.

Seriously Ben, what are you doing?

We’re not drunk at all, swear.

She likes kisses.

So does Ray.

After drinks we went out in search for ice-cream. We love ice-cream.

Yay! Bea’s here.

On the way home we stopped to get some delicious fries; they make great drunk food.

Good night.

Ben arrived a day before Jack.  Luckily he brought his Mac so we didn’t have to entertain him.

Bea and Guav took us to a restaurant called Soul Flavors Inc. that gave me a whole new perspective on Southern cuisine. It was definitely the best and nicest Southern food I’ve ever had but also the priciest.

Kuya Ben loves me.

Unfortunately we had to rush out of there to pick Jack up at the airport.  Peace out.

When we got home we had a fun filled night of scrabble.  Jack and I almost had em, but we got passed up by Ray and Guav towards the end. Whatever I still think felp is a word.

Speechless

Seriously, my tits aren’t this big in real life; I don’t know, perhaps it’s the angle of the camera or the two layer tank top but I really don’t think I’m this top heavy in real life. Just for the record I really wanted to make that clear. Anyhow, this the amazing view of New York you get when you get off the Light Rail.

And then from there you take the Path subway into the city.

If you go at the right time you’ll miss the crowds.

DKNY ad. New York is filled with ads, everywhere.

Wow, cops really ride on horses here. Words of Wisdom: if your running from the cops head straight into a department store. The horses aren’t allowed in there.

A new sky rise is in the works.

One thing I love about New York is that they have a lot of buildings that look historic.

I don’t know why, but my bladder has been out of control since we left Austin. And one thing I hate about New York is that there isn’t a whole lot of public restrooms. Luckily there’s the big, corporations that allow you to use their facilities free of charge and hassle-free. One of them being Whole Foods. See, big corporations aren’t all bad people. I really liked the design of this one so I had to take a photo to remember. Now if only they had free wifi, Ray and I would be here all the time.

One thing that I really like to do is to take photos of creative design that I randomly see for future inspiration. I think that’s pretty creative using a dry cleaning rack to display clothes.

Ray is so hot when he actually smiles.

We both really dig this building. There’s a cute little patio on the second floor to the left.

Ray likes this one. I think it looks cool but I’m not too crazy about small angles.

Shane-ers this one is for you. While living in Hawaii our friend Shane would make us get on our knees and bow to Mao every morning.

Sunset always gives you the best lighting for photos.

This was a cute little juice shop called Bagua, in Jersey. For some reason I have always been super impressed with small business and the execution of their design. Kudos for Buagua.

For all our help with the move Bea and Guav really wanted to take us out to a nice dinner. It wasn’t necessary, but hey I’m always down for free delicious food. Before dinner we had to make a few stops at a few department stores. Bea and Guav are in search of a new couch so we went to CB2. I think they like this one.

If Obama doesn’t win this election then I have not choice but to believe that the election is rigged and that there’s really no point in voting ever again. Until recently I have not met one single person for McCain and everywhere I go there’s Obama supporters, everywhere. Seriously, I still have yet to see a McCain bumper sticker. Hooray! Go Obama!

Bea wants this ottoman in her closet.

Bea and Guav at Red Bamboo, so far the best vegetarian restaurant I’ve been to.

Ray and I can’t wait to go back. Thanks for the delrishious food guys.