Silly...

Gerwyn's time to "shine"...

Last weekend was Gerwyn's big Salsa performance (aka recital) at his Salsa School's annual gala. He practised for two weeks straight ending in a 3 hour salsa marathon at my place the night before where he proceeded to bark out salsa moves to me that I had never heard of before. Anyway, by the end of the night my feet were aching and my patience had almost run out but he got his practise time in and was ready to perform the next day. Saturday I met up with Ev to go to Michelle and Rob's Pampered Chef party plus a quick stop at the Soriano household before the Salsa show. It was a long day but I was looking forward to seeing Gerwyn bust his Latin moves in front of everyone (including Evelyn and Huddy who came for the "hot" girls...). I would include a video of his performance here but I'm told it is not for public viewing (we'll see about that, "You Tube" link to come...). Anyway, he did an amazing job, I was so proud but the one thing that was definitely missing were his "shines"!! Or what I like to call "flourishes", the fancy moves in Salsa that involve "spirit fingers" (or magic hands as Huddy likes to call them) and the extra hip shakes. They were there in all of Gerwyn's practises but alas, not so much in his actual performance. I think he was too shy and nervous to let em loose but nevertheless, his performance was great and I was so proud! We'll have to save those "shines" for behind closed doors I guess...

D&G @ A gLANce

Thanksgiving!

Sorry its a little late but I guess I haven't had a chance to blog lately. Last weekend was Thanksgiving and Gerwyn came to my family dinner. He finally met my grandma (she cried when she met him!) and was formally introduced to all my aunts and uncles. All in all, I think it went pretty well. He managed to survive the interrogation from my uncles and I managed to survive the sex talk from my mom!! (31 years old and I finally get the sex talk! I wonder what'll happen when I'm 40!)
The next day, Gerwyn came by for some quick leftovers (he's not as afraid of my mom anymore, considering the number of times he's kissed her, its only natural by now...) and then we took a spontaneous drive to Niagara on the Lake for dinner. It was the perfect Fall day and the leaves were beautiful. We took a walk up and down the main street (can't remember the name) and then went to a restaurant for dinner and some Niagara wine. After that, we made a quick pit stop by the Falls to check out the light show and then headed home (the long way might I add since we got a little lost, lucky we had a MAP in the car! It was part of my car-warming gift to Gerwyn.)
This weekend was yet another Lazy Saturday and its been amazing as usual. Sleeping in, eating and then.... well, more sleeping of course! ;)
Tonight I'm meeting up with Sally and maybe Ev and Mel, tomorrow is Mel's birthday celebration, we're going to Big Daddy's, YUM! I love birthday celebrations, not only is it great to see everyone (especially since we don't often have the opportunity to get together with everyone) but there's CAKE! Whoo hoo, I can't wait...

Gerwyn, get back to work!

I'm stuffed!

Yesterday was my turn for Wednesday dinner. I made mushrooms stuffed with crab for an appetizer, chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and prosciutto with tomatoes stuffed with rice for an entree and profiteroles stuffed with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce for dessert! Can you guess what my theme was??? I just figured since I'm always so stuffed after every Wednesday night dinner, I might as well just embrace the idea... (I'd post a photo of my dinner but SOMEONE forgot to take a picture of the food... hmph!)

One down, two to go...

This past Saturday was my brother's wedding. It has been a very long awaited event in my family since he is the first of the three of us to go. (Not to mention a bit scandalous since my older sister is still single but we won't go there.)

Anyway, not only was this the first big family event for us, but it was also being filmed for the Food Network tv show, "I Do, Let's Eat". The camera crews were always around and as much as I tried to get into the background of every shot (they didn't appreciate my funny faces behind people's backs,) I think they were more focussed on the food. And who could blame them, there was a huge buffet of all kinds of Korean food not to mention a very fragile ice sculpture in the middle of the room. As usual, I was stuffed (even though I CLEARLY had less food on my plate than either Sally, Gerwyn or huge surprise, Susie! Who knew that girl could eat!) and then came the speeches and dancing. I was so shocked at the clear heartfelt emotion that my brother expressed that night, I honestly didn't think he had it in him. (As you can see by the expression on his face, he is not the most expressive guy.) Anyway his speech was amazing and it really showed me a different side of him. (However the next day he was back to normal, snapping at me for asking him a simple question... anyhoo moving on) The night really got started when we moved onto the dancing. I always thought my family was pretty tame, they are traditional Koreans afterall, but who knew they could dance!! And by dance, I mean sporadically throw out limbs at fast intervals not quite to the beat of the music. It was hilarious!! I've never seen my aunts and uncles like that! Besides my uncle busting out some kind of weird interpretive dance with a plate of cake, the most shocking had to be when my aunt (Hanna's mom) dragged Gerwyn by his tie onto the dancefloor with her. This was the first time they had met and they were actually dancing together... I wish I had taken a picture. I always knew my man had moves, but never in a million years could I have imagined him breaking them out with my aunt!!

The whole evening was a great success and so much fun. It was such a memorable and meaningful occassion, I was so glad to be able to share it with my friends (Sally and Susie) and especially Gerwyn. It was his first introduction to my family and I think all in all, it went pretty well. (Check out the picture of us and my mom, she's actually SMILING!!!)

Lazy Saturdays...

Ever since Gerwyn and I started dating, we've had a lot of "lazy Saturdays"; you know the days where you wake up late, go out for breakfast, come back home for a nap and then maybe go for a walk. Basically the days you just play by ear, no "to do" lists, no chores, just lazing around together. It was great but lately, we've both been really busy so our Saturdays have turned into squeezing in some together in between the tasks that need to be done (buying the FJ, going to wedding showers, going to weddings, etc). This weekend was the return of the Lazy Saturday and boy, was it nice... I actually had my first Friday alone (well, alone with Hanna and her friend) but I was able to do some things around the house that needed to be done. Gerwyn came by later (a little inebriated I might add, and he says I'M the drunk...) and we finally got to sleep in. Saturday started out a bit cloudy but by the time we got outside the sun was out and it was a perfect day to meet MelandNorm for brunch at Eggspectation. As usual I stuffed myself silly and then we did a quick tour of the mall before walking home. As per the perfect Lazy Saturday, we got home and took a nap before heading back up to the 'burbs (ie. Gerwyn's house) where we had leftovers for dinner and then bought a ton of junk food (Lays Regular chips, the 50% less salt ones, they were really good and also microwave popcorn, my favourite!) and rented a dvd (Eve and the Firehorse which was a great movie during the parts I was able to stay awake for! - Gerwyn verified that it was in fact a great movie since he watched the whole thing.) . Unfortunately we had to get up early on Sunday as per our usual routine where Gerwyn drives me to visit my grams in the morning but on this particular day he actually came INTO the house and met my mom. (It was only a quick visit, long enough for Gerwyn to showcase his extensive knowledge of Korean - 2 words, and then he left. Mom says he looks way older than me!)

The rest of Sunday was a bunch of wedding preparations for my brother's wedding next weekend. That's right, yet another busy weekend planned for next week. I love celebrating as much as the next person, but I'm starting to love the Lazy Saturday more...

The First Move. An interpretation by Gerwyn Begonia

Alright, it's my turn to blog about something blogworthy on Princess Di's Blogger. So here she goes... Lately, there's been a lot of speculation about who made the first move in our relationship. Was it Diana, was it Gerwyn, who the heck was it? Enquiring minds want to know, so let me put this disputed debate to rest and explain what really happened on that fateful night of July 29th, 2006. First of all, perception is everything, there's Diana's account of events and then basically there's the truth. Some might say that before that fateful night of canoodling, there was a series of prior events that led to that notorious moment. Take for example the FORKING incident at the cottage (July 16th). According to Diana, she was like an innocent antelope gazing in the grass, and I was like a savage lion that ambushed her from behind!!! C’mon, please… Are you serious? Who actually believes that? The truth is, I was walking up the hill towards the car, I tripped on a stone and fell on her, but thankfully her badonkadonk broke my fall. Basically she saved my life. The ensuing week consisted of an exchange of emails back and forth between Diana and I; she invited me to her birthday party at her mother’s house (July 22nd). Was it a move? I’ll leave that up to our open-minded, objective readers. As a gift, I gave her a biggantic, hunormous, collosig fork to commemorate our previous weekend at the cottage. I thought it was an innocent and funny gesture, but something in her eyes told me she thought it was something more. My suspicions were correct, because the following week consisted of flirtatious emails from Diana, asking me when I was going to wine & dine her, and if I’d like to come out for Huddy’s birthday that weekend at Century Room (July 29th). Was it another move? Again, I’ll leave that up to our unbiased readers to decide.

Thus, this brings us to the eve of that fateful night. I met up with Diana and Evelyn and we shared a cab to the club, I sat in the middle, Diana to my left and Evelyn to my right. During the ride Diana held onto my arm and rested her head on my shoulder, while Evelyn whispered, “I got her drunk just for you!” to which I happily replied, “Thanks Ev, now my work is half done!” There was definitely chemistry between us, but the cool thing is that it wasn’t weird or awkward. In fact, it was rather playful and comfortable. After a few more drinks, and a few more inhibitions out the window, we found ourselves separated from the crowd doing our own thing. We snuck away hand-in-hand (She totally initiated the hand-holding, but I’m guilty for obliging) and escaped to the patio where we did some shots and talked to strangers. We told some people we were engaged, we told others we were married, but she told everybody she was an unsatisfied women. Who does that? Anyway, I thought it was funny and I admit I was attracted to her callous whit. We laughed a lot that night, we were so silly and juvenile it cracks me up just remembering it. Somehow, later that evening we found ourselves back inside the club by an open window overlooking the patio, there was a private party just outside the window, and someone poured us a couple of drinks. We toasted the party and devoured our drinks only to have our chests burning from what felt like rubbing alcohol. However, the effects of it seemed to help drown out the noise of the club, and for awhile it seemed like it was just the two of us in our own little world. Physically, we were very close in proximity; there was the occasional brushing of arms, inadvertent body graze, and touching of cheeks as we tried to hear each other speak. Then Diana dropped a line on me that clearly gave me the signal that she was interested in something more. This is the juicy part! Are you ready folks? Gazing into my eyes, she asked, “So Gerwyn, when are you going to wine and dine me?” Cleverly I responded, “Well I suppose saving my life does warrant a meal.” Inebriated with my defenses down, I confessed that I secretly had a crush on her (This could be interpreted as a move), there was a short blur of drunken banter further exchanged between us, and then suddenly we kissed. And it wasn’t just any kiss; it was a hungry, passionate, Adam & Eve doing it for the first time kinda kiss. The kind of kiss in public that makes people say, hey get a room! As the night came to an end we walked Evelyn home, and hailed a cab back to Diana’s place. The cab ride was quite eventful! Seemingly, this is where Diana and I have extremely incongruent interpretations of that night. All I remember was her mounting me in the backseat, and the cab driver winking at me in his rearview mirror. The cabbie actually turned on some smooth grooves and before I knew it we were getting hot and heavy in the backseat! Another car pulled up beside us asking for directions, but when they realized how enthralled we were they immediately apologized for interrupting us. We were embarrassed, but Diana being the Good Samaritan that she is, unselfishly offered directions, and like a pro resumed position. I was taken aback, thinking to myself, is this the same bookworm-nerd I thought I knew? We pulled up to her condo and it was time to say goodbye, I respectfully declined her invitation to come upstairs, but redeemed myself by asking her out for what would later be branded as our very first date. The cab ride home seemed like the longest cab ride of my life as I tried to piece together all the fragments of our infamous union. Finally when I arrived home, after 35 minutes of the worst case of blue balls ever, I came to the conclusion that it really didn’t matter who actually made the first move. Who really cares? The point is that a move was made; in fact many moves were made, so many that it’s too difficult to accurately pinpoint who the culprit was. In the end, I think we can both agree that whoever it was, and whatever move it was, it just may go down in history as the very best move that either one of us has ever made in our whole entire lives…

Ahhh the smell of bbq'd meat...

Yes, this is a strange blog entry but I never said I was normal so here goes...
Last night I went to a Korean BBQ restaurant with my brother and Nancy (his soon to be wife). I've never actually had Korean bbq in a restaurant before (why roam, when you can stay at home?) and I have to admit, I was blown away with how good it was. I was starving when we got there and they gave us a HUGE platter of Kalbi to cook over the open fire (I think it worked out to 4 large pieces per person). However I don't think each person ate their proper portion because I could not get the pieces of bbq meat into my mouth fast enough. I ate all the "pan-chun" (little side dishes) first cause I was so hungry and then by the time my brother got the first pieces of Kalbi onto my plate I went nuts! It was so unbelievably good, I threw all my rules about "80% full" out the window and practically devoured everything. (There was even one piece of meat left on Nancy's plate which she didn't eat and I was THIS close to eating it. However since we are not YET related, the wedding is not until next week, I thought i would show SOME small bit of decorum and actually show a little restraint.. but it was HARD!). Anyway, after dinner my brother dropped me off at Gerwyn's house cause we were already in the neighbourhood. When I got there (I had walked right in cause the door was open) I started to take off my shoes when Gerwyn was walking up the stairs. He stops about 20 feet from the front door and says "WHAT IS THAT SMELL??!" He could smell the bbq on me from there and I hadn't even taken my jacket off yet, it was hilarious. We even went out after for a short drive later but anytime he came near me all he could smell was bbq! And all this time, I thought no man could resist the smell of bbq'd meat. Apparently it was a little too much for me cause all he wanted to do was get away. However anyone who knows me knows that I like a challenge so I proceeded to throw myself on him at every opportunity. Even when we were going to sleep, he didn't want to lie too close because apparently the smell was eminating from my hair and skin.

Even if it is a "man-repellent" I don't care, it was WORTH IT!!! DEELEECIOUS!!!