roadtrip to a beautiful wedding...

Newport Beach...

girls road trip with Caron and Michelle...stayed at Caron's beach house...was so nice to be steps away from the beach

We drove inland to Riverside for Moxa's wedding, the reason for the roadtrip...spent the day at the spa beforehand since the wedding didn't start until 3pm. The Mission Inn is truly a gem in Riverside, so beautiful! Had no idea it was there all this time we had visited and even lived in Riverside for a short while. Will definitely be taking Jay and the kids back!

had one of the best massages ever, plus 2 complimentary drinks, 1st was a fruity rejuvenation drink

second champagne and chocolate...doesn't get better than that :)

after the massages, experienced a spa bath for the first time

which was a soak in coconut aromas with a plate of fruit and chocolates...was truly spoiled there by Caron...spa day was her Christmas gift to me and Michelle :)

went all out and thought it would be funny to take this picture of myself :) I know, scary!

ready and anxious for the wedding...courtyard was so nice and the weather was perfect!
the groom waiting in his room

beautiful shot of the bride

my favorite part, watching the bride walk down the isle...loved, loved her dress, so beautiful and different with the big flowers all around!
church was intimate and amazing!
the newlyweds!!!
with the zappos gang
seriously the sweetest first dance I had every seen!
cake surrounded by the paper flower favors...again everything was so sweet and intimate

the life of the party right here...Moxa's brother taught us how to dance, like foreal waltzy dance...was so much fun! Every song was picked by the groom.

group hug with the new couple...Congratulations Moxa and Pato! Such an exciting day for the wolfpack :)
before leaving, we went to the top to see the circle staircase...this place is amazing for picture taking, they have the best wedding photos. I highly recommend taking a visit here for dinner, spa or even just to look around...the lights at night are so pretty!

spent the rest of the weekend walking on the beach, shopping and eating
yummy donuts on the beach! went 2 of the 3 mornings

the other was Plum's for their deep dish pancake...was yummy, tasted like a crepe and was especially good with extra lemon and powered sugar on each bite :)

lunch at TK burger was good, right up there with Shake Shack, better than Five Guys and Smashburger...their fry salt was very good!

dinner in Laguna Beach...Las Brisas restaurant on top of the hill overlooking the beach
Thanks ladies for a lovely girls weekend!!! Beach, yummy food, good shopping, one of the best weddings, perfect weather, spa day...how could it not be a relaxing, beautiful weekend!

Love Week!

Few days before Valentine's we went to Sambalatte cafe and were surprised with coffee heart art...I had been wanting to check this cafe out for a while, specifically for the pretty coffee designs, but wasn't expecting hearts :)

some close-ups, coffee for me, hot chocolate for the kids...one heart
two hearts :)
cool thing about this place was the atmosphere and kid friendliness...TV, jenga and battleship, so the kids enjoyed playing battleship while watching a dog show...they had pretty good live music too...and macarons :)

valentine treats for co-workers and classmates...was planning on doing a shovel with candy and a "I dig you" label that I saw on pinterest, but didn't get around to it, so thought this was easier...reeses pieces and "heart you to pieces"

I got a treat as well...flowers and a card from Jay, love the color coral...not a big fan of red roses...and as always he finds the perfect cards!
these were just an added bonus...a co-worker was passing them around the office...I chose the purple one :)
had dinner with the kids, thai take out...cheers!

we were also able to end the week by sneaking in a date to watch "The Vow"...it was okay, thought it would be better, but love Channing and Rachel, so was good!
Hope everyone had a great Valentine's!

Jayme's 11th birthday

Crazy that Jayme turned 11 this year...she said she didn't want a party, just to redo her room, so we ended up taking a few of her friends out for pottery painting and lunch on her actual birthday which fell on Monday Presidents day

but first, her first real pedicure
with her Auntie Dee and Auntie Melissa

birthday girl picked a penguin
Jaylin a little plate
walking around Town Square...ugh I have tweens!
lunch at Kabuki, one of her favorites since she loves the short ribs/bbq
then for dinner we had a family get together at moms...she made Jayme's favorite baby back ribs...so she had all kinds of ribs that day :) and my favorite kare-kare!
cookie cake...she loves her chocolate chip
look at Ethan! And cousin Tyler came all the way from San Jose...
he's really a Jabawockee..seriously, can do the routine so good, head spins and everything...Melissa and Neil took him to see them while they were town, so he went in character

party of 5 with our new 11 yr. old.

weekend fun

started to have one on one days with the kids for fun...first Jaylin, she is the one that likes to eat everything like me, so took her to an asian bakery and randomly found Lee sandwich, much fancier than the ones in San Jose...she loves Spring Rolls, so she was very excited, said Chinatown was creating a memory :) and with boba and dessert, she was pleased!

took her shopping, said she could pick one thing
found a cute dress for her upcoming baptism
then she said she wanted her bangs trimmed
after our day together, met up with the rest of the fam for some fun, running around the new Tivoli shopping center in Summerlin aka, the OC of Las Vegas
Opa!
found a bar for the kids, bottles and burgers
adult food was not great, the kids meals were decent, but fun that they have a kids bar with popcorn, a tv, candy...would probably only go back for the kids or for dessert
the hostess with the mostess milkshake was pretty good