THE daily chronicle SHOW

it was not bad at all. it may even become a tradition.

preparation for our thanksgiving dinner went well under way since wednesday evening. i had my spinach dip done that night. all other recipes were tossed and mixed right after the macy’s thanksgiving parade ended. ben and i picked up our ham and turkey by ten in the morning, enjoying ourselves the blank roads and streets of that thursday morning. when they brought out the food in the car, both meat were golden, smelling aromatic and delicious. the side stuffing looked rich and appetizing, too.

i worked my miracle job in the kitchen hoping to get everything done by six, when friends and family start pouring in. i decided ahead of time creating simple menu that i can easily achieve without a hitch. i made sweet potatoes with marshmallows, hawaiian chicken with pineapples, prawns with orange sauce (recipe swiped from toni’s blog) and better than s*x cake for dessert. joy and loven promised to bring salmon topped with mayo, cole slaw and guinataan. my sister lilith volunteered to bring pancit palabok. with this food spread, we should have started our thanksgiving meal at breakfast and work our way to dinner.

by five thirty, friends jackie and thuan arrived with their kids and a whole bag of goodies and cakes. the usual cast of family characters arrived soon after and the laughter, shrieks and merrymaking continued until almost eleven, well after dessert. kids were bouncing around and adults engaging in friendly debates and juicy conversations. thanksgiving dinner was amazingly ok, as a matter of fact, it was great. too bad, the camera was neglected due to all the excitement and sugar-high. oh well. rest assured, i am not making all these up.

after taking a moment to be thankful for everything in life, i seriously realize, this thanksgiving celebration should really be a daily commitment to be grateful instead of a once-a-year excuse to over eat and watch grown men running after a football.

after the long three hour flight from houston to orange county airport, ben and i propped ourselves in bed after cleaning up. it was almost ten o’clock houston time and we were dead tired. we ordered room service chicken quesadillas and two glasses of water, knowing it was way past our mealtime. forget nothing after six. we then tried to catch our favorite thursday night tv shows before going to bed.

early friday morning, ben got ready for his class while i stay cuddling white pillows. it was too early to get up so i stayed in bed sipping freshly-brewed coffee from the tiny coffemaker by the mini bar. nothing was really planned for my own friday rendezvous except that i’m possibly meeting our friends, jackie and thuan, who’s also in town for a wedding. maybe meet up for lunch on ben’s lunch break. my phone rang by nine o’clock, jackie was on the other line wanting to know how our flight went the previous night. their’s was an hour delayed going to LAX while our’s got on time. we decided to meet for lunch by the costa mesa mall which was a block away from our hotel.

the rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the mall and visiting jackie’s twin sisters and parents at sta. ana. ben had to go back to his seminar after lunch and we finally picked him up later that day and drove up to newport beach on a cool breezy evening. it was too cold for us houstonians to eat dinner by the terrace, so we stayed warm and ate inside the cozy restaurant of the laguna hotel by the beach. after feasting on tasty lamb shanks, tamarind chicken, mussels with butter sauce and clam chowder, we then hang out by the hotel’s piano bar listening to good ole tunes. it was close to eleven when we got back to our hotel, i was too caffeined-up to sleep so we ended up buying an in-room movie which we terribly enjoyed, the transporter 2.

saturday noon, after ben totally skipped the rest of his seminar, we met our other friends, venie and grace whom we haven’t seen for awhile since our last trip to LA. we spent most of the day driving around and chatting about work, vacations and life in general. we had lunch this time by newport beach, eating fresh seafood and enjoying the sunny bright saturday. we even drove up to dana point gazing on lovely beachfront homes and properties. since venie was nursing a horrible jet lag after three weeks in china, we stayed in our hotel suite that evening and continued the endless chatter while he catch up some zzzzssss.

it was a nice trip despite the short days but we were able to do some sight-seeing and spent sometime with friends before our early morning flight sunday. it was a great weekend. weather was perfect. our flights were on time and fuss-free. check out some of our pictures at my flickr album.

thanksgiving is definitely a holiday to celebrate. traditionally, every year we would go to relatives’ homes and bring our portion of potluck recipes to share. but this year, since my mom has gone home to the philippines and our relatives will be out of town - we have decided to host our own little thanksgiving dinner at home with a few friends braving my cooking and some take-out delights to serve.

with a little over a week to prepare my menu, i have been envisioning in my head the ideal feast for us. i will be honest to say that i won’t be baking any bird but i am practical enough to order ahead our ham and turkey from our favorite chinese place, daniel wong’s kitchen, who year after year makes them for almost over a hundred families who won’t have time to bake it themselves - including us!

still, i have the sides to think about and the desserts to worry about. without my mom around, i am so challenged and determined to make this thanksgiving dinner a memorable one for us! i can’t wait to share how it will turn out to be! wish me luck!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

let me kick off this weekend with some holiday shopping gift guide :

* FOR HIM : this snowboard game is for the young boy and the young at heart. it includes four different games and the price is reasonable. this is a safer alternative to the actual real thing. no broken nose, no twisted ankle. and for us that live in houston, when will we ever see snow again? we were just lucky last year!

* FOR HER : a gift certificate for a spa outing beats any other festively wrapped present! with time being so precious nowadays, who has time to call and schedule for a spa retreat even for a few hours? it takes a few convincing, nudging and pleading until one gives in and actually pick up the phone and leave the tight work hours for a blissful treat. so, by giving the ladies a spa gift certificate, it takes away at least that one step of wondering about prices and comparing different spa ratings for a money worthwhile visit!

* FOR BABY : these adorable tops and onesies from dirty laundry are so cute and crafty! it’s got a distinct comfort design and even moms crave the look for their own earthy selves! available at totshop.

happy shopping everyone! see you next saturday!

ben and i have been craving for vietnamese sandwiches called, banh mi. there are different meat flavors that you can choose from - pork, beef, and my favorite chicken. the chicken meat is shredded and moist and every sandwich is full of pickled carrots, cilantro, jalapeno and slices of cucumber, in a warm toasty french baguette. they’re very tasty and very cheap.

we have been eating them almost every meal, except breakfast. for $ 1.50 a sandwich, you have a complete meal - vegetables, meat and starch! so even if the vietnamese parisian bakery is way out of our office, we stop by whenever we get a chance. and on our way home, we pass by another pho (vietnamese soup) place near our home that also serves these sandwiches and grab a couple for dinner. ben can even eat three of them in one sitting! and they’re even huge!

anytime you chance upon a crowded vietnamese restaurant, try their banh mi sandwiches!

the holidays are coming fast in full force. the following three favorites are staples for my easy going stress-free idea of the holiday season rush.

* ‘TIS THE HOLIDAY SEASON! : to stir away from the traditional holiday cards, these minimally-designed cards convey the spirit of the season in a modern way. i love the look of the abstract reindeer!

* HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS : this season, it’s not only about the red and green colors. black is in. as always. from the little black dress for this season’s hottest parties, to the black patent shoes to match every outfit. now comes, black accessories and jewelry! this adorable earrings are just that.

* JUST GIVE : it is undeniably the season for giving. with recent tragedies leaving families and individuals homeless and unemployed, what better way to start giving is providing for the needy. just give.org lets you create a favorite list of charities, so family and friends can donate in behalf of your name!

have a safe and stress-free holidays everyone!

as much as i want to attend the trunk show of jade jagger’s (with a special appearance of her mighty self - closest thing i could be to mick) jewelry line with garrard at houston’s chic boutique, mix, during my lunch break - i will be nowhere near that place tomorrow. why? it’s because of the hundred and one things i need to do for the office :

8:00 am - meeting with the office staff for a formal briefing on what could be potential changes that still need to be implented as i joined on board

10:00 am - meeting with website developers to create the clinic’s official website

11:00 am - meeting with sales rep for radio station to get rates on radio ads

1:30 pm - meeting with dr. a. lim to introduce ben’s practice to their office

sometime between 3:00 - 5:00 pm - complete all pending insurance claims that need to be submitted and mailed. we still have yet to upgrade to electronic billing soon, as soon as everyone’s gotten the hang of using the electronic medical record tablet and billing software.

and i thought i can go home early on fridays………nice try.