Can You Guess the Asian?

Last night I attended the awesome Pre BlogHer DC party, organized by the fabulous Devra. I ate, drank, and met some great bloggers! As I was telling hubby about it this morning, he says, "You've found a great community." I agree! And thanks to Safety 1st and Giant Foods for sponsoring the party.

So what's with the Guess the Asian? There's about 5 Asian-American women who blog for DC Metro Moms. Whenever we go to blogging events, people get us mixed up. So why not quiz our friends? We're missing one of our friends, but don't worry, we'll get her in the picture the next time!

I also brought a bag of Passion Parties goodies for a giveaway, which Devra promptly dubbed "The Bag of Kink." Of course everyone was able to to take home a mini-Bag of Kink too.

Now that I've heard such great things about BlogHer, I'm planning to attend next year. Sounds like a lot of fun and great networking!

I'll leave you with some pictures from the evening. (Click through to flickr for a description). I think I have found most of the bloggers from the party on Twitter. If not, you can find me on Twitter.

Oh, bonus points if you can name the Asians!

Guavaritas!

Friday we hosted a tree trimming & gingerbread house making party. It was quite the success. I think it might become an annual event. My baked crab rangoons were a hit. Even made a new friend!

Thanks to the fabulous drink that Cynjon introduced me to, I had a verrrrry good time. If you like spicy stuff, the guavaritas are the way to go. Jalapeno infused tequila with guava juice. This batch was much spicier than the last time.

It was great way to unwind. In fact, I felt so relaxed, I didn't even trim the tree or make a gingerbread house! Yep, all I did was drink, eat candy meant for decorating the houses, and do shots. Yep. That's what I said.

Shots of jalapeno infused tequila. I don't remember the last time I did shots--probably the few years right after I graduated college. Damn they were good! Cynjon, you really try shooting that tequila! Only one of my friends was brave enough to shoot the tequila with me. I think I drank him under the table. Hehehehehe.

Thankfully, my friends trimmed the tree for me, and they made some fabulous gingerbread houses! That's the church made by my long time friend Brandon. We don't get to hang out enough. He's like a brother--because we fight alot.

Oh yeah, here's the guavarita recipe. Give it a go! I think it would work great with some Passion Fruit nectar too.

Guavaritas
the "bulk" version

Add 2 to 3 sliced jalapenos to a bottle of white tequila. Let this sit for a couple of hours...the longer it sits, the spicier it gets. Add 1 cup lemon juice, and 1 cup Cointreau to the mix. Once the jalapenos have "steeped," scoop them out, and combine the mixture with pure guava nectar to desired strength...some folks want just a splash of the mix, and some folks want just a splash of the nectar!

I substituted orange Curacao since it was easier on my pocketbook than Cointreau. It still tasted great.

Day 9: Princesses, Tea & More Cleaning

Yep, she's no longer a toddler. She's a real kid. My Sophia is 3 years old today. She woke us up early, proclaiming that it was her birthday. It amazes me how they go from a squishy looking baby to a walking, talking, thinking being.

Wowser! The princess birthday tea party was a success. After only 5 hours of sleep, I woke up early to grocery shop for the party this afternoon, including picking up the requisite princess cupcakes. We had a low key celebration. She invited 2 friends, and we also had some friends and family. The kids were sooo cute and civilized, sitting at the little table sipping their "tea" (diluted apple juice or herbal tea) and eating little sandwiches and treats. Of course, the princess dress made another appearance. She even twirled in it for a while!

I opted for a small celebration for this party. It's so easy to get sucked into the commercialism of birthday parties. Maybe it's the DC metro area. We've attended several toddler birthday parties this year, and some are big productions. Do you really need 16 kids at a 3 year old's birthday party? And of course, you have to hold your birthday party at some other place, not your home. I looked into one place. It was over $300 for 2 hours. No kidding. My 3 year old will barely remember her 3rd birthday party I'm sure.

To prepare for the party in our little apartment, we have been cleaning all weekend. I'm not the greatest housekeeper; cleaning house definitely isn't my favorite thing to do. Plus I've been doing a lot of parties, so it just seemed like such an effort to load the dishwasher. Hubby definitely did the bulk of the cleaning. He's great about it when he sets his mind on it. He even cleans the bathroom. And no, you can't have him. He's all mine!

For Day 9, positive affirmations cleanse your energy/spirit as you clean a physical part of your home or body. Normally when I'm cleaning, I don't think about how cleaning can clear the way for positive energy into your life. I usually zone out. I guess it's like meditating, right? However, I definitely feel it after I've cleaned. I'm sitting on my couch and I can actually see the floor! And my coffee table doesn't have sticky fingerprints nor does it have dried play dough stuck to it. It feels good to have everything neat and orderly. I promise myself every time we do this crazy cleaning, that I'll keep it up. This time I really mean it.

I know Day 9 isn't just about cleaning. It's about being aware of your daily actions. Don't just go through the motions. Think about the meaning of your actions. I have to say, today's preparation and culmination of the party definitely made me feel all warm and gooey inside. The pigs in the blanket didn't hurt either.

What a party!

I'm totally late blogging about the fabulous party with the DC Metro Moms! Last week, we were able to let our hair down, hang out in a grown-up establishment, and talk to other moms. Can you imagine that? Usually when I'm out on Friday nights, I'm doing a Passion Party. Thanks to Chevy, the food and Blue Moon flowed all night long.

I got to hang out with Justice Fergie (she lives 2 minutes away and I hard ever get to see her), Jessica, Leticia, as well as meet some more fun hip mom bloggers.

Though the party was last Friday, it started the week before that for me. Thanks to the wonderful Nicole, our organizer, I was given the chance to drive a Chevy Traverse for a week! (Thanks Chevy). It was fun to test drive it. Sophia fell in love with it too. Even though I had to give the Traverse back after the party, she still asked me about it all this week. What did she miss the most? The in-the-door cupholder that was next to her carseat. LOL.

I was pretty impressed by the Traverse. Now, my regular car is an old Toyota Corolla, so driving the SUV crossover took some getting used too. For one thing, I felt pretty dang tall. It also had a rear camera for when I'm in reverse, XM radio (though all I got to listen to was XMKids), a navigation system (which I never used, partially because I never took the time to figure it out and there was no manual in the glove box), a DVD player, and a ton of other features. Oh, yeah, and lots of cup holders. Apparently that's important. My main concern with is it gas mileage is only 17 mpg for city driving.

The first night I had the car, we did a bit of shopping and of course stopped at the nearest Krispy Kreme--which is 30 minutes away, so it's definitely a treat. (God I love it when the Hot Sign is on) On our way home, as I took the entry ramp onto a busy highway, I ran over a raccoon. Yep, I confess. I ran it over. I just remember the mantra from my days working for an insurance agent: if you swerve and miss, it's your fault-hit it. So I did. I'm sorry little guy (ok, it wasn't so little). The Traverse went over it like it was a pebble. Gross I know. Afterwards, I told hubby that if we had been in my little Corolla, we might not have been so lucky. Who knows what would have happened?

Thankfully the rest of my week was uneventful in the SUV. Chevy was wonderful enough to send designated drivers to take us home, so no worries with all the free booze.

Side note on the raccoon--hubby calls me the Animal Killer. I've killed birds, squirrels, and hedgehogs in my car. Yeah, I know I grew up in boonie-ville Louisiana, and roadkill is common. But it's still traumatizing. I mean I was only 16 when I ran over my first hedgehog. I don't need therapy for that, right?