Showing posts with label Birthday's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birthday's. Show all posts

I got my Helmer! :)

Thursday was my birthday, and one of my gifts this year was an Ikea Helmer! Coveted and utilized by almost every nail polish blogger in the blogging world. The Helmer is capable of holding 500-600 bottles of nail polish.

Picture Heavy, so more after the jump! ;-)

Belated Birthday Gifts!

Tuesday morning after the Government Shutdown set in and I was told not to report to work, I got a nice surprise in the mail. Belated Birthday gifts from my cousin in Georgia. Boy... did I ever need that to cheer me up!

 At least I got to take my mind off the shutdown by doing some swatches of my new polish.

This is OPI Dining Al Frisco. I could have gotten away with just one coat the formula was that nice. But I did 2 coats & 1 of Seche Vite topcoat. I stamped with Messy Mansion plate MM20.


OPI Solitare. I've wanted this actually, it reminds me of snow. It's a pretty white texture polish with silver sparkles. I needed 3 coats. I stamped with Winstonia Store plate W120. I used OPI Dining Al Frisco for the snowflakes. I can't wait until it's cold enough to wear this design again.


OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, is a pretty light mint color. The formula is runny though, I needed 3 coats and 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat. I used Messy Mansion plate MM06 for the design. 


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Macaron Cafe French Macaroons!

For my birthday I really wanted French Macaroons again. I was planning on going downtown to Miel Patisserie in Philadelphia during Labor Day weekend, right before my birthday on the 4th... but I forgot Philadelphia was having the 'Made in America' concert for two days straight. So downtown would have been crazy, the trains would have been mobbed... I don't do crowds. I get claustrophobic.

So since I was planning on spending a certain amount on French Macaroons anyway, I just decided I would order online from Macaron Cafe in New York City. I used a 10% off coupon too! (MAC10). They only have one shipping option, overnight shipping. It was $17 to Philadelphia, but since this was a birthday splurge it was worth it. (Sometimes you have to spoil yourself!)

(You can click on the photos to enlarge them)

 
I liked that you can customize your box with any of the flavors available. Most online places have set flavors. And the prices are pretty reasonable, the smallest box is only $16. (Compared to when I was looking online on Amazon and they wanted to charge $30 for 6 macaroons... what the heck?!)

Being a splurge I ordered the largest box of 24 French Macaroons. I ordered two of each flavor (so hubby can share too!) of: Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, Pistachio, Raspberry, Mocha, Peanut Butter, Caramel, Coconut, Strawberry Rhubarb, Nutella, Espresso, Chocolate Raspberry.

When they arrived, they were packed in a box and the gift box was within a thermal bubble envelope with ice packs. The macaroons themselves were in a special plastic separator tray inside the gift box, so none of them got crushed or broken during shipping! The gift box is nice too, it came with a pink ribbon. I'm going to keep it to put makeup or nail polish in after they are all gone!

They are so pretty! French Macaroons are normally pretty. These ones had shimmer & edible gold shimmer on some of the flavors. And of course they are so good! So far I've tried chocolate, raspberry & pistachio. Pistachio is my favorite so far. (I liked pistachio at Miel Patisserie too).


 


*This was purchased by myself. I am not associated with Macaron Cafe.

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Lush Cosmetics & French Macaroons!

My cousin & I got together for her belated birthday last weekend. We hadn't seen each other... since last year! We're both either always busy working, sick, or it was snowing, lol. So it was nice to get together with her and have a girls day out. We took the train down to Center City Philadelphia so we could do some shopping on Walnut Street near Rittenhouse Square. It was a nice sunny day even though it was a bit windy and only in the low 60's.


One of the things we really wanted to do was check out Lush Cosmetics. My cousin had already gotten stuff online from them and I've heard about them so it was fun to actually visit the shop. The staff was incredibly friendly. They let you try out products, they give demonstrations. They were nice and laid back.


My Lush Haul: I got Sexy Peel soap... which smells so amazing. Like lemon candy drops. It makes my whole shower smell good. I also got Lemony Flutter cuticle butter. It smells of lemon and lavender. And Mint Julips lip scrub. It tastes like chocolate mint.

I loved the Sexy Peel soap so much. I just ordered 2 more bars online. And a facial soap I liked the smell of. And one of their all natural herbal deodorants. Can't wait until they arrive!

Another thing my cousin & I have wanted to do is try French Macaroons! You see them everywhere online, in blogs. They are always so colorful and pretty. But boy are they tough to find around here! We found out there's a patisserie & coffee shop down near 17th & Walnut Street. Miel Patisserie. So we were super excited to stop there and try some French Macaroons for the 1st time ever!

The shop is really cute. They serve coffee, some food items. They have gorgeous looking pastries and chocolates. And soooo many flavors of French Macaroons. I wish I could have tried every flavor! (They are $1.50 each). I ordered an iced coffee & a Cappuccino and Pistachio French Macaroon. My cousin ordered Blueberry Lemon & Salted Caramel.


Oh. My. Gosh. They were beyond what we both imagined. At first we were scared to try them because of all the hype and we were afraid they wouldn't be what we were thinking. But wow. French Macaroons are small, they have a crispy exterior, but when you bite into it it's more a chewy cake consistency. And the filling... oh my wow.... the ones I ordered had a very rich sweet cream center. The Blueberry Lemon one I tried of my cousins had the most amazing sweet blueberry center. They were so good we got some more to take home.

Leftover French Macaroons.
(I took home Raspberry, Pistachio & Cappuccino).

To finish our shopping adventures. We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's near Liberty Place for an early dinner. I got a yummy salmon salad. And we both got top shelf long island iced teas. We did so much walking downtown! We were exhausted on the train ride back home.
 
  
 Other Philadelphia Adventures:
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Hubby's birthday & getting immigration started again.

It was F.B.'s birthday yesterday. It's the 2nd birthday he's spent in the USA. We went to a Chinese Buffet near Franklin Mill's Mall for lunch.

 Hubby wearing his Nintendo t-shirt I got him for his birthday.

 Yay! Starting to look more like Fall!

Another birthday gift. 42 mini bags of Herr's Potato Chips. (I believe 4 bags were missing already when this picture was taken, lol.)

Birthday brownies. With chocolate coffee buttercream icing. Sugar High!

September 28th, I contacted our immigration lawyers again. It will be time to remove the conditional status from F.B.'s permanent resident card soon. Last August I asked how much it would cost to rehire the firm and was quoted $1,200. So that's what we saved towards. I also know it will cost $590 to file the form with immigration.

When I heard a reply back a week ago I was told the cost to rehire the firm was now $1,950. Wow... $750 dollars more than we were expecting. I really love our immigration lawyers and they did an amazing job last time, but that price jump definitely made me feel a bit sick in the stomach. So, I found the email where I was quoted the $1,200 and forwarded it just to ask why the fee's had increased so much. I wasn't really expecting much, just an explanation. But thankfully, (and this is why they are great lawyers!) They changed the paperwork to reflect the $1,200 we were quoted last year. (Save your old emails!)

In mid November our lawyer will begin all the paperwork. Immigration will not allow the forms to be submitted early. It has to be submitted 90 days before F.B.'s permanent resident card expires or else immigration could reject everything. Rules... rules....


We've also had to collect paperwork that proves our marriage is valid and that we live together. Some of the paperwork I've gathered is:
  • Federal & State Tax copies filed jointly.
  • Bank statement copies with both of our names
  • Copy of our lease for our apartment in both our names
  • Copy of insurance declaration in both our names
  • Copies of our driver licenses showing our current address.
  • Photos with family.
  • Letters from Family/Friends
Speaking of that... you wouldn't think collecting letters from family & friends with a short statement saying how long they've known you & your spouse, how they've interacted with you & that your marriage appears to be valid, etc; would be that difficult to get... but it was like pulling teeth. Literally. I let so many of our friends and family know 3-4 months in advance that we would need these letters and still they've trickled in... I'm grateful for the ones who have written us letters, but we definitely expected a lot more support and a lot more letters... but enough about that.... blah. Rant over...

Anyway that's where we stand right now with immigration. In mid November our lawyers will prepare the paperwork and by December 5th, 2012 the form should be filed with immigration and then fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly so the conditional status will be removed from F.B.'s resident card. (Ugh... he will also have to get a new driver's license in March because that expires when his resident cards expires). I just can't wait until we are finished with immigration!

(I know he will have to renew his resident card every 10 years or so, but that won't be as bad compared to all the rules and paperwork over the past 3 years!)

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

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Photos from my Birthday Weekend/Week!

Photos from my birthday weekend/week. (The big 3-0). These are all Instagram & cell phone photos.

Birthday card from my co-workers. They know me so well. ;-) 

Table set for my brother & cousin Jessica for dinner this past Sunday. I made homemade bacon cheeseburger stromboli!
 
You can buy these- near the ice cream cakes at the supermarket now! So good!

 
Hmmm... beer, wine, malt beverage, vodka. No room for food! Lol! Party time! Dinner & drinks!

 
The Hello Kitty soap is a birthday gift from my cousin's 2 year old daughter, Kayleigh. :)

Very early birthday breakfast at the Eagle Diner with hubby. (6am!) Cheese omelette, scrapple, hash browns & toast. So yummy! 

 
Pumpkin Spice Latte- was released on my birthday (9/4) this year! Whoo! 

 
The family cat sat on the box & smushed the flowers on the cake my parents brought over lol. It's a delicious Hesh's Bakery Chocolate Chip Cake! 

 
THE BEST birthday gift ever! From my parents.Yonanas Machine! It whips banana's into a creamy soft serve ice cream texture. I just had some... I'm addicted. I need more banana's, lol. 
Strawberry Banana Yonana's! Seriously, so good!
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✯ Happy Birthday F.B. ✯

Today was F.B.'s 32nd birthday and his first birthday celebration in the USA!

We went to Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet near Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia. It was the first time we went there. It used to be a computer store years ago. hehehe. But they have renovated everything and it's really pretty inside with chandeliers and stained glass and a fountain up front.

In the car:





F.B. getting ready to chow down, lol.


F.B. with his gifts from me: Star Wars Trilogy,Asher's Chocolates, Herr's Chips.
The Herr's Chips came in a Herr's Snack Truck box and there were 42 mini bags of chips. You could pick your flavors when you ordered. I ordered it from the Herr's website. :-)


For dessert we had cheesecake from Giant, that we shared with the family. Mmmm.


F.B. with his McDonald's gift cards from my family.
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