please, don't let this feeling end.

"About Leina" - installment the fifth

Today's installment: married.

***

On Sunday, June 7, 2009, I married my best friend Brian.

He proposed on June 7, 2007, which was our 11-year dating anniversary.

Today, we celebrated our anniversary by having dinner at The Grill On The Alley in downtown SJ. Then, we went home to reluctantly eat one-year-old cake.

Happy One-Year Anniversary, Brian! I love you!

"About Leina" - installment the fourth

Today's installment: addicted to tv shopping networks.

For the longest time, I thought I was a total Food Network junkie. Then I remembered, that no, I've logged way more hours watching shopping channels.

I can kinda remember the first time I watched HSN. I was still in Catholic school, probably fifth grade or so. I had a regular tv in my bedroom with no cable connection. It had really long antennae and two dials: one for VHF and the other for UHF. HSN was one of the channels on UHF that had no static. The first time I caught HSN, they were hocking Connie Stevens skincare.

If I just want something on tv just to have that tv noise, I leave it on a tv shopping network. And I watch those channels so often that the phone numbers are burned into my projection tv. Oopsy.

The only shows I don't have any patience for are the ones for coins and watches. Talk about boring. I also don't have much patience for the low-budget channels, you know, the ones that have the camera focus on a spinning lazy susan full of rings because those hosts are way too loud and the jewelry doesn't look very appealing.

What weirds me out about tv shopping networks is that the same hosts rotate through them. Several hosts from ShopNBC are now on GemsTV. A married couple of hosts from QVC moved over to HSN. One of my fave hosts from QVC is now on ShopNBC. ShopAtHome (R.I.P) was a breeding ground of hosts for HSN and ShopNBC. Why, yes, I do pay attention to who is trying to sell me jewelry, food, cookware, tools, swords, slankets, and shower curtains.

I think the most random tv shopping network-related moment I ever experienced was geeking out when I met Leslie Blodgett at the Bare Escentuals boutique at Valley Fair Mall. It was like I was meeting a tv star. She kinda is, I guess, since she's a regular guest on QVC.

Another totally random tv shopping network-related moment was when I was forced to watch Evil Dead 2 with a group of movie theatre coworkers. I was bored out of my mind, but then I perked up in my seat when I recognised Rick Domeier from QVC!

D-List celebrities have been popping up on shopping networks, which definitely provides a lot of entertainment. My favourite so far has been Janice Dickinson. She was so loud and so fabulous. The most random crazy old ladies would call in on her shows, declaring their love for her and her random accessories.

Here is an example of a precious piece of Janice merchandise:

Talk about qualiITAY.

So, here is my list of channels, ranked in order of most hours watched, along with my favourite hosts.

1. HSN - the one that started my addiction - Colleen Lopez, Bobbi Ray Carter
2. GemsTV - Brook Roberts, Karen Connelly
3. QVC - Antonella Nester, David James, Lisa Robertson
4. ShopNBC - Daniel Green (the hot Brit!), Dave King, Lynne Schacher

Oh, one more thing: Although I have a viewing addiction to shopping channels, I most certainly am not a compulsive shopper. I've logged thousands of hours watching, yet I own a small handful of items purchased mostly from hsn. All of them purchased on clearance. If there's a cz ring that I like, I patiently wait for it to show up on the clearance section on the network's website.

And I've never called in and spoken to a host on-air. Ha!

"About Leina" - installment the third

Special Labor Day edition, where Leina proceeds to embarrass herself~!

Today's installment: sings Heart and Pat Benatar in the car.

Summer 2007 - my first time playing "Rock Band" at Rachel's place. Before we start, I tell Rach that I'm an alto and I sang alto II in university choir back in 2000. After singing a few songs (including Radiohead's "Creep), she tells me, "You're not an alto --- you're a second soprano."

This would be the start of the road to self-discovery. It made me realise that I sang alto II in university choir only because I hit Low-C in the audition and because the alto II section needed people. Rachel telling me I'm actually a soprano was like the lead pipe that fell on Mama Cass's head.

I had a mental block for seven years and just needed to see the light.

And one way I worked to overcome this mental block was singing along to Heart and Pat Benatar in my car -- on commutes to and from work, on solo road trips to Sacramento, or just driving anywhere. If I'm going to learn how to be a proper soprano, I have to sing along to the greats.

Because it's hard to write this post without any examples, I recorded myself singing while stuck on a horrific 2.5-hr drive up to Sacramento. On a good day, it takes me 90 minutes to get to Sac from SJ. OH NO, not on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, when everybody was escaping the Bay Area and clogging up Interstate 80 East while doing so.

I apologise for the boring footage of the speedometer. I was not in the mood to have my face on camera for youtube.

Singing along to Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker"

Singing along to Heart's "What About Love?"

If I'm ever stuck in yucko traffic on a lone roadtrip again, I may do another installment or two of "Stuck in traffic, singing in my car". It probably may be something other than Heart or Pat Benatar since I sing along to anything that plays on shuffle. And let me tell you, I have a lot of random stuff on my iPod.

Oh, here are some tidbits --

- I sang two Pat Benatar songs on karaoke night on my honeymoon cruise: "Promises in the Dark" and "Heartbreaker".

- A while ago, I scored 100% on "hard" singing "Heartbreaker" on "Rock Band". Last Saturday, I did that song on "expert," but because I was stupid-drunk, I managed to get 86%. OUCH!

"About Leina" - installment the second

Today's installment: drinks ten-dollar red wines.

(Note: I happen to be drinking a glass of this week's cheap-o red wine as I write this post.)

I was never one for wines growing up. The only wine I could bear to sip was communion wine since it was after all, the blood of Christ. At a Santa Clara County dispatchers banquet ten or nine years ago (I'm not a dispatcher, by the way, my s.o. is.), I barely drank three-quarters of a glass of red wine and was pulled over driving home. Thank goodness, the kind officer didn't give me a ticket.

Church wine was white wine, so I could tolerate it and liked to cook with it. (If you're curious, St. Bede Church used Christian Brothers wine back in the 1980s and 1990s.) Red wine burns my throat and just makes me drunk way too fast. I always thought that the only useful application for red wine was beef stroganoff. If I had that kind of mentality, well, what changed my mind about red wine?

This past June, Brian and I were staying at the Fairmont in downtown SJ the night before our wedding, and when we got to the room, on the table was a complimentary bottle of wine from the hotel manager. Stone Cellars cabernet sauvignon. We were so exhausted from driving around, doing last minute errands, that this cab sauv was the best red wine we had ever tasted. We relaxed and were ready for what tomorrow was going to bring us. Yeah, that changed my mind forever.

I have a thing for ten-dollar red wines because of the red wine we stocked up on for our honeymoon cruise. At the Publix supermarket in Cape Canaveral, we picked up three bottles of red wine, each one for ten-dollars or less. Rex Goliath merlot, Red Diamond cabernet sauvignon, and BV cabernet sauvignon. For cheap wines, they were all yummy. And most importantly, they didn't burn my throat.

Because I'm always looking out for red wine deals, I figure I'd have a regular feature called "Cheap-o red wine of the week." I don't have an educated and refined wine palate that will let me discern notes and aromas, but if the wine tastes good and doesn't burn my throat, I will post about it!

***
Cheap-o red wine of the week:
Fetzer Vineyards cabernet sauvignon, $5.99 with the club card at Safeway

Good stuff!

"About Leina" - installment the first

I've decided that, on days when I'm lazy about my outfit, I will take a bit from my "About Me" and go into detail.

Today's installment: dabbles in crafts.

I have to thank my mom for getting me into crafts. I remember she would take us along to a hobby & craft store so she could indulge in something new, like airbrushing designs on shirts and making beaded jewelry. She learnt how to crochet and to use a sewing machine, I guess, from her schoolgirl days in the Philippines. She also knows how to rug-hook, and she even has an embroidery sewing machine.

Like, really, how could I not absorb any of my mom's craftiness?

My mom also got me hooked on Creative Juice on DIY Network. Every time I watch a repeat of that show, I just can't get over how creative Cathie and Steve are. It's just amazing. They are geniuses.

The craft I am truly confident in is knitting. I'm pretty much an advanced beginner in crochet, and I know the bare bones basics of jewelry-making. I will try anything at least once.

Yesterday, my family and I watched the original Hairspray twice because it was so much better than we remembered. I could not stop staring at the dresses in that movie. So, another craft I'm going to dabble in may be learning how to use a sewing machine??

A few knit items:

A sweater for a friend's baby.

A cabled beanie for Clifford.

A red lace shawl for Rachel for her wedding.

Two crochet throws:

'Bed of Roses' throw for my niece.

'Brite Nites' throw for Rachel's birthday.