Birthday: Vera et al

Before I talk about Vera, I want to also say Happy Birthday to Miss LP! She's beaching like a whale in Puerto Rico right about now. You better come back with some tacky tan lines! She's a recycling czar so it's quite the coincidence that her berfday falls on Earth Day. Happy green day to all!

And now onto my dearest friend Vera. She passed away five years ago. 1 week before her 21st birthday. With a full scholarship for all four years of undergrad as well as four years of med school at Baylor, there's no room for doubt that she was smart. She spent every second of her free time helping others. At her funeral, the number of people who came to mourn her passing easily reached 100+. Even the Children's Nutrition Research Center has an internship in her name. I attended a memorial service for her two weekends ago that paid tribute to all the wonderful things that she has accomplished in her short life. Not long after her tragedy, a scholarship was created in her name. Every year, a graduating Vietnamese high school student who embodies everything Vera worked for will be awarded with this scholarship. The ceremony was just as moving as it were before. The bf never had to a chance to meet my friend but even he teared up at the heart felt words being shared from the people that cared for her the most. As we left, we both felt as if it were our duty to donate to her scholarship. If anything, I want the memory of Vera to be alive for as long as possible. If you would like to contribute, please visit The Vietnamese American Scholarship Foundation.




Some friends and I got together to make a scrapbook for her mother. I liked it so much that I made sure to make a copy before handing it over.



Happy Birthday Vera!

Musik Mundi: Leigh Nash

You may not recognize the name but Leigh Nash is the lead singer for Sixpence None The Richer. Who can forget that song Kiss Me from She's All That! It's a classic! The songs on her solo album are GORGEOUS! I absolutely love her voice. I wonder what her speaking voice sounds like? I was cooking (*gasp* it all outta your system) and my sister had some of her songs playing and the first thing I noticed was the beautiful piano accompaniment. And then came the soothing angelic vocals. Belissima!




Leigh Nash
Album: Blue On Blue (2006)
Song: Along The Wall
Song: Ocean Size Love
Song: Run For It

The last song is not on her album nor is it her song, but she sings in it and it's a good song so I added it onto the list. The song is by this ambient electro-pop band called Delerium. They also have a lot of great songs that I may have to feature in my future musik blogs.

Art: Art In The Park

Last weekend, I dragged my co-worker friend lady with me to Midtown's 2nd Annual Art In The Park, which featured non-juried artists along with their creative designs. Located at the Elizabeth Baldwin Park, it's a small fraction in size when compared to the Bayou City Arts Festival. I went thinking that I may possibly purchase something that I couldn't afford. I left as the owner of several items that I'm pretty sure I still can not afford. Oy!




Some cars that are participants in this years Art Car Parade. May 10th! Who will be my buddy that day? We can partake in some togetherness as we admire these kooky kars together. Hmmmm?!?



The most skittish dog ... like ... evar!



The most interesting of trees. I foresee many fun foto taking happenings here in the days/weeks/months to come.



There were a bunch of dudes skillfully applying their on-the-whim graffiti art onto the sides of this building. Don't worry, they had permission! Where are all the female taggers at, yo?



This is one of my faves. In my wildly over-active imagination, this is what takes place in the next few scenes. The tagger looks up from his act of vandilization and notices the popo that just pulled up. The popo looks up at the exact same moment. The tagger drops his can of spray paint and takes off on foot. The popo turns on his sirens. A police chase ensues.



Although I personally didn't observe any female taggers in action, there was this chick hanging around the guys, but I doubt her authenticity as a graffiti artist. She may have just been a heckler from a rival park.



My purchases. Paintings are done by this Filipino dude, Matthew Manalo. The Starry Night drawer is by this lady who I can't remember but I'll update on that later.



Oh yeah. I got engaged!



Sike. In case you weren't capable of extracting the joke from my picture, it didn't really happen. Note to the bf: the size is PURRRRFECT. It's exactly what I've been dreaming about my whole entire life!

Birthday: Sean

I've met a lot of good babies in my time. But the best goody baby, hands down, goes to this little guy who just turned a year old earlier this month. I have seriously NEVER EVER ... EVAH ... heard him cry. Not even a little fuss. This trooper here loves having people around and loves the attention so he's always the perfect gentleman when everyone is around. Hungry? He's cool. Dirty diaper? Still cool! Sleepy? He'll just nod off wherever he's at. I'll be so lucky to have one of those. The chillest kiddo that ever existed.




This little girl here is Sean's cousin and she is a HAM. She's super cute and funny and she knows it.



When is the last time you got this many presents at your berfday? Our present is that unwrapped box of huggies at the bottom left. Ghetto fab!



What was my contribution to the party? I made these little rice krispy bunny treats. I would lie and say I came up with that idea all on my lonesome. But I didn't. I got it from the Rice Krispy website. My bunnies don't look as good as the picture. They look more like a hybrid of a cat and bunny. I better thank the bf before he gets mad. Thanks best bf evar for helping me make the bunnies!



And now I present, the b-day boy: