Here & There

Here are some of the places I've been since we've gotten to Florida.   Florida's got a lot of the same franchise places as California... but I've noticed that everything feels & tastes better when it's from Cali.  Anyways, let's start with some restaurants:

• Great Wall Chinese Food & Buffet - awesome chinese food, got onto a list of Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America
• Denny's - same old, same old, still yummy & convenient, California's Denny's food is tastier
• IHOP - another disappointment for the franchises in Florida.
• Yamato Japanese Steak & Seafood - a neat little place where the waitresses wear cute kimonos!!
• Okinawa Steakhouse & Sushi Bar - kind of a fancy place, but I thought the sushi sucked
• Isaribi - a very modernized, artsy-fartsy Japanese restaurant, food is pretty good, but it's the arrangement of the dishes that will leave you at awe.
• Sonic - this fast food restaurant is pretty cool, drive-in style parking/dining.  I think the SuperSonic (double cheese burger) is the bomb!  Plus their tatter tots are yum yum.
• Hardee's - ok... this is the southwest's version of Cali's Carl's Jr. (there's the smiling gold star and everything) Just one word: YUCK!  I love Carl's Jr. in CA, but Hardee's  doesn't have half the good stuff & quality as Carl's.  I asked for a Grilled Chicken Salad and they're like... uh... we only have a side salad (which tasted discussing, how can you mess up a simple salad?).
• Whataburger - lol don't really know what to say about this place other than I think their burgers suck... Hubby said their drink mixer inside the restaurant is really cool & that I'd have like the food better if I'd gone inside.  Well, maybe we'll try another location soon and I'll give a new review.
• Cakemaster Bakery - I was so excited about their pies because of all the awesome reviews!  Then I tried it with a sandwich on the side =(  SO disappointing.   I guess once you've had a Marie Calender French Apple Pie... no other pie'll ever hold up in competition.  Art says that people in the south just aren't that much into bakeries... and I'm like uhm... pies, danishes, donuts, & cookies... are u nuts? who's not into bakeries??  Anyways this places was a disappointment from the pies to their sandwiches (ick).
•  Heavenly Croissants - another bakery... their cheese danish was good, but too sweet for my taste.  The place is kinda small and has little selection.

All we did for fun was go to the Gun Show at the Fort Walton Beach Fairgrounds... it was boring because I'm not interested in guns (though I did get to eat so YAY!).  But man, if you're into guns... there were A LOT of guns... and gun stuff.  Arthur, who is much more gun savvy, said that even though they had a lot of guns for such a small gun show (small? I thought the place was huge for just having guns & all), there weren't very many gun & rifle parts... which was what he was looking for & had seen at many other gun shows... so both Arthur & I were disappointed with this gun show... maybe next time the fairgrounds have a INTERESTING show, we can make an appearance =)

We went to Destin a couple weekends ago and thought the place was really pretty - white sand beaches, clear blue water - the place was just heavenly.  There are so many neat things to check out there, like: Fudpuckers (an interesting looking restaurant), tons of shopping malls, and a bunch of small but fun looking amusement parks!! 

I want to go to all these places before we move away from Florida. 

Vultures Spotting

The other day while driving through the neighborhood on base, DH and I saw a vulture!   At first I swore it was just a turkey (as if that made more sense??).  Anyways, I wish I'd taken a picture, but we were way pass it  by the time I'd thought of doing so.  Yup, there are vultures in Florida.

Climbing

Today I watched the Little One climb onto her stroller then off again.  I didn't have to give her one little push or boost (only watched & spotted).  I guess she's in her climbing stage now... I'd better watch out.

My Baby Lana

She's here!

Lana Linh Verville
She came in at 8 pounds - 11.8 ounces... 20.5 inches.
Big baby. She's the sweetest little person. She has my chinky eyes and her daddy's thin lips. She's also got her daddy's personality: laid back, somewhat quiet (she doesn't cry much, she didn't make more than a coo when she got her shots at the hospital), curious (she loves to look around to see where the light in the room is coming from, then she becomes fixated on it), she must have the sweetest dreams because she constantly smiles in her sleep.


This is Little Lana Linh getting ready for her first bath at home:

Here's her getting sleepy:

...and then sleeping:

Isn't she precious? Definitely heaven sent.

Change of mind?

I think my favorite color is sloOOOowly (almost un-noticeably) changing! I've been a faithful Color Blue lover since 3rd grade, and I never expected that this would change. However, ever since I've become pregnant, so many of my preferences have changed. For example, I can't stand loud, chaotic, or obscene music. Since I won't be listening to that type of music after the baby arrives anyways, I think those days of tolerating popular, yet "bad" music, are over! It's for the better. I am glad .
Anyhow, back to my point. I think my new favorite color is Green (preferably a pastel green, it's all the "neutral" baby things I've been getting). Arthur wouldn't let me buy the blue baby items because we're having a girl (I say it doesn't matter, but hey, she's his kid too). And I absolutely can't stand so much pink on my baby, so I had to settle for neutral (that's beige, green, and yellow). I prefer green and beige over yellow, and green is a bit more lively than beige. So most of our baby things are green. I've grown a strange liking for it to the point where I would even pick green over blue (when blue was actually an option)! I was "weirded out" by my selection. So I started to investigate my feelings on this matter, and it turns out I DO prefer green over blue now. With most things (even outside of baby items). So I guess I'm a changed person .

Edgar the Sailor Man

Arthur's best friend, Edgar (who is in the Navy and now away on duty), came home on leave the other day (Sep. 10, 2007). Arthur was very excited, and I was quite happy to see him so. The two buddies had a blast at their small reunion.

We had breakfast at Denny's the morning after the "party."

Baby Shower

My first baby shower was relatively successful.

90% of the guests showed up (though not all on time). Quynh, my younger sister, did an awesome job with the decorations:

The "Baby Shower" clothes line banner looked great although the letters started falling off the line during the party.

By the end of the shower, the only letters left on the line were

B-Y-E.

The food was... fitting to our appetite.
A delicious icecream cake

and a fruit topped flan cake! (thank you Andy)

The gifts seemed endless

It was so nice to see all my friends and family gathering and having fun. I felt so pampered opening the gifts. I just can't thank everyone enough for helping out with the baby shower, for attending, and for all the thoughtful gifts. This is one loved baby (and mommy).