Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah

We woke up early this Saturday to attend my friend Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah. Growing up Catholic, I actually was a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if I had to participate in any of the Jewish customs or if Catholics were allowed inside. I just didn’t know… The only thing I knew was the ceremony was going to take about three hours.

Once we got to the temple, it was actually not bad. I could tell that we were not the only non-Jewish people there. There were about 15 adults taking their Bar/Bat Mitzvah so it took a while with all the normal ceremonial stuff plus the individual reflections that each person presented.

After hearing much of the prayers and speeches, I kinda felt like the participants were actually similar to how Catholics get confirmed. It’s much like reaffirming your religion, your beliefs, etc… and trying to lead a better life. I actually felt okay except at one point where one of the participants did say something about Catholics, which kinda made me feel uncomfortable.

All and all, it was a good experience and it was nice to support a friend with an important event in her life.

Afterwards, me and my friends went to a mall to kill time before Rachel’s party and get together later that evening.

Around 7pm or so, we went to a senior center where Rachel was having her party and had dinner. It was catered by a Mexican catering service, so we had yummy tacos and salad with all the fixings. There was also a lot of music and karaoke and dancing. 

 

Off to Vacation…

I’m off to a vacation with my three friends Howard, Bill and Dave to Southern California to visit our friend Rachel who is having her Bat Mitzvah.

I started waking up early, but before leaving home, I quickly planted some seeds. I figured that they’ll have a four day heads start if I sowed them now than if I sowed them when I return. I planted Coreopsis ‘ Plains (Bicolor)’, Yu Choy ’50 Days’, Broccolu Raab and Misome into Jiffy Peat Pots… my first time using this medium. I placed them into a propagation tray with a plastic lid (mini-greenhouse) and once I see sprouts, I’ll start hardening them off and bring them outside.

We left the Bay area around 11am and the weather was not bad, but after a hour or so it started pouring rain. At times, I think it was hailing, but most of the time it was sprinkling.

After a few hours driving, we stopped at San Luis Obispo at get some gas and some lunch at Burger King. It’s funny, because I saw a Bottlebrush Bush–I think that’s what they are called–at the Burger King parking lot and upon close examination, found what I think are seeds. So, knowing me, I collected some…

We continued driving and the weather got better. We drove on 101 because we heard that Interstate 5 required chains because of snow. The drive is longer, but I must say the views are nice, especially once we got to the Ventura/Channel Island area. We could see the Pacific Ocean and it was beautiful.

Some things I observed on the road was that there were lots of wild Prickly Pear Cactus and Agave along the freeway. There were also many Orange Orchards and I think we past by a place called Monrovia. I don’t know if that’s where the plant grower Monrovia is located, but I did see a lot of greenhouses and plant growers along the highway.

We encountered the evening commute around the LA area, so we were in stop and go traffic and it was bad. I was driving at this point and I hated it. My hands were sweating since it was stressing me out just a bit. We finally reached our destination around 9 or 10pm, checked into our hotel room then grabbed a bite to eat. Afterwards, we headed to bed and I checked my email, updated my Facebook and all that stuff.

New African Violet Flower Buds…

The African Violet that a coworker gave me is starting to produce new flower buds. Heidi was right, this seems to be a hardy African Violet.

New African Violet Flower Buds.

Saintpaulia (Family: Gesneriaceae)

Cymbidium Blooms…

My Mom was excited that her Cream/White Cymbidium Orchid just started to bloom. I don’t believe they bloomed last year.

These are kept outside in our back patio.

Cymbidium Blooms

Cymbidium (Family: Orchidaceae)

Bite Club…

After work, I participated in our work’s "Bite Club"… a group of coworkers go out to a restaurant one Wednesday each month to explore new cuisines and bond a bit… I usually don’t participate because it is a hassle to try to get back home in the evening, but this time it was in the East Bay and my studio manager offered to drive me to my car at the car pool lot.

We went to Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland and it was pretty good. We had two deep dish pizzas, one Pepperoni and one Spinach and Mushroom. Both were really good and I really liked the tomato sauce. The tomatoes were chunky and a little subdued, which was refreshing. After a slice of each, we decided to get another pizza, Chirrizo and Green Peppers, which was equally good… but I think that gave me heartburn.

Afterwards, we walked a few blocks to the Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream shop, which I was told is where their world headquarters is. I had two scoops, one Green Tea and another Strawberries Cheesecake… yumm…

Last SF Flower and Garden Show…

I just read from 

  journal that this year’s San Francisco Flower & Garden Show will be the last one :(

I’ve only learned about this Flower & Garden Show two years ago, but since then, me and my Mom really enjoy going. We usually make a day of it, bringing food and armed with our cameras. It’s a such big garden extravaganza for us… and there are so many cool things to see, buy and do…

I already requested a PTO day from work for Thursday, March 19 to go.

Here’s a news article about the news: NW Flower and Garden show to end

Here’s the Garden Show’s website: www.gardenshow.com

Here’s some photos I took from 2008 and 2007.

Car Tune-up + Garden Purchases

I took my car into the shop for a tune up early this morning before going to work. I wish I had the knowledge and energy to fix my car on my own, but I don’t… so I pay for it. It costed me more than I thought, but hey someone did it for me…

New Garden PurchasesOnce I got it, I passed by an large discount store to get some q-tips… I noticed that the garden department was still open and I saw tons of seeds and bulbs and they already had Tomato seedlings for sale… but I didn’t get some ‘cuz it’s still too cold in the mornings.

I ended up buying:
– a bag of Potting Mix
Jiffy Peat Pots
Zinnia ‘Envy’ seeds
Carrot ‘Big Top’ seeds
– White Onions (bag of 80 small bulblets)

Slug + Snail Patrol…

It’s about 11:45pm and I just got in from picking slugs and snails from the garden. Eww…