Wednesday, September 27, 2006

End of Summer Weekend Fun!


Hammertime! Part Deux!
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
This past weekend was a much needed weekend of relaxing with friends. Things have been pretty crazy for me lately. There's been a lot of meetings , work and correspondence with freelance clients in addition to what I typically do with my fulltime job. There's always a never ending stream of chores, repairs and errands with the house. I could've easily shirked off my responsibilities, but the old guy in me kept my focus in check. With the baby coming up close we are constantly planning and preparing things for her arrival - nursery, baby showers, Lamaze classes and doctor's appointments.


Chilly chillin
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
El had to work all weekend so I decided to take advantage of the moment by planning out some decompression for myself. This weekend my buddy Tommy and his wife, Lyndsey, decided to blow some steam by throwing an Endless Mojito / End of Summer Bash.


Lynds entertains
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I can appreciate the amount of work they put into it. The place looked great. The food was presented beautifully and was very tasty. The drinks were plentiful and the company was more than exceptional. They've got some great friends. There was a lot of laughing and jokes to be passed around.


Sea Monkey
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Sunday I had planned to work on my long neglected boat to do maintenance and sort through some of the issues I've had with it recently. Dan decided to ask Kam to get her uncle's boat and meet up at Moss Park for a little boating action and cookout. I got most of my things sorted with the boat after a lunch of burgers and brats.


The Fellas at Moss Park
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


Brian doin' the tube
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Later Tommy, Paul and Brian made it out to hang for a while. While hot, the day was still beautiful. We kept the plan relatively simple. Next time we'll make it more of an event and have more people, more activities, more food and drink and more fun. Not that it was bad this time. It's just what the doc ordered.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Angela's Adios!


Angela's Leaving
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Welp another great co-werk has flown the coop. Angela Wheaten, the Director for Affiliate Marketing has decided to jump ship. Her husband took a promotion with GE Healthcare and are moving to the fine state of WISCONSIN. Seems lately alot of people have been making the transition. I'm going to miss working with her - she was one of the best in-house clients I've had the pleasure of designing things for in my 6+ year stay here. Always on time and thorough with her creative briefs she made my job that much easier. She was always sensitive to Print and New Media's endless project list and made sure we had ample time to concept things. I think some of my best stuff went to her department. It's pretty big shoes to fill there. Good luck, Angela! You'll be missed!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Surprise Baby Shower


CareNet Team
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The girls at El's other job decided to throw her a surprise baby shower this past sunday. Linh emailed me a week prior to let me know their game plan. I was to come up with some way to get her out of the house and to the party without her knowing. I decided to come up with a half truth about someone wanting to buy my iMac. I was going to drive to this person's house to collect a down payment of $300. Simple enough and it worked like a charm.

Linh had called that afternoon to confirm that it was still on. An hour later we were there. After we rang the doorbell, someone answered, but didn't want to be seen. Suspicious - El did not want to go in so I had to basically push her into the apartment. SURPRISE!

She was completely thrown by my weak story and thus made the surprise even more of one. Such a fantastically nice gesture by her cowerks. Thanks to Tracy for hosting the party and Linh for organizing it. In addition to the nice baby gifts they also chipped in to get the Pack-n-Play portable playyard and the awesome looking mobile El had registered for. Such nice gals. Thanks again!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

That Damn Flickr.

Why mess with a good thing? When I first subscribed to Flickr we were in Japan and I needed a site that I could blog to and link to our photos quickly. Since that time (2004 I think) they have tried to "improve" the site. Now I constantly run into issues of my photos/blogs failing to upload properly. So freaking frustrating. I've emailed them and even spoken to them on the phone a few times and ended up having to rig it myself to get the damn thing to work. Thanks alot. Something I should consider before I resubscribe to their services. It's the only reason why my blogger hasn't been updated as frequently as it used to. Today I decided to bang out my journal and photos as quick as I could. It wasn't a walk in the park. I noticed it back on Memorial Weekend in May of this year. That's five months ago and still no fix. So again I ask...why mess up a good thing?

Baby Shower for Ellen and Little Isa


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Labor Day Weekend also happens to be our wedding anniversary. It also happened to be the weekend El's mom and Emily decided to host Ellen's baby shower. After JUST returning from SC two weeks prior we were back on the road to yet another visit to Charleston.

El's family worked hard to make the event happen on such short notice. I was able to supply them with some contact info of our various friend's there. Saturday morning we were at their house.


The GrandParents
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I gotta say despite some last minute shopping and food prep, as well as rainy weather the party turned out great. The place got HOT FAST with a bunch of people in it. A lot of our friends and a good bit of family showed up to make it memorable. Sorry Ricky and Donna, Lalaine and Joe, and Ron couldn't be there. We'll catch up with you guys another time.


Emily
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Emily had researched a bunch of games to play and prizes were awarded for different things.

Baby Bottle Chug Off
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The Bottle Chugging contest (although there was some speculation about Eric CHEATING by chewing off the damn nipple).


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I really enjoyed participating in the Baby Tossing Contest, although Gabriel didn't seem to. What a crybaby.

Moms Love Diapers
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The Guess What's In The Diaper contest and the Baby Feeding contest were the highlights. Hilarious!


Lipata Girls
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


Rachel and baby poop
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


Kick!
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I just like this photo.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Most of the time the womenfolk stayed in the main room, while the men were forced to chill (or sweat) in the dining room with the children.


Annaleah hugs Landon
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.

Despite the heat they were able to "make their own fun". Notice Steve illustrating how babies get made to Francis as Alfred eagerly takes notes. Kai close your eyes. You're too young for this.


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Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I am quickly becoming aware (as Big Dave mentioned in a phone call) that I become the least important person in the room. Here I am as El's secretary and personal assistant - or in other words, her "bitch".


DSCN3172
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
We received alot of great gifts including a crib from Lola Lisa and Auntie Cely, a generous gift certificate from Lola Cel, THREE Baby Papasans, a changing table from Auntie Lalaine and Uncle Joe, clothes to fill a closet and a plethora of other great stuff. A piggy bank was even passed around to kick start a little saving for Isa. Thanks to Auntie Nora for the baby cake she refused to eat herself. Haha! Much appreciation to Kevin, Cher and Kai for saving my ass by lending us all the chair and tables from the dojo. Thanks Rachel for driving all the way from Orlando and helping Emily keep her sanity and helping with the decor. Thanks so much to Lola Cel and especially Emily and Lola Lisa for their hard work and making it so much fun.

Happy Anniversary


The Posse
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It just so happened that our anniversary weekend was also the same weekend as El's baby shower. To take advantage of it we made plans with a few of our closest friends to have dinner downtown at T-Bonz and then Kaminsky's for some coffee and dessert.

So glad we had some time to be together and share some laughs. I really do miss being in Charleston, as I'm sure El does, too. Sure we have friends in Orlando, but it's not the same as these fine folk.

As a little anniversary gift to El I surprised her with her own iPod Nano preloaded with some of her music and a photo music video of pictures captured on our trips from the last 5 years or so. Her gift to me was a much needed new wedding band. My platinum one had seen better days and I really wanted a thicker band. I love what she found for me. It's exactly what I wanted. Thanks, El!


El, Steve, Lorenzo & Carla
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
We missed seeing Steve and Carla two weeks beforehand because of the wedding, so I made sure to give them a call and see if they could bring the kids along. Lorenzo was able to see his "ninong" and earn a few bucks (like a good ninong would do), but Zachary had a hot date with Sandman and stayed with his Lolo and Lola.

It was cool to catch up with everyone after all the hoopla from two weeks prior. Carl and Kristy were able to share some photos and stories of their Alaskan Honeymoon Cruise. This is all I was really looking forward to this weekend - hanging with our closest friends and enjoying a casual dinner at one of our favorite places.

Carl & Kristy's Wedding Day


The Guys &Gal
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Game day came around and I seemed to run out of time quickly. I wanted to get my MDX detailed inside after Carl's "suka" incident. That pushed me waaaay behind. I was almost completely late to get to the church. Luckily I wasn't the only one. We took some wedding party pictures and then it was game time. We did our thing escorting guests and lending out help whenever we could.


Gay
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.


Vandals
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The reception after was at an awesome venue, Alhambra Hall. It was a sunny afternoon and we were right on the water. Food at the dinner was tasty goodness. We drank a lot, but not before we were able to do the traditional "f*cking up" of the Bride and Groom's car.


First Dance
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The rest of the evening was spent dancing and chatting it up with guests. Oddly enough, I wasn't able to talk to any of my friends - Dave, Jen, Rick, etc. It all went by so quick. I felt like I didn't get to dance with El until closer to the end of the reception. Add insult to injury, some of them had to leave to care for their kids. Jen and El left to hang out at Jen's parent's house to rest and change for the bar after the reception.


carlkristene049
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
We were supposed to meet at Red's by the water with the bridal party for drinks. I managed to change in the truck and head out for a couple of hours to have a beer or two. Afterwards, I was famished and wanted to get something to eat with Jen and El, but it was too late. Going home on a empty stomach.

Overall, the wedding was great fun. Congrats to Carl and Kristy! Enjoy your honeymoon cruise to Alaska! Thanks again for asking me to be a part of your special day. Sunday was rest time, but it was back to Orlando...400 miles to drive...zzzzz....

Carl & Kristy's Rehearsal Dinner


Prom pose
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Everytime El and I make it out to Charleston we try to maximize our town downtown. It's loaded with tons of fantastic restaurants, boutique shops and other things we've been craving to visit again - not to mention that I've been itching to do more photography out there. Some of the things I shot previously were on 35mm and unfortunately subject to negatives getting scratched or prints getting mangled over the years.

Today I was craving Sticky Fingers BBQ, a past client when I did design out in Charleston. They've got some of the BEST ribs and pulled pork I've ever had. El talked me out of going there since Carl and Kristy's rehearsal dinner was going to be some kind of cookout/bbq. Instead we opted for Vickery's.

This place is another past client who did an awesome Fried Oyster Caesar Salad and Black Bean Soup. This time around I knew El was craving their Lowcountry Seafood Sautee, a Carolina grits dish with shrimp, crab, and fried oysters in an awesome Cuban-inspired sauce.

Another thing I've been on the prowl for was a SC visor with the state flag on it and a polo. After I picked up my tuxedo I ended up at Carolina Moon where I scored the polo, but not the visor. Damn it!

The rehearsal came and went with no real problems. We worked out the kinks and everyone seemed pretty comfortable with the whole procession.. The rehearsal dinner itself was great fun. Complete with a slideshow presentation of Kristy and Carl. Nice job Kristy! I NEED that pic of Carl with his NKOTB haircut. Awesome. For dinner I was pleasantly surprised - STICKY FINGERS BBQ. It was all about gluttony at that point. Added bonus-one of the groomsmen gifts was the visor I've been searching for. Carl, you rule.


El and Rick
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It was cool to see everyone again. Rick and Kristen came down from NC.


Eat it, not wear it
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Dave and Cheryl with their daughter, Sarah, drove down all the way from Maryland.


Marc and Landon
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Marc and Crystal represented with their kids Landon and Annaleah.


Ragos Bros
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I've known Carl for years, but never really got to know his siblings. This time around I made sure I made good on that. Francis, Eric and Dave are all good guys. They kill me. It's almost like I've known them for years also. Same sense of humor as me.

The rest of the evening was spent meeting Kristy's family and friends. Apparently they love to dance as well. Odd that the Filipino Mafia was so low key about stage dancing again. We're getting old.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Carl's Bachelor Party


Bachelor Party Dinner
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It started out reasonable and safe enough. Dinner at Rue De Jean downtown Charleston was organized by Marc. Atmosphere was good. Food was ok. Eye Candy was great. Carl was already fearful of whatever shenanigans we had planned for him. We had prepared him with reminders of shots of 151 and passing out on the lawn like back in the day.

Not this time around. We just wanted to give him the scare. You can thank his classmates for the late night puking. We hung out at the restaurant for about 3 hours and made our way to Wasabi where I casually coaxed a totally hot chick named Chastity to doing some drinks with the Groom and hanging with for a bit.

A couple of hours later we made our way to Coyote Ugly. Yesss the same one from the reality TV show and rowdy persona and hot chicks, minus the hot chicks. It was awful. A giant sausage fest with three ugly batenders and no personality. We were ready to leave the moment we entered. Again thank Carl's classmates for this winner.


ErikNCarl
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It ended up like this...

We didn't want to do anything too crazy. No titty bars and no night clubs, although we did end up at one. Acme Bar & Grill was a staple for the crew back in the day. We knew the staff pretty well just from going there all the time. we never paid cover or waited in line, we rarely paid for drinks and occassionally got into a private party to chill.

It's gone now...like our youth. in Its place is City Bar. Same crowd (college females), same atmosphere (dance club with bad music) and same REGULARS?!? Apparently two characters from back in the day were STILL going there. Miss Techno - a cow of woman who always danced on the bar, bad hairdo, fugly and "The Old Guy". Picture Ms. Techno in her denim short-shorts, sleeveless collared shirt dancing amongst everyone except she is now 40 pounds heavier and 10 years older.

"The Old Guy" was old even back then. A small, dwarfish man sporting a knitted baby blue tie and short sleeve "dress" shirt, black pants and his tan Hush Puppies perpetually looking wasted on cheap drinks and ogling the the 20-year-olds. Still there. Same clothes. Same wasted look. He needs his own Budweiser song. "Mr. baby blue tie and short sleeve "dress" shirt, black pants and tan Hush Puppies perpetually looking wasted on cheap drinks and ogling the the 20-year-olds Acme/City Ba-a-a-a-a-ar Guy"!

That'll never be us. Wait. We were there witnessing all of this. The best thing about being at this bar was were able to get some closure to the place since we disbanded after our party days and moved to different states. We even didn't have to pay cover. Smooth talking by yours truly.

Bachelor Party
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
It ended up a late ngiht with the fellas. We even got our pics taken at a couple of bars we went to by Carolina Nightlife and posted on their website. Too bad we didn't get a pic with the hot chick, Chastity, who we were pouring drinks and roofies down. Just kidding. We didn't give her too many drinks.

By the end of the night everything was square. Everyone bailed out, but me, Marc, Carl, Francis and Eric were heading back to Carl's house where he continued to puke after he spilled a "Christmas Tree" across the side of my SUV. His bros cleaned his ass up and threw him in bed. Marc and I chilled to decompress and make sure he was ok.

It was a good time up until was projectile puking on his brother's face. I hadn't drank like this in a LONG time. Nevertheless, I stopped to sober up and drive everyone home. Aaahh the good ole days...

Tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner. That'll be interesting...

Taking The New Glider For A Test Drive


New Glider
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
El's new glider came in last night from DHL. Not to start blogging really mundane things to all of you, but we were stoked. Despite being tired from the previous night's late night projects I was determined to get this last piece of furniture in the house and assembled.

20 minutes later and it was a done deal. El took it for a test drive and loved it. Everything is coming together now and I can start refocusing on my other projects: freelance work, landscaping, reorganizing and painting the garage floor, storing the rest of my "put away" things, organizing my digital files off the iMac I want to sell and finally...the damn yard...again.

Glad you like it, El. I guess the new sectional has direct competition for your favorite place to pass out now.


Watching Monsters, Inc.
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The room is almost complete. Another quick clean and some tweaking here and there and that's it! El celebrates by watching Monsters, Inc. with Bailey on the 23" studio monitor.

I did notice as well last night that with the new Roman shades and the window recaulked that the room was considerably cooler. That's a good thing. Maybe I won't need to get the portable air conditioner/purifier. Save me some duckets.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Isa's Nursery


Spell It Our For Me
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The room has changed yet again. Originally trying to keep the office space basically the same, El nudged me into making it more for Isabella. That's fine. All the pixar prints came down. New paint went up. R2-D2 & C-3PO, Optimus Prime and Battle Of The Planets went into storage. Everything was simplified. The only thing that stayed was the computer workstation and the toy shelf.

El loves this room. "Happy" she calls it. Every now and then she'll sit in to stare at the eye candy. Handmade wooden toys from trips to Spain and Italy adorn the ceiling. New shelves were put on the walls, as well as a nice project El and I did this weekend of painting some letters of her name and moutningthem onto the wall above her crib.

Thanks to everyone and their generous gifts from the previous weekend's Baby Shower in Charleston. Special "Thank You" to Emily and Lola Lisa for their hardwork. I know it was alot of work.


Working it out
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
After El's Baby Shower in Charleston, Isa's room was PACKED with all kinds of great stuff from our friends and family. Thanks to Lola Lisa, Lola Cel and Auntie Cely for the furniture and gift cards. They helped out tremendously. The little girl has plenty of clothes now.

It really helped us with lighting a fire under our butts to get the room ready. Inititally, I had just painted two walls green and deep cleaned the carpet. All my "guy toys" were stuck in storage for later and the extra gifts and such sold off at The Golf Channel.

El also found these cool vinyl round stickers for the walls to give it more mod look. Very designy. I originally had bought a 20" flat panel TV for the nursery to get rid of the big ass old school TV, but soon after returned it to opt out for a TV tuner for 23" Apple Studio Monitor. A glider for mommy is also on the way.

Some rearranging of the computer desk helped open the room up and added more light. I resealed the windows, added a light fader and changed out the mini blinds for some Roman shades. Hopefully this will help cool down the room. if not, I'm also planning on picking up a portable air conditioner/air filter.


A Work in Progress
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
The room is slowly shaping up. El loves the whimsical kind of feeling from it. I agree. For the most part it's been a relatively painless renovation. Amazing what some paint can do to a room. I've totally immersed into it (the freelance work is sufffering a little from it). And just think in two short months there will be a small person sleeping here...

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The Holy City, Charleston


RainbowRow
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I realize it's been a long time since I added an entry. Apologies. So much has been going on lately, that I can barely keep up with all that's required of me right now. But that's beside the point. Being busy is actually nothing but good news as far as I'm concerned. These past couple months there have been a lot of new developments which has required me to go back to my roots, Charleston.

I've always been pressured by friends and family to move back to the city where I grew up, but never like this. I have to admit it's nice to be missed. We left originally to pursue more fortuitous careers and find ourselves. After I left Savannah I vowed to never return. Lower paying salaries, boredom with what I had grown so accustomed to, and looking for new experiences forced me to try Florida out "temporarily". It's now been close to 10 years.

The partying, reckless person I once was is pretty much gone and replaced with a home I've built into something comfortable with my wife and our first child soon to come. In his place I've become what I like to think as someone more levelheaded, cautious and responsible. I'm not complaining.

I remember all the late nights with my friends spent hitting the clubs and then going to the Waffle House after hours til about 3 or 4 to grab a bite and laugh all night about that night's shenanigans. I remember it all clear as day. As I reminisced about it, I was struck with that odd feeling of "where have I been all these years?".

I missed seeing someone of my closest friends kids having children (some of whom I have never met), the neighborhood aging, the harbortown growing from it's small town vibe into a bustling tourist attraction and the old places being torn down and replaced. I missed it.

But now, these closest of friends have also moved back to the hometown to raise their families. Others have moved out of their single life apartments and condos and built homes not too far from where they grew up. Whenever we go home we try hard as hell to see them and catch up. It also comes back to the same question "when are you moving back?"

I'm always resistant to moving back because of the lower salaries for what I do. Charleston is not exactly the hub of design. El is done with Orlando as am I. I want something better for my family, but financial responsibilities have held me back from anything too hasty.

I can easily extol the virtues of my hometown. I mean who doesn't want to raise a family in a historic harbortown named America's Most Beautiful where the spring, summer, fall and winter are just so, fishing year round, people are genuinely friendly, where all your closest friends and family are, the beach is right around the corner, housing and cost of living is much cheaper, and you can walk down the street and see people you know. Why not?

And then you compare Orlando...
Named The Angriest City in America by Men's Health (oddly enough home of Disney, "The Happiest Place on Earth", half the population doesn't know English (and doesn't care to), swamped by tourists bringing horrible traffic conditions, road rage, Reggaeton music, overpriced housing and cost of living, mediocre salaries and a "me-first" attitude. Why do I stay here???

Carl said something to me that really made me feel good about myself this past weekend and made me think more about why I DON'T move back - "You're like the glue that brings everyone back together". Thanks man that meant a lot to me. All you Charlestonians - watch out. I may be back some time or at least closer in the near future if I can help it. After all, the salaries here in Orlando aren't all that great now that I think about it...