Longaberger Visit

Hello everyone! I just wanna share our photos from yesterday's visit to America's premier maker of handcrafted basket - The Longaberger Company. They offer not only baskets but other home and lifestyle products such as pottery, wrought iron, fabric accessories and specialty foods. The company is based in Newark, Ohio which is about 52 miles (an hour drive) from our house.

Oh my, I think I've fallen inlove with that place! The fact that its not only a shopping place, it's also a factory store with lots of amazing sights!

The Longaberger Company's trademark is their 7 stories Home Office building, located at Newark, off 161.

Its factory called The Longaberger Homestead was 24 miles away from their office. Located in Dresden, Frazeysburg, Ohio. It is the birthplace of the company, home to Longaberger stores, restaurant and the World's Largest Basket. As soon as we arrived, we hit the Welcome Center right away. A host welcomed us with a guide map, gave us informations and tips on what to do and what to see around homestead. When we got out, we saw Longaberger's Footsteps.

Here is JJ inside the basket!

We saw another basket on our way to Crawford Barn, south of the shopping center.

(notice the largest apple basket in the opposite direction)

(shops for decoratives accessories, gifts and apparel)

Next stop was Dave Longaberger's Memorial. The landscape was well managed and the setting was very peaceful.

Behind the memorial was the Sentimental Rose™ Tea Garden Gift Shop. Gee, this place is filled with delectable teas and accessories. I could not pass this Pink Rose mini teaset and a napkin ring teapot for my collection.

...and you know what? The old lady who took care of us actually had been to Philippines! Her son had been there to play Golf and he took her there for vacation. She's very nice, even wished for me that JJ will buy me that curio cabinet that I had been longing for as a christmas gift. I really need a bigger display cabinet for my growing collection! (finger's crossed now )

We also browsed Longaberger at Home Store. Did not stay here, afraid that I'd be broke! So off we go to the Popeyes Dairy Cream for some refreshments, but had to pass the World's Largest Basket first!

I just use my click and run skill in here (camera timer if you know what i mean!) Not bad eh? Gorillapod from thinkgeek.com would realy come handy in times like this (hint*hint*lol!)

After enjoying velvet ice cream at the Popeye's Dairy store, we took the shuttle from the Welcome Center to the Basketmaking facility, the factory store and home show experience. Not really that far away. Here, I made my own basket with the help of Jody. I choose to make Medium Saddle Brook Basket that will contain the pink hope ribbon from the Cancer Foundation. This keepsake will not only be cheerished by me but it will also help (in a little way) the Cancer Foundation.

That is my teacher Jody. She started the bottom part and the first 3 starting and cutting lines....and then I was on my own. I looked so serious ha? Tell you what, its sooo much fun! Very cool experience! I think I had been a basketmaker in my previous life hihihi! (come back for the video okie?)

...and then, we both signed our name on it and she finished it by putting the handle. I had to wait for 5 days to air dry though, before I could put on the accessories. It would look like this once the accessories are on. The plastic protector goes inside and then the tag would be glued wherever I want.

We also wandered at the factory mezzanine level where we could've seen the basketmakers handcrafting. Unfortunately, they were off earlier and the best times to see them is before noon. Also we were not allowed to take pictures of their work stations but we could picture any display around the mezzanine.

Then we visited their factory store. I got crazy shoppin' around and checkin' out retired and revered longaberger baskets, accessories and stuff for christmas...wait, did I say christmas? It's only July but yeah they already have lots of christmas items that are so irresistable...then I run out of extra hands to take pictures while inside, oh well! That was our lots stop, jj's complaining that he is tired...blah blah! haha what can i say....

click here for MORE PHOTOS (a slideshow)

Not an ordinary day

Sent from ars009.512@mac.com (foto takin from an iphone)

JJ and I got off from our respective jobs as early as 4PM yesterday. He had a doc appointment while I was filling my bosse's sched from 10-4. So when we got home, we played with our pups and drove down to Big Walnut to pickup doggie dry food. Next went to Meijer to fill up JJ's prescription meds and while waiting for it, we went to Wallgreens to get items, head back home and feed the pups. While home, grabbed the chance to change my outfit (i was wearing shorts) so we can get dinner and perhaps watch a movie at Easton Mall.

I'm so happy that I finally use the coupon I received from Victoria Secret. It was a $10 off coupon with no max purchase and a free flipflops. It's always overwhelming when I go to their store 'coz there's too much stuff to choose from. Finally, I settled myself with more undies (5 for $25). I only paid $16.50 after tax for my 5 undies and flipflops! Not bad at all.

Next went to Sharper Image to pickup this Motorola S9 Active Stereo Bluetooth Headphones that I could use for my iPod & cellphone. He got this for my birthday (july 4th) from AT&T but decided to return it and get the same thing from Sharper Image that comes with iPod adapter. I told him I don't really need this but knowing JJ when it comes to toys (geeky stuff) he always goes for it.

What's cool about this is that it is wireless! So I can use it with a lot of freedom. It is very comfortable to use, the design is snug behind-the-head, it had a tiny stereo earbuds and ultra-lightweight active-lifestyle materials are sweat and water-resistant.

The buttons are on the headset- control volume, track selection and calls. Very interesting and well made device.

I noticed that Guess store and McDonald were closed! and The Limited and Express stores are about to closed! How sad is that? I thought Easton Mall is doing a lot better than any other malls around?

After I picked up a hat at Bebe (in replacement for my Nike hat I lost at Kokosing Gap Trail) we stopped at the Apple store for me to see the iPhone in person. I played with it quite a bit. JJ did earlier at a different apple store. It's a lovely device with a very sleek interface. As expected, I had trouble tapping out messages. I kept tapping the wrong letter even with my tiny fingers! Sheesh! JJ learned the right way of doing it though. I did better after he showed it to me. (I have to slide my finger (right or left; up and down) to get the right letter before releasing it. Interacting with the main menu's are not bad though. The display attracts its share of smudges but its not distracting at all.

What we love about it, is the Safari browser. To pan around a page, just swipe your finger across the display, and the page moves accordingly. To open a new page, just tap your finger on a link and double-tap your finger to zoom in and zoom back out. You can use the arrows on the bottom of the display to move back and forth, while a multifunction button at the bottom of the display lets you open new pages and flick among them.

I also noticed that it can get really hot in just 15 mins. of playing with it. Its very well made though. We also tested its photo quality (picture above) and e-mailed it to my regular yahoo address. It's not bad for 2 megapixel. Its color is rich and bright, the downside? You can't shoot your own video! Whoahh! So much for iPhone!

We decided to eat at California Pizza instead of using Cameron Mitchelle's giftcard we received from JJ's boss. I had my normal Chipotle Pizza and Pepperoni for JJ, both on honey-wheat dough. Dinner and service was good, can't complain :) We head back home as soon as we finished eating, skipped the movie 'coz it is getting late. We could always come back this weekend.

That was the end of our not-so ordinary day. Yeah not ordinary for us to be malling and buying stuff on weekdays :-)

He did it (finally)

taken last december '06 at the airport, one of the airplanes he'd been flying.

As some of you know, JJ had been training for the last few months to get his private pilot's license. Well, he finally reached an important milestone this evening... he flew the plane without his instructor on-board!!


...this was his story posted on his website!


JJ: The evening started out kinda dicey... there was a fairly constant 6-8 knots of wind out of the north (which is almost exactly perpendicular to the runway) when tonight's lesson started at 7pm. But in the air, flying was smooth as silk... almost no turbulence whatsoever. So we stayed in the pattern, did a few touch-and-goes, and around 8pm my instructor told me to go park the plane in front of the office... it was time! (yikes!)So we shut down, went inside to put our paperwork in order (endorsement in my log book and on my student cert.), he went and got the field radio so I could reach him if needed. And I went back out to get the plane ready to go.Finally around 8:25pm, got the Cessna 172R taxied back out to runway 28. Went through pre-takeoff checklist, was just about ready.... but just my luck, the airport got busy. To add to the suspense, I had to wait for two planes to land before it was my turn.By this time, the windsock was almost completely limp -- just a gentle breeze out of the north.The second plane did a touch-and-go, so I set the transponder to ALT, turned on the landing light and strobes, made my departure radio call, and started rolling out to the runway. On the centerline, one last check of flaps (up), engine instruments, fuel... everything set, full throttle. Just a touch of the right rudder to counter engine torque, 40 kts., forward pressure to keep the nose on the ground, 55 kts., there we go 60 kts. -- and into ground affect, build a bit of speed, then pitch to 79 kts. for best rate of climb.Everything going very well per the normal routine; I had already done this dozens of times... ha, feels like hundreds already. But this was just the beginning. Gotta remember my radio calls, and oh yeah, gotta watch out for that guy that took off before me... he was also staying in the pattern. Made the "climbing crosswind for runway 28, traffic in sight" call while turning left, keeping the pitch up for 79 kts. to get up pattern altitude (1900 ft. MSL).My instructor told me previously that flying solo is a bit different -- the plane is a bit more responsive with the reduced weight -- and I was seeing the affects now since I made it to pattern altitude during the left turn into the "downwind" leg of the pattern. Pitch down to level, reduce to 2100 RPM, and enjoy the ride... wow, quiet, don't have the instructor playing "Aviation Trivia Pursuit" with me or "breaking" the plane to see what I would do in an emergency. Just me and the nice smooth air. Oh yeah, and that guy ahead of me... oops, radio call time: "on downwind, #2 for runway 28".Mid-field on downwind, time to pull the power out to 1500 RPM, check speed less than 110 kts., and set 10 degrees of flaps to start decent. Traffic ahead is on base leg now... have to wait to make my turn to base after I pass him. Decent is holding at a steady 500 ft./minute, bleeding speed through 85 kts.. Just passed the other aircraft, so started left turn to base; time for the "turning base for runway 28" radio call.Double checked speed below 85 kts., set 20 degrees of flaps. Keeping an eye on the traffic that is now on final -- oops, looks like he's doing a go-around. Strange, perfect night... he must just be playing around. Ok, left turn for final approach, radio call time once again: "on final for runway 28, full stop".Ok, moment of truth... taking off and flying around is the easy part. If I can't get it back on the ground in one piece with the rubber side down, then nothing else matters much. I put in the last set of flaps (30 degrees), speed holding at 70 kts., started making adjustments to get lined up with the runway. Using small throttle adjustments to control the decent. Ok, I have the runway made, throttle back to idle... wee, now I'm a glider! Steady.... steady, small smooth adjustments, dang, sliding to the left kick in some right rudder! Ok, increase back pressure... more, more, MORE! There we go... in ground affect, now I'm just floating, keep that pressure coming back, stall horns start moaning as the angle of attack increases. The main gear make a "SCREECH" sound as they contact the runway, but dang, too much speed, the bounce pushed me back in the air! Ok, don't panic, keep the pressure back... there we go... slow it down, "SCREECH" again, but this time for good as the nose wheel settles to the ground. Slowly apply pressure on the brakes to get slowed down for the right turn onto the taxiway.Whew, I did it! "Clear the active runway 28" was the radio call, flaps up. I started the taxi back to 28 to do it all over again. After it was all said and done, four takeoffs followed by four landings, ranging from so-so to perfect. Other than the little bunny-hop on the first one, I was quite proud of the landings, but it didn't hurt that the winds had died down to practically nothing.Anyway, I still have a long way to go... but I feel like I finally have some momentum. I hope to have this all wrapped up by the end of summer... and then I'll be ready to do a little impulsive weekend traveling. Oh and BenFarteen, let me know when you are ready to try some barrel rolls... I know that's what you are waiting for!!

San Francisco Vacation

Hi everyone! Greet me, greet me! LOL! It's my bday po, July 4, 1976! I'm sooo getting old...but what the heck! I am happy, married and healthy! That's all it matters dba?We got back from our San Francisco trip last sunday around 1AM! Why? Because we waited for our luggages and the darn United Airline lost it. It went to Chicago instead! So we had to report our lost luggages. Luckily, they called us before noon to pick it up, good timing din that was Star and Sunny's checkout from the Pet Palace Hotel which is very close to the airport.

Anyway, our mini vacation from SanFranz was very memorable! Did I tell you all expenses was paid by JJ's company? He was sent there for the Catalyst conference at Hilton Hotel. We only had to pay $100+ for my tickets which are all first class. I am so loving it! We got there on monday night wearing shorts! We were totally surprised with the weather. Thinking that California's weather is gonna be warm, nah! It was chilly and very windy the entire time! We both had to buy coat which were out of season. We had a hard time finding one we really like.

Hilton Hotel Lobby

I find myself content wandering aroung the Union Square when JJ was at the conference. It's so hard to just window shop with all the couture and high fashion around. That was also the first time I've seen and been in Goyard and Hermes purses store! I was like...woooww! Ya I know lust-for bags Name it they have it! I just can't resist with my all time fave Zara since HK, got some Burberry tee which was 80% on-sale from Sak's Fifth, I got 2 pairs of sandals, SF souvenirs (hard rock shirts, Bubba Gump's, keychain, glass shots and refrigerator magnets for my collection) I think I did great and I am so proud of myself palibhasa wlang pera!

After JJ's conference, the 2nd and 3rd nights were spent wandering around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. We got there thru Cable Car. I love it! There was so much things you can do in this place. What I love the most was the Hard Rock Cafe (JJ and I collects Hard Rock apparrel) and the Bubba Gump Restaurant, remember from the movie Forrest Gump? I have to have a souvenir photo with them.

JJ at Ghirardelli Square and me at the Hard Rock Cafe

Thursday night we went to dinner with JJ's boss and co-worker. JJ's bosse's wife and son also came. We went to this busy vietnamese restaurant called The Slanted Door. Very popular! Its located in the northeast corner of the restored Ferry Building across The Embarcadero from the foot of Market Street. We all shared with crispy imperial rolls, crispy vegetarian imperial a very citrusy salad which I really like but forgot the name and then I had caramelized catfish claypot with shallots, ginger and thai chilies (sorry had to write it here so I won't forget). Everybody was happy with the food choices, it was really good! Finally, JJ and I had vanilla bean crème brûlée for the sweets. Oh. My. Glory. Sinful! I really pigged out that night! Grabe my pants were so tight na so we went for a little walk to see the Financial District buildings, the Bay Bridge and the the Passage sculpture at Pier 14 took the cable car again on our way back to the hotel.

Passage and Bay Bridge

Friday, JJ decided to sleep-in instead of attending the last half day activities. Before noon time, we were already out checking Yerba Buena and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Some of the writings on the wall were written in Tagalog! Ha, I felt proud in just a second there! Our next target was to see the Alcatraz, unfortunately we had to buy the tickets in advance pala, like 3 days in advance. They can only accomodate x#'s of tourist. To our dismaym we climbed the hills going to The Coit Tower. There we can see the Alcatraz from a distance so with the Angel Island, the foggy Golden Gate Bridge basically everything we can see from here.

Yerba Buena Fountain and Waterfal and The Coit Tower

We moved on to the Golden Gate Park. On our way there, I got a text message from a filipina (Merilyn) who'm I befriended from Friendster thru Aya's profile. She told me that she and Dan (her hubby) were on their way to meet us. We checked out the Japanese Tea Garden while waiting on them.

That's Me infront of Hagiwara's Shinto Shrine and JJ with the Drum Bridge @ Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

Finally we met and we are all happy. It felt like she was a long lost friend of mine. We had so much in common. For one thing, we both are from the same "baryo" in pinas. We're at the same age. One of my bestfriend in HS was also a her friend and her neighboor! So we chatted and held hands while walking, no pretentions at all. I am so confortble with her and so with her hubby which she fondly calls "dear".

(...and btw, its OK for filipina's to hold each other's hands while walking)

Our stop at Queen Welhimina Garden and Duth Windmill was so cool. Flowers are blooming and the sorroundings were so refreshing. We Fort Mason was soooo fogged up that we could not see anything so we left and head down to the Holocaust Memorial. We didn't get a chance to get in (i think they are close) but we managed to get some photos instead.

Merilyn and I at the Queen Welhilmina Garden and Dutch Windmill and the Holocaust Shrine

Dan drove us around. We checked out those tiny million dollar houses! Finally we are off to see the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point. We were all devastated because we could not see anything! I was gonna cry...why of all the days? So we left. Dan decided to drove us to the Golden Gate Bridge anyway, going to to the Marin County. I told JJ to video it and they were all laughing at me. But I insisted so JJ took a video....and guess what? there was light at the end of the tunnel! Man, such a joy when I saw the sun It looked like a different world once we pass half of the bridge. Dan and Merilyn did such a great job touring us. It helped that they've been here countless times, 'coz they know the best tourist spots where we can get a good angle of the bridge. We went to Vista Point and then to Fort Baker and the Bay area. We could not thank enough for Dan's effort to drive us around, be our tourist guide, our photographer and historian. Merilyn was also quick to tell him where to take us next and we all held our hungry tummies...pictures and sightseeing first before everything else.

Lover's in San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

Finally, we had dinner at The Spinnaker at Sausalito. The Panoramic view of the SF skyline, Angel Island, Alcatraz, and Bay Bridge were so amazing. We never got bored waiting for our food because of the magnificent scenery. It was built directly over the water and we all enjoyed our dinner. We had so much fun chatting and getting to know each other better. JJ even commented that Dan was the type of person he can always hang out with...which really surprised me. For him being able to say it, is a first and very unexpected. They even took us back to the hotel even if we insisted them not too. We were already content that even if they will drop us off anywhere...we wont complain hehehe. Merilyn had to work the next day and it will take them at least 1.5 hours to get home.

Overall, the day turned out memorable. Went to bed with a smiling face and happy hearts!

Saturday, our last day. We squeezed some time to visit the Chinatown before the 12noon checkout time. Wasn't really expecting anything but the cookie factory which my mr. tour guide didn't get to find. I was gonna fire him but I understand we don't have much time to screw around. On our way back to the hotel he insisted to get me the cable car charm that he'd been eyeing at the World of Charms. He was so excited to hand it to me after paying for it. Na touch naman ako so I told him, that I am content to have it as my birthday gift.

JJ at the Chinatown Gate and Me at the Antique Shops

Cable Car Charms

So there ya go friendships! That ends our San Francisco vacation...I am so sorry it has to be detailed. I really wanted to do this not just for all of you but for the years to come....esp. when my memories starts to fade....we are getting old na and ya never know what happens next! Hopefully, I am still able in the next 10 yrs. or hopefuly JJ and I are still inlove and crazy with each other. That's all I wished for...so help me God!

Happy 4th of July to all

317 SF flickr photos h e r e !

Merilyn's Photos

Sorry I'm not good with Slide. I don't know how to make this a little bigger.

LV Neverfull PM

Monogram canvas with natural cowhide leather trim The Neverfull Collection pays homage to the history and heritage of Louis Vuitton travel goods Shiny brass hardware Signature yellow topstitching and red edge dyeing Thin leather handles; each one resists up to 231 lbs Leather drawstring ties on each side Open top with clasped band closure Striped textile lining Large interior capacity with zipped pocket and D-ring Durable, resistant, and lightweight 11.2"x 8.7"x 5.1" Received June 15, 07 from eLuxury @ $575

Goodies!

Yehaahh! USPS just delivered my box from PI! I am so excited of whatsoever is inside the box. Thank u sooo very much to my awesome sissy - Jovy! If not for you, I wouldn't be able to enjoy stuff like this until its 3 years again!

Wanna take a peek? Come on, I can share some but only for your eyes! hahaha!

I already ate some of this boy bawang, a corn snack of which every pinoy and pinay love to munch on! Ter, thank u so much for all of these specially the skincare items na hiyang for me. It is so impossible to get them from here. This will take me forever to consume. Love it, subra!