Entry 79: Getting Hollered At When Your Ring Is At The Jewelers

There’s this episode of How I Met Your Mother where the character Robin notices that she, in a sense, has become invisible after getting engaged to Barney. In putting on her engagement ring, she is no longer able to get free coffee or bagels, no one allows her to cut in line, the bartender no longer sees her when she tries to order beer, and she basically become like Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings

It was a funny episode, like many of the episodes of the show, but I never dwelt on whether there was any truth to it all until a few weeks ago, when I went to the grocery store without my ring.

Husband and I had dropped our ring off the day before at a Shane Co that was 2 hours away, and were anticipating on being ring-less for a week, but I walked into that grocery store, and let me tell you… it was as if the Red Sea had parted. I suddenly noticed smiles coming my way, guys were moving to the side so I could push my wagon through the aisle, I was asked multiple times if I needed help finding things (after the 4th time I was just like.. Bacon! I need bacon!)

Maybe the grocery store workers were giving exceptional customer service that day, maybe people always smile but I never notice because I tend to avoid eye contact, maybe I don’t notice people move to the side so I could go through aisles because I usually go grocery shopping on weekdays at 9 am when the retired people do their shopping.

Maybe it was all a coincidence, but how would you explain a random guy asking me if I had come to the grocery store alone while I was looking for tomatoes in the produce section?

Not going to lie, I thought it was a creepily weird thing to ask… something that psycho abductors say before they lure you in with brownies or chocolate chip cookies. Why wouldn’t I go to a grocery store alone? I’m an adult woman in my 30’s, and even if I didn’t look like I was 30, surely I looked older than 18. Surely… Maybe.

“Yea?”I responded, confused.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Ahhhhhh! The light bulb came on. It made sense. I was being chatted up, which caught me off guard considering I don’t think I’ve been properly chatted up before, or if I have, it’s been a while. Was this how random single people chatted up other seemingly random single people in today’s dating world? I thought most people did apps like Tinder, or Grinder…

“No boyfriend, but I do have a husband.”

The rejected suitor gave me a look of shock; he had crossed a line he had never intended on crossing by hitting on a married woman.

Oh my Gosh!” he exclaimed, and apologetically stepped back, his hand covered his mouth in embarrassment, then touched his chest as if in a heartfelt apology.

“ I didn’t see a ring,” he tried to explain. “I didn’t know you were married.

“My ring’s at the cleaners,” I explained. “It’s okay.

I pushed my cart towards the bacon aisle, processing the fact that I just got hollered at.

I got my ring back a week later, and looking at it in its clean, shiny, pristine state, I can see how it acts a ward for other guys to Fuck off. Apparently, its been doing that for 9 years.

Anyways I hope everyone has good rest of their week. Husband is in Boston this week so I’m riding solo, but keeping busy with doing a load of crafty projects and cleaning the house.

Things I like this Week:

How To Be A Latin Lover – This movie is now on prime, but I had been wanting to watch this for a while. It looks cheezy in the trailer, and it is…but it’s also heartwarmingly funny.

Instant Pot! – It was my birthday this past weekend and husband got me an instant pot! I’ve only been wanting one for 2 years, putting it on my Christmas and Birthday wish list. So excited to make instant pot dishes.

Jergens Natural Glow – It’s getting really hot in the desert, and I have this really ugly short’s tan line from doing outdoor stuff. It’s like my legs are nicely tan, then there’s a white ass. There’s no transition, it just goes abruptly from tan legs to white ass. I’d put a picture up but I don’t know if that would be appropriate. You’d probably like.. daannng! Anyways, I bought this to try to ombre it out. I don’t know if it’s works yet, but it smells nice.

That’s all I have for now. Until next time…

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Entry 78: Oh, Canada – How The Airlines Lost Our Bag.

I should have known it was going to be a stressful trip the moment that Anne, the United Airlines ticketing agent, notified us that our flight out of the desert was delayed by an hour and that our only option was to take a route that would get us to Victoria, BC by 9 pm.

It was 6:30 am and I remember shooting daggers at her with my glares (or at least trying to), sending her subliminal messages of What do you mean I’m not getting there til later tonight!?! But Anne met my evil looks without a flinch of emotion. Her empathy had more than likely been sucked out of her soul after her second day on the job, making her impervious to the worst of plights, including my own.

The delayed flight was just the beginning: Upon arrival to San Francisco, our flight got rebooked to Calgary, which then had a connecting flight to Victoria, BC.

Well, as long as we get there, we conceded.

With an hour layover in Calgary, we went through customs and waited for our luggage until we were the last ones at the carousel.

What do you mean our bags never left San Francisco?!? We asked the customer service luggage man, preparing for an all out bitch out.

I don’t know, it never left. I suggest you run to your flight to Victoria before you miss it.

He was lucky. The fact that we only had 15 minutes to get through security and to our terminal, spared him from what would inevitably have made his day 10 times worse than it already has was. We ran through the airport, and went through a security check point that literally took 10 minutes even though there was only 1 person ahead of us.

Luckily, they held the plane for us and as we sat in our seats, they quickly shut the doors and took off.

We arrived in Victoria safely, but half of the time was spent on the phone with airline’s customer service in India trying to figure how to get our bags to us in time for the wedding we were attending. It was a shame that we couldn’t fully enjoy Victoria, it really is a pretty city.

But I can’t say the trip was all bad. We did enjoy the time we forced ourselves to break away from the stress to spend time friends and the wedding at Hatley Castle.

After Canada, we drove stateside to the old hood I grew up in. We walked the streets, went to the mall, and hung out with more friends.

We were reunited with our bag on the evening of the 3rd day. The hotel receptionist called us at 10:30 pm notifying us that our bag had arrived and I just about cried.

The most emotional part of the trip was that I got to see my dad come home. It wasn’t planned, but he had been at a rehab facility for 5 months since his stroke, and while he wasn’t 100% (I don’t think he’ll ever be) my mom decided to bring him home.

We got to my parents before my dad arrived. There was a lot of hustle and bustle until he was finally settled in, but as he lay in the bed that my mom set up in the small living room of her apartment, I eyed the dusty Sherman Clay that had been untouched for years and played what broken Beethoven I could remember. I played Fur Elise like a newbie, making mistake after mistake, and at the sound of music my dad began to cry.

It wasn’t just a single tear that somehow emerged and slid down his cheek, but a flood of emotions that welled and uncontrollably gushed out in joy. My mom, forgetting, in that moment, every argument they might have had during their marriage, held his hand and stroked his face in comfort. He was home and around family.

There’s something about seeing your parent weep for the first time breaks away every idea of invincibility you might have had regarding them. For me, it became a growing-up point, making me realize that for all the times they had wiped away all my tears, it was now time for me to do that for them.

Anyways, the next Seattle trip is in August. Hopefully I’ll get to spend more time with everyone and see the people I didn’t get to see this time

This I like this week.

Amazonian Clay Foundation $25 Sale @Ulta. One of my favorite foundations went on sale this week. I bought one the other week before the Canada / Victoria trip and had to buy another one. Normally it’s $40

Grilled Corn with Tajin – I discovered tajin at this brewery I had gone to when I first moved to the desert and had mainly put it on popcorn. the other day, husband grilled some corn and I sprinked some of it on there..and omg. It was delish.

Anyways that’s all for now. Nothing new is happening this week, just gotta fix some issue my car is having. That should be fun. Until next time…everyone have a great week!

Entry 77: Where are you from…. No… where. are. you. F-rom?

I’m used to people trying to guess my ethnicity. It’s such a random thing to happen, but happens more than you think it would. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like a big puzzle people are trying to figure out for whatever reason.

In Washington, it was always other Asians trying to guess what type of Asian I was. More specifically, older Asians ladies from the motherland.

Where are you from? They would ask.

Me: Ugh…. Lynnwood.

No, where are you from?

Me: America?

It took me a little bit to realize they were asking me my ethnicity.

Filipino , I would respond, and they would look at me a little surprised, expecting another answer. I have been told while in Washington that I didn’t look Filipino; I had Chinese eyes and was too light skinned, so I can see their skepticism

I’m Filipino. I’d say again, sticking to my original answer. This then opened a Pandora’s box of questions, including the question of if I spoke Philippines, which isn’t a thing, but I gave them a pass for English being their second language. I do think, however, that at some point someone should correct them because it’s just going to cause confusion in future conversations with other people.

But now that I’ve moved to the desert, it is the ex-military men who seem to be wanting to play the ethnicity game. Maybe they see me and get flashbacks of that one time they got stationed in the Philippines. I don’t know, but they curiously ask, and maybe it’s because I’ve gotten much darker since moving to the desert, but they always get the fact that I’m Filipino right.

You’re Filipino. one vet stated while I was waiting for my take-out order of wings at the local Hooters (Don’t judge, they got good wings) . He didn’t ask as if he didn’t know for sure, he said it as fact.

“Yeup.” I confirmed

“Have you ever been back?” he asked. At which point I explained that I’ve never been there (I know, such a bad Filipino). My dad’s from this region, I explain, and my mom’s family is from this city and so on and so on.

The vet then proceeds to tell me everything he knows about Filipinos, about how he’s got a Filipino girlfriend who came to America on a fiance visa and how she broke up with her fiance and was now with him, and how he was in Manila back in ’92, and all the women there were beautiful. And did I eat rice? We obviously had a connection, but in the back of my mind…I really didn’t care. I wanted my wings to hurry up so I can leave.

It’s was probably totally rude of me to think that. Said ex-vet was probably just excited that he had met another Filipino to talk Filipino stuff with.  I get excited whenever I meet other people from Seattle. The other day I was driving in the neighborhood and saw the cars of our new neighbors with Washington license plates parked in a house that been on sale.

I wonder if they’re Seahawk fans! I excitedly thought to myself, perhaps even imagining us carpooling to the Seahawks bars during football season.

So yea, I get it.

Well, I hope everyone is doing great, I know it’s been a hot minute since I wrote something, but I doubt anyone was sitting at the edge of their seats wondering what was going on with me, saying to themselves…I need this bloggg! Like I need my coffeeeee.  If you were. I’ve just been busy. Me and husband went to a horse race over the weekend.

I was overdressed with my stilettos and tight pencil skirt, while everyone seemed to dress down with jeans and cowboy boots. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but how was I supposed to know? Everything I know about derbies is based on what I see on TV with the Kentucky Derby and how they interview celebrities beforehand to see what their wearing.

In case you were wondering, this is what Joey Fatone wore.

 

But note to self, small town Derby… Dress down to blend in.

not staged at all.

Things I like this week

Quantico – The thing that made me give this show a chance was because the main actress Priyanka Chopra is going to Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding. I know that’s a completely stupid reason to start watching a show, but I’m already 6 episodes in.

What I don’t like about the show is how one of the actors looks like he wears mascara. It bugs me whenever the screen goes to him. It’s like, how are your lashes so extra right now? It’s completely unfair how a lot of men I know have lashes that are better than most women.

I also looked up the actress, and she’s been in a few Bollywood movies that I’ve actually enjoyed. Yes, I watch Bollywood quite often, and if you’ve never given it a try, you should. There’s a lot of dancing and singing.

One of the most epic dancing I’ve seen in Bollywood is this scene from Any Body Can Dance…which basically a Bollywood take on Stomp the Yard. It’s kind of long, but if you scroll to minute 5, when the guru dancer comes in… and everyone backs up… and is like… ohhhh shieettt… 

My face during this whole scene was like….

 

Confession, I’ve seen this clip a handful of times, and it always makes me laugh…

Anyways, that’s about it…Everyone have a good rest of your week 🙂

Entry 76 : Fitness Fridays – Haters Gonna Hate

There are two types of people who annoy me:

1. One – Uppers : The people who are always trying to one-up you out of no-where. You’ll mention how you went to a concert, and they’ll tell you how they’ve already seen that person in concert 5 times, 4 times of which they were backstage and met a bunch of famous people. Or you’ll casually mention how you got some wine from Total Wine, and they’ll talk about how they’ve been to Italy 10 times where they had better wine than you’ve ever had in your life. And if you mention you’ve never been to Italy ::Gasp:: You’ve never gone to Italy? Well, that’s a shame, you really should sometime if you ever can afford it
2. And secondly… Haters Who Hate : These are the people who have something negative to say, especially about people they don’t know because it makes them feel better about themselves, or something psychological like that.

A few weeks ago, Husband was doing a conditioning challenge that required him to use a squat rack and the space around him.  As it is with the gym we go to, there are only 2 squat racks for use, so you can imagine how ‘in-demand’ it is, especially when everybody’s at the gym, and it’s everybody’s leg day.

“Are you using the squat rack?” this dude asked Husband during one of his rest times. He was catching his breath after doing a round of something like 5 conditioning exercises for one round. Husband ended up letting them use the squat rack while he moved to another area to finish his rounds, but I overheard the guy say to his friend … A conditioning exercise? 

I would like to say that he said it out of wonderment, like huh, that’s interesting. But I think it was more of out annoyance because he gave this look of Why would anyone use the squat rack for anything other than squats when someone like me needs to do squats? 

So If he was hating…

oh hell no

A. It’s first come first serve. That’s generally a rule of life

B. Maybe he should look at his gut before hating. Husband is in amazing shape, and if Husband wants to use a squat rack as a human jungle gym, well…maybe said hater should take some notes because obviously what he’s doing is not working, and driving in his Benzo can only do so much overcompensate.

Maybe that sounds a little mean, but that’s what he gets for hating.. That is, if he was hating.  If he wasn’t, I take it back.

Now, I’m not going to lie. I can be a hater sometimes…. I used to hate a lot more, but have been trying catch myself when negative thoughts start to enter my mind. I’ve been trying to remind myself that being concerned with other people or putting them down, even if they are strangers, to make myself feel better (because that’s ultimately the root of the reason)  takes time… time that could be used on self-improvement. Besides, you don’t burn calories by hating.

Workout thing of the week.

I think my shoulder muscles have improved. Last week husband and I painted the 3 exterior walls of our house, and I was lifting ladders like no one’s business. I wish I had pictures.

One of favorite exercises is shoulder lifts with a plated weight. I only use 10 lbs and even though it’s somewhat of a light weight, before you judge me… try doing a shit load of these and then judge. It gets hard. Plus, I’m not trying to look like a bodybuilder, I want to tone my body.

I do 3 rounds of the following:

10 – plate verticle lifts over the head
10 – plate lifts figure 8s
10 – plate verticle lifts over the head
10 – plate lifts figure 8s

Vertical Lift

 

Figure 8s

You could do 20 verticals and 20 figure 8s, but… I find it’s easier to split the reps because my shoulder muscles be getting fatigued.

Tips:

1. Exert energy going up, when you reach the pinnacle of the lift, hold for pause, then slowly bring down, fighting gravity when bringing down. You want to have as much control in the motions as possible.
2. Breathing helps: breath in as you’re going up, out as your bringing your weight down.

Anyways, I hope everyone has an excellent weekend. Husband is coming home tomorrow and so I’m excited. There’s been a few times he’s asked me what I’m doing and to which one time, my response was….

Getting Swole.

I crack myself up. Until next time .. have a great weekend 🙂

Entry 75 : Adulting… I suppose I should.

It’s been a hot minute since I last wrote a post, and I know a ton of you were probably hanging your head in disappointment when you discovered there was no new entry and clicking the refresh button to see if something new would magically generate, but let me explain. These past couple of weeks I’ve been doing the all-important task of adulting.

Ahhh, I can see you saying, nodding your head in understanding, perhaps having flashbacks of the last time that you had to deal with something that you secretly wanted to run away and blanket burrito from. That was me these past few weeks dealing with pool stains and painting 3 out of the 4 exterior walls of my house. Well, more so with the pool stains. Painting was okay, it just took a long time.

I realize I could’ve avoided the stress of it all by hiring a set of illegal immigrants who would’ve gotten the job down in a tenth of the time. It would’ve been priced a little more than the cost of goods plus whatever half the minimum wage is per hour, but… we didn’t and as a result, I racked my head over what could possibly be wrong with the pool, and during the past week Husband and I painted from dusk til down. At the end of each day, there was paint all over my hands and hair, and I developed a sports bra tan line. It was not cute and I found myself constantly looking at the mirror thinking I need a facial. And a manicure

The feeling at the end of the days

After a walk in the desert, Coco is like I cant even.

A post shared by Winter Amplayo Roberts (@winterris) on Apr 22, 2016 at 12:20pm PDT

But all is good. We got it done and house is not the freshest house in the block, pool likes it wants to be swam in, Husband and I bonded over a project, and I discovered / rediscovered that I have more grit than I give myself credit for.

The clean pool!

The life lesson? Do the adult things first, and then treat yourself with the fun stuff. I know I felt really productive, and my facial felt well deserved.

Things I like This Week:

My Fresh Looking House and Clean Pool

Spiked Arnold Palmer – During our painting project days, husband I drank this during our lunch breaks. It’s only has 5 % alcohol so it doesn’t even taste like it’s liquored up.

Old Episodes of Rosanne – The reboot of the show happened a few weeks ago and had huge numbers. I haven’t seen the new episodes yet, but I’ve started to watch the old episodes on Amazon Prime… and it’s great. I don’t know how I never watched this as a kid. Some show’s comedy is only relevant to the times, but 30 years later, I find that the jokes that they make is still relevant to today. That’s how you know the writing is good, when it can transcend time.

Things I Don’t Like This Week

Conor McGregor is a Dick – I’m a big fan of watching UFC, and was a big fan of Conor McGregor, until he attacked a bus that injured some UFC fighters that were supposed to fight last Saturday. I don’t know if I should have expected it ? or… I don’t know.

That’s all for now. Nothing new is happening with me. Husband is away in Spain this week, but it’s supposed to gloomy and rainy the whole time he’s there so I’m not jealous. Other things: I have made some life decisions that I’m going follow through, like getting a fitness certification. I just got to follow through.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a good rest of the week. Until next time….

Entry 74 : When Life Gives You Lemons

…Make a Facial Scrub.

Seriously. I mean, you can make lemonade if you want, but in case you didn’t know, lemons make an excellent DIY face scrub when you want to give your skin a little TLC. Just cut up a wedge, coat it with sugar, and scrub away all that dead skin. Some people might find it a little rough especially if they have sensitive skin, but I like it.

I know, I know….the quote is a metaphor and relates to when life starts raining down shit on you…

Which – for me – brings up the question: why do bad things happen? Why does God let bad things happen? Why do we experience pain? Heartache? And all the bad things in life? What it something we did? Are we being punished? Was is Eve? (Dangit Eve!)  Or is it something completely different?

Okay, that’s a number of questions, all of which I do not know the answer to.

What I do know is that pain, sadness, heartache, death – and everything we consider negative in life is a part of life. I know, I’ve experienced it. Everyone I know has experienced it. Whether you’re rich, poor, a hot model, or an average Joe… shit happens. But then the question becomes – What type of person am I going to be when it does happen? At least that’s what I try to ask myself, after my Why God, Why? moment. Am I going to cry about it ? or face it head-on?

What is also a fact is that along with all the shit that life gives us, there is also smiles and laughter, good times, good friends, and everything positive that you can think of. But sometimes, in order to get there, in order to become a better and wise person, you got to deal with the bad too.

When life gives you lemons… make a facial scrub. Or something along those lines.

Things I like this week:

The Darkest Hour – Movie was a Historical drama about Winston Churchhill and the hard decisions he had to make during WWII as Prime Minister. I find British History fascinating, so of course I like it, but it had me thinking, what if Britain had conceded to Hitler in those early years? Would the outcome of the war ended up differently?

It’s Holy Week – Meaning, only a few more days of Easter. Even though it’s the most sad week in the Catholic year, I love it. It makes me more reflective of how Jesus just went in, knowing he was going to die for us.

Things I don’t like this week:

Sally Hansen Design 3d –  Don’t get this. It looks cool on the picture, but once you apply it on your nail, it doesn’t look as nice. I should’ve read the reviews before buying on the whim.

Pool Owning – So I own a pool, but it sucks trying to get the right chemical balance. It’s great during those days when it’s really hot, especially in the desert, but right now – it is the bane of my existence.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week. Until next time…

 

 

 

 

 

Entry 73: Where Are They Now……Ludacris, Ja-Rule, Ashanti

According to the Pima county fair website, there are 33 days left until the Pima county fair. Okay, wait…. 30 days.

Whooo’s excited?!?!

It’s kind of a big deal here, along with the local rodeo. Like if you ask locals what to do for fun in the desert, they’ll name off rodeo week ::check::, hiking ::check::, and the Pima County Fair.

I found myself looking on the website to see what it was all about. I mean, I haven’t been to a fair in years. But apparently its like a carnival with games and rides, and horses, and musical performances by artist like

…. brace yourself…

Ludacris.

and JaRule and Ashanti?!?! Say what?!?

I know! when was the last time you thought of those guys?!? For me, it was high school/college. Their music was the soundtrack of my coming of age, even though now that I really listen to the lyrics I’m like… hmmm…

Circa 2000. When I listened to Jarule/Ashanti and Luda…all the while wondering, why don’t boys like me!

But yeah.. Luda and Ja-Rule and Ashanti… so if you are ever wondering whatever happened to them? They are out doing stuff like county fairs in the desert

Which brings me to some advise that I have for the younger folk. Just wait until the artists no longer are popular to go to their concerts; before you know it – Justin Bieber and other such artists you like now will be playing in casinos and county fairs. I mean, you’ll be in your 30’s, maybe 40s, but it’ll be half the price.

Random… did you know there are 98 Now! This is What I call Music albums? And they’re advertising the 99th one? Do people really buy these albums? Because I feel like they don’t. Maybe they should stop at 100.

Things that I like this week.

“Money Maker” – Ludacris. Hearing that Luda was coming to the desert made me look up all of his songs. This is definitely my favorite and gives me flashbacks of my early 20’s.

Sally Handson Nail Decals – I bought these from Target the last week. I initially saw them at Ulta, but they were sold out and so when I saw them at Target, they automatically went in my basket with no hesitation. I haven’t tried it yet because I got some housework that might potentially ruin them, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m excited.

“Let it Be” – Bebe Rxha feat Florida Georgia Line – This song has been on repeat for me recently. It’s got Florida Georgia Line, who I love since my newfound love of country music. But it’s a super chill song.

Anywho, that’s all for now. I hope everyone has a good week. Until next time!