Memorial Day Weekend

My friend, Erin, and I decided to go on a little roadtrip this past Memorial Day Weekend and our plan was to drive to Montreal after hitting the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

We were really looking forward to taking a little break from our NYC lives.

I'm so excited!

Montreal is going to be amazing!

But, three hours into our drive, we hit a little hiccup:

Oops, Erin, I forgot my passport.

Oops, Janice, I forgot my passport.

Oops, we're not going to Montreal.

Then, ever the optimists, Erin and I thought there was a possibility we didn't need our passports to cross the border.

And, we were right, passports aren't required to enter Canada.

We just wouldn't have been able to come back into the United States without them.

It's the tiny, important details that foil us.

At least we forgot our passports together?

It would've been awkward if only one of us left it at home.

Mac & Cheese. And My Sister.

Tiffany and I are 16 months apart.

That means when our college years arrived, we overlapped by two years.

Our campuses were conveniently 12 miles away from each other so we often got to hang out together.

One day, during Tiffany's first year of college, I get a call from her:

So, of course, the "next time" turns out to be the next day. Because who waits on the promise of free and delicious food?

I arrive at Tiffany's dorm and we head down to one of the kitchens where I'm giddy with excitement, wondering what magic my sister will wield over a dorm kitchen to produce the BEST mac & cheese. And because I have faith in my sister, I believe this mac & cheese will make my taste buds rejoice, my palate sing, and my mouth die of ecstasy.

In short, I am expecting this mac & cheese to change my life.

I might've had high hopes.

So, we're in the kitchen, Tiffany rummages around in her basket of supplies and guess WHAT she whips out.

In case you've never had the pleasure of consuming an Easy Mac snack packet, you pour the contents into a bowl, add water, microwave, and add the cheese sauce.

This was what my sister meant by making the BEST mac & cheese.

And, she had a whole box of 'em.

My anticipation might have set the bar a little too high.

I should've known Tiffany's "making" meant "microwaving."

Celebrating Mothers Over the Weekend

After celebrating Mother's Day with my mom's side of the family on Saturday, I spent Sunday with my dad's side of the family.

I was really glad I wasn't one of the older, unmarried grandchildren of the family.

Because, I escaped something that went like this:

His name is Paulina.

Aunt Florian and Aunt Alistair.

Cousin Wilma

Uncle Faye

And so forth.

For the next two hours.

I froze for a minute when my Grandma turned to me and asked:

Do you have a boyfriend, Janice?

I had to whisper Nope and hope nobody else heard.

Sorry, Paulina, I'm glad you were there to take the brunt of the dating questions and matchmaking.

But I know when you get married, I'm next in line for the interrogation parties.

Um, you like being a bachelor, right?

[TBT] A Photo Story for James: Hippo Adventures

For Throwback Thursday, I thought it'd be fun to share a post from a predecessor blog I used to have called Monkey Whimsy. It's where I first started drawing, taking pictures, and telling photo-stories. I stopped blogging on it for a variety of reasons, one of which was time, but wanted to share one of my favorite posts from the past. The following is from January 22, 2011 and was meant as a thank you to my friend for her gift. Enjoy!

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Saturday, January 22, 2011
A Photo Story for James: Hippo Adventures

My friend, James, visited me a few years ago with her boyfriend, Brianne, and threatened to send me a hippo in gratitude for chauffeuring them around NYC. I didn't believe her until a few weeks later when I checked my mailbox and lo and behold, a hippo was in my post.

He is a very cute hippo.
He is also a very pink hippo.
Thank you, James and Brianne, for my hippo.

I love him so much that sometimes, I bring him to work with me.
He doesn't like work.

Sometimes I find Hippo doing this.

What do you think he's doing? Surely not to get a view of the outside.
I mean I know we're stuck indoors for 8.5 hours straight but it's not like it's PRISON, right?

Hippo, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT'S NOT THAT BAD.

Hey, how did you get up there?

They really need to start hippo-locking the windows at work.

I mean it, you get down here right now!

Uh oh.

HIP-POOOOOOOOO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-Oooooooooo.................

I'll CATCH YOU!!

Oops. Don't worry, he's okay. He's just being dramatic.

Sometimes we play after work.
And by play I mean eat.

Hippo likes to eat, too. Look at him staring at my noodle bowl.

As usual he gets himself into pretty precarious situations.

And also like me, Hippo likes hot sauce.

Awww, look at him trying to get his tiny paws on the hot sauce.

I think he's exhausted from his exertions.

Ready for bed, Hippo?

Isn't he cute when he's all tucked into bed like that?

Good night, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Get back into bed, Hippo.

Where are you going? Hip-po!!

Okay, fine. We'll read The Little Prince once more and then it's bed for you, mister.

Are we almost done now?

Finally, in bed. The day's done.

Only to be repeated again the next day.

Complete with more window staring.

And plans of escape.

Or maybe, Hippo is just staring at his reflection in the window. He can be quite narcissistic sometimes.

And the day wouldn't be complete without Hippo trying to get in on the food action.
Good luck, Hippo, good luck trying.

The end.

DramaFever Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the DramaFever giveaway! I loved reading the comments and drama suggestions, and will tuck them away for a rainy day.

And now, to reveal the winner.

I used random.org to generate a random number and got: 2.

The second comment was:

Congratulations, Hyunjin! You won a 3-month gift subscription to DramaFever. Keep an eye out on your inbox, you'll be receiving an email from me soon.

Thanks again, everyone!

Have a suggestion for a future giveaway? Let me know in the comments section!