Today

As yet again, I will be working 2 shifts, 16 hours. I am just doing it as a favor for someone... ME! Gotta pay the bills, you know. But let me tell you my day so far. Because I am already in this nice place called work, this time of day, I can say this is the end of the day for me, hmmp! To think that today is the only time Boston weather is getting better. This past week has just been a total blah.. I will be going home tomorrow morning... yes dear readers, tomorrow, and be back at 3pm to resume the day. I know. I know.

Fridah ( we lovingly call her Pits), called early around 08:30 to tell me she will treat me to brunch. I was then cleaning my external hard drive because I have been LAZY. I really need to consolidate and do some tagging. Anyway, I said okay but went on and continued my little project - watermarking my pictures, putting them in proper albums, adding labels and just pure catching up. By the way, this has been on going since April. I know. I know. No need to tell me I am so slow. Clatterbrained is who I am. Oh, oh... I just got an idea, I think my middle name is Clatter. So, Bernadette Cllater Ambiong Llaga. BCAL.

We planned IHOP but I hate IHOP. Yes I do. They should be banned from making steak. Wait, they should make eating at IHOP punishable by law. I will tell you in a different post why. I kinda "silent suggest" Cheesecake Factory at South Shore Plaza  and it was a go. We got there and CF was closed, duh... it was 1030 in the morning. We ended up at Nordstrom Bistro. Yes, I went to Nordstrom in my work clothes with matching blue rubber flip flops, sporty Adidas.. .shame! So, I thread lightly so as not to see people, or be seen , I guess is the correct term.  Why, of all places, the elevator is located where you need to pass through the bags section... yes, the fashion gods are cruel. They torture me everyday. As I was minding my own business because I want to be out of that place as quickly as possible, a sweet loud voice goes... "Bernadette... hi Bernadette, good morning". It's Emily! She is the most beautiful sales associate ever! You should go see her, very sweet and pretty. Imagine my embarassment. You see, she is always well put together and looks so fas-yon, and here I am with my rubber flip-flops!! While digesting all this shame, I flashed a smile and said my usual niceties. Meanwhile Fridah's thinking was in a different channel. She was thinking along the lines of... "Oh my God, they even know you now." She knows that if I go to Coach boutique in SSP, they bring out stuff for me that they think I like based on my previous purchases. I have not been to Coach for a long time though, so the SAs may be different now. I know... bags should be my middle name too. It must be, ha? How about Bernadette Bags Ambiong Llaga? BBAL!

Finally we are at the bistro. It's kind of different here. They give you the menu at the cash register which is at the door, you choose the food, you pay and then they lead you to your seat. We were the first patrons and the waitstaff was awesome. The bistro have an open stage kitchen so it's kinda cool. You can see the cooks and chefs prepare your food. I had risoto with grilled shrimps and asparagus.

 The shrimps were overdone so the nice waitress offered to get me better ones. They give you 5 by the way. I tried the "overdone"shrimp and it was very flavorful so I ended up eating all of them, even the additional ones. In fact, I like the "overdone" ones better. Fridah had herb roasted salmon with string beans.

 Ice had pizza for which we were warned that it is adult sizing. Kids' meal comes with raisins and seasonal fruits. That's good. The food is good, nothing spectacular but it is good. The service and presentation is awesome. You know me, I add points for service--- and this bistro makes the cut. Here's Ice goofing around and some pictures I took.

Pits and Ice, my eating partners. Shopping buddies too!

The dessert portion as we were warned was huge, so we ordered one and shared. The prices aren't bad, eh?

We had the chocolate paradise cake. As you can see, Precious is happy.

And our view.... .

Nice...... I do not have if it is because it is new or it's just the way it is, but the place is  squeaky clean and the service is impeccable. I highly recommend this for BFF shopping and lunch bonding moment.

On our way out, we saw this triplets. I had to sneak a pic, aren't they cute?

We were in a rush by then because every Tuesdays, my kids are off from school at 1115AM and get to our place around 12noon. As I mentioned before, the fashion gods are cruel! We had to pass by the shoes area... shoes my friends are Fridah's passion.

We quickly grabbed this Converse Chuck Taylor artists' series. This is Robert Indiana's iconic Love series, in an iconic shoe brand nonetheless. At such a great price!

Reminds me of this?

I grabbed another Dolce Vita shoes. I got this pair.

Lovely ain't it?

We rushed out quickly as it is really late and the kids are probably waiting outside my building, which was the case. KC was actually crying. We headed off to her eye appointment.

Unfortunately, KC is diagnosed of cycloplegia. I will talk about it more when I am ready. She is asymptomatic at this point and it can be corrected if necessary. I will ask for a second opinion though. Not that I do not trust our eye doctor, but when it comes to decisions like this, I believe in double checking. I will update you in 3 months as she will be seen again, maybe earlier if I can find an ophtalmologist immediately.

We quickly went home for her to change and we went straight to her friend Allison's birthday party. Here she is....

Then, I quickly went home, showered and picked up Pherry from his school. Off I got to work and my friends,  we are back where I am... a beautiful place to spend your 16 hrs. NOT!