Tulip Temptation

Give me an occasion. Any occasion. My creative compulsion will answer the faintest siren's call. It has lain dormant for almost three years. Now it has been unleashed to frighten me with its power and (grudgingly) its magic. My recent posts have reflected my giving into the sweetest temptations. Today fared no better.

Kristey had invited Myrna and me for dinner so we could enjoy the outdoor tiki bar she and husband had built in their large backyard. The last time we visited, the rain had discouraged any stay outdoors. Like last time with the Brownie Beach Cake, I volunteered to bring dessert.

Years of knowing Kristey has allowed me the intimate knowledge of her favorite color - purple and her favorite flowers - tulips. When we worked together, I had the pleasure of seeing her enjoy the bouquets of tulips her husband would send her on several occasions. I thought I'd try my hand at it from a different angle, an edible one.

The following is from my youtube page. It was not my intention to create a video with the pictures, but the amount of photos left me no choice. The quality isn't what I would like as the videos you can upload are 2MB max unless you want to break it down which I did not. Enjoy!




Kristey was very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the filled tulip cups. The doily tray and plated photos were taken at her home.

Tulip Collage


xo Sprinkles
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Tulip Temptation

Happy AGOL Day: Spread Love

HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY !!

It's my day. Won't you celebrate it with me by giving a little love to everyone you see today? Call those loved ones near and far away and tell them you love them. Give hugs. SMILE BIG!

A closer look:



39 Good Lovin' bag treats and 24 cards to give out today:


(I know they are just bags of crazy candies, chocolates, fabric heart-shaped petals and fun wrapping, but I know it feels good to get something nice and unexpected on your desk. I love doing this stuff. Believe it or not...this is restrained!)

...and homemade ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies!

These are huge!


So happy together...



SPREAD LOVE !!

Kisses to you my lovelies,
AGOL
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Happy AGOL Day: Spread Love

Back to Work

My high school days were back again or at least the feeling of having to go back to school after having the summer break. Today it was back to work, to the daily grind. I barely remembered to decide which route I would take to get there. Did I want to take the highway or did I want to take the long way which may be faster.

The moment I got on the road, I felt I could have used another day off. Yummy had the day off -- it was a bank holiday in the UK. That stung. Between holidays and vacation accruals, the UK just has more days off than the US...Sigh.

My new cube is situated so I could pass by my regular crew and slink in unnoticed. Thank God! I sat my laptop in the docking station at work and started my day. My IM screen is set to go on at start-up and when it did, it was like a fireworks explosion of IM pop-ups. Good Lord. I got in a little after 9am and apparently, there were people waiting to pounce on me. I wasn't even finished answering IM greetings when people started to visit my cube.

If you would like to know how many people would actually miss you, go away for two weeks. People whom I consider acquaintances were coming over, too. After the initial wave, I brought my chocolate goodies and passed them out in my old section. You would've thought I just gave away real gold, they were so tickled.

I stopped to get some hot tea, my new beverage that has been winning over coffee, and was ambushed in the break room. A headache was forming and I hadn't even said hello to my boss yet.

Quickly, before I was further tackled, I made my way to his office and gave him his giant chocolate bar to share with his family. We discussed my trip and promised him a peek at the pics when I got them printed. I told him about Yummy's astonishment of my chocolate purchase and he said he and his French wife, buy as much if not more before they leave France. I felt properly vindicated. Ha!

Tawny was off and I wished she was there to field people for me during lunch. I brought one of the Lean Cuisine's she stocked in my freezer. I didn't want to have to think about lunch and buying something downstairs just seemed like a vile idea.

My headache was not going away, but I managed to be a gracious traveller and answer questions in between brief tellings of my trip. I told them I would tell them more and would send a link to my uploaded pics once I sorted through them. Sleep was calling me, too.

The rest of the day was spent not doing a whole lot of working even with playing catch-up with Bridget, the new girl who had to take the helm after one week of my training her. She had done very well and I was happy I didn't have to clean up too many weird issues.

Sometime during the day, Kristey reminded me via e-mail that it was Myrna's birthday. I quickly called her and invited her to dinner that night. She was thrilled!

I couldn't wait to go home, take care of Cabal and have dinner with Myrna. She is a low maintenance friend. She doesn't demand a lot from me as far as being needy, but I make a point to call her periodically to make sure she is doing okay.

Myrna informed me that she had a new puppy, a miniature terrier named Teddy that her husband had bought her for her birthday. This puppy was so cute and could fit in a sock! It would grow no more than 4 pounds.

Dinner was great especially after I gave her a more comical spin on my trip. She enjoyed seeing the pics in the digital camera and was looking forward to sampling her chocolate gift when she got home...

My bed welcomed me with open arms. Tomorrow was another day.

Back to Work

You Will Be Re-assimilated

If this day just would stop feeling surreal, that would help me in my re-assimilation back to Trampa time and Trampa things. I barely remember details just relevant things like talking to Yummy in the early morning and late afternoon. He's been up to his elbows in paint. His pet project has been painting a selection of walls in his home. I think he has another coat to apply tomorrow...

I couldn't wait to get the length of my nails to get cut in half! Typing was becoming a chore. I felt happier going from a French manicure to a more lively Italian Red.

Armed with newly manicured nails, Brighton-themed tourist mementos and Cadbury and Galaxy chocolate ingots, I drove to my aunt and uncle's home. They had missed me and had been worried for me traveling by myself to England and to visit, in their eyes, a stranger.

Through my pictures, I was able to show them how much fun I had exploring Yummy's section of England. They also saw him as a real person in candid shots scattered through the over 375+ pics I took. The English culture and terrain were very different and I wanted to capture as much as I could.

My aunt was preparing food and didn't get to see all of the photos. Surprisingly, my cousin Ida was dropped off by her husband so she could spend some time with us and to have my aunt alter a dress for her.

During my UK trip, my aunt had a special sit down bathtub installed in the second bathroom so Nan could have a private bath when she felt like it. It was a pretty penny but impressive with the jets installed where your back would be and your legs which will be great for Nan! Three of us were inspecting it and oohing and aahing over it.

Standing to my left was my aunt and standing to my right was my cousin Ida and we were facing the big mirror for some reason after our admiration of the new bathtub. Ida pulls up her shirt to adjust her bra. I get mischievous and pull up my shirt to flash them, but not to be outdone was my aunt who pulled her shirt up and flashed the rest of us! Oh my God -- what a bunch of cuckoos! We laughed so hard.

Ida told my aunt she had the smallest boobs in the battle of the big boob trio in the mirror. My aunt replied that we got our big boobs from her mother, my grandmother Angela.

Before I knew it, we were having a Filipino meal on one side of the table and American on the other. To add to my feeling of surrealism, my aunt had my uncle put on a cassette with folk songs in the Visaya dialect from her childhood. It was to be "fiesta" soon in Lawa-an and she decided we were to have an impromptu celebration of our own.

I left early so I could make my skype date with Yummy. My evening was made early again by my jet lag and I had to make sure I got up for work the next day. Not looking forward to it either.

You Will Be Re-assimilated

AGOL Takes UK: Chocolate & Champagne

My personal and major objective today was a chocolate run. There was no way in heck I was going to land tomorrow without buying some Cadbury and Galaxy chocolates. My ride home from the Trampa airport depended on it!

Waitrose was to be my source for trafficking chocolate to the US. Around a dozen chocolate ingots weighing 400 grams each and packages of other Cadbury and Galaxy varieties plus three oddball packages of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits came to £45 pounds or $90 worth. The AGOL doesn't play around with her chocolate. Friends and family were being gifted with chocolate.

Yes, there is a picture of the treasure, but you will have to go to Yummy's site to see it on the grocery checkout conveyor. Poor thing. He had never seen so much chocolate purchased at one time. Has he ever had an American Halloween? Didn't think so. Even I must admit it was bordering on obscene, but I didn't care. I just had to get it on the plane.

We dropped the chocolate treasures home before going out again to The Lanes to visit Riddle and Finns for lunch. Not risking any choco meltdown. Too much was riding on their safety. Ha!

Yummy had heard good reviews about Riddle and Finns and we had put it on our mental list of places to try a week before. Here was our chance to sample it since dinner at The Saint was still hours away. Seafood here we come.

The entrance was quite nice and the inside simple with white subway tiles on the walls. The dark wood tables were set quite high. Lunch was almost over so we were the only ones inside. Our order was taken right away and the waiter extremely pleasant and personable. He served us slices of bread with little ramekins of smoked mackerel pate, garlic mayonnaise, horseradish, and onion in vinegar with a side scallop shell filled with butter. What a great way to start.

We had ordered the specials scribbled in chalk on the outside sign. Our starters were the same: crab and feta salad. For the main course, Yummy had Haddock and Chips and I tried Poached Brill with Fennel. Downed with wine, everything was delicious!

Walked around a bit before heading home for an energy nap. Tonight required alertness for all the fun to be had...

Anna, Anton and everyone's friend, Brian came to pick us up. Brian was specially invited into town earlier in the week and we were lucky to have him on a Friday. I found out he was flying to Raleigh, North Carolina the next day about 15 minutes after my plane's flight to Trampa.

We visited two pubs before heading for The Saint where our reservations were secured by Yummy. This Party of Five was definitely starting to get really fun. Did I hear sirens? Just kidding.

I won't enumerate the menu, but suffice it to say everything was great. We all had starters, main course and sinful dessert. A bottle of champagne was popped open for our celebration, liquid gold was poured into our glasses garnished with raspberries. It was indeed heavenly. My time here started with champagne and Yummy felt it fitting to end with some more. What a sweetie! Wine came, too.

Smiley friends: Anna & Brian


Yummy & Anton: Best friends doing their impression of The Clash: Fashion Calling.


Getting happy: Anna, Brian and party crasher, Sean.


Sprinkles & Yummy having had too much sun and now getting striped with wine.


Drinking heaven garnished with a raspberry.


There was a surprise -- a party crasher named Sean. His partner had gone off to get drunk pre-celebrating his 40th birthday. We invited him over and gladly he was fun. Another surprise was Anton remembering him from his school days. Sean didn't remember him, but they had mutual friends he recognized. It was a small world. The evening was wearing and we invited Sean along to our next and my last boozer on this trip.

We took cab rides to The Eddy to complete our beer sandwich. This pub and others will have to deal with the smoking ban taking effect July 1, but for tonight it was smokin' in more ways than one. Loud, but recognizable music played when we came in. Beer-thirty was enjoyed by this (now) Party of Six!

Midnight crept in. It was time to walk home for most of us. Hugs all around. These were good people to meet and a blast to hang with...Too much to drink to think seriously about organizing my things. Of course, I can start packing in the morning before I leave. (Gulp!)

AGOL Takes UK: Chocolate & Champagne

Happy AGOL Day - Go Diva!

If there is one day that my friends know that belong to me, it is Valentine's Day. It has been my way of making up to them for being depressed and sulky all Christmas season starting in October. I've also loved this day ever since I passed out my first Valentine card in elementary school. Spreading love, joy and beauty into the world should be everyone's goal. A little of one or each makes the world a more beautiful place to live in. We owe it to each other to show a little kindness.

I live the essence of Valentine's every day. It is my trademark. Whether it is passing by someone's desk to give some candy as a pick-me-up or complimenting someone on how they look or just listening to them just takes a few moments out of my day and is well worth the effort. Everyone needs to feel validated at least once a day, to feel that they matter and someone noticed their existence at least for one moment. It is the priceless gift we can give each other and costs near to nothing.

Yummy and I have been talking about promoting yourself as a brand. The genesis for this idea was not mine but a genius article in a maverick magazine called "Fast Company" where I first located an article 10 years ago entitled The Brand Called You. If you like this article, I highly recommend searching the words "Brand You" and see what other articles come up or just checking out the website for fresh ideas.

When my friends think of me and acquaintances, too, they can rattle off the same things that they know me for and of course the idea of Love is central. Jeff and Tawnyia are the ones who gave me the moniker Asian Goddess of Love (AGOL). It has started to become interchangeable with my full name in some circles. Quite strange sometimes. More R&D needs to be done, but it is an evolving brand. I do have my own logo with my last name and a graphic accompanying it; I've had it for about six years now. It probably needs a reworking, but I will leave that to the R&D group.

In the midst of meetings today, I was the receiver of Love vibes from Yummy and it came in the manner of a beautiful giant box of Godiva chocolate. Nothing say lovin' like a box of Godiva truffles and chocolates! Here's a picture I took at my cube at work.

Red Suede Heart Shape Box of Godiva Chocolates...Texture and Taste!

When I got home and picked up my mail, I also received a really great card from Yummy with a beautiful dragonfly poem inside. You want to talk about Yummy trademarks? Romantic ranks No. 1 in my book. As the AGOL, he is perfect. This man just takes my breath away. He has a manner of catching me off guard which is rarely done. I am indeed very blessed and lucky to have him in my life. He is awesome. Thank you, Peter, for my wonderful Valentine's gifts -- I just love them!

My day ended with talking to Yummy. Did I mention that since he couldn't be with me in the same country this time round, he offered to babysit his godkids for his best friend? Talk about a Hot Move in the AGOL handbook! Love, joy and beauty. That is what it is all about.

Happy AGOL Day - Go Diva!