west village, nyc

Rirkrit Tiravanija's exhibit – ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’

may 12, andrew's birthday
on our way back home

world trade center
PATH station

sometimes,
when i take this route,
i think that some of the other commuters walking around are really ghosts,
but they don't know it. and i think that i might just be in purgatory.

to all the victims of 9/11,
may your souls rest in peace.

sunday

mother's day.

Random Taco Bell drive-thru run with the kiddo back in April. Yup, one of those days...

i miss these guys

summer is almost over!

I can't believe it's already September.
The last half of the year goes by way faster than the first half.
This 3-day weekend was perfect for recharging.
I can smell fall and the holidays in the coming months.
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

where one should hold a forget-me-not

'
the crossroads of the world

is too overwhelming

happy august

This summer has been pretty eventful and it will continue to be until the end of this month.
On the days we're not having/going to a party or on the road to go somewhere, we go for an ice cream drive. If we're too broke for that, we make milkshakes at home and watch tons of movies on netflix.
I'm half glad summer will be over soon. Though it's meant for lazing about we instead feel pressure to do something because it's "summer" and it can be really tiring.
But it's been fun.

So far my summer list is almost complete:
- road trips
- swimming
- vacations
- bbq's
- visiting family
- doing touristy things in nyc
(ie: staten island ferry, time square, etc.)
- hot air balloons
- watching a summer blockbuster: Toy Story 3

& looking forward to:
- watch Inception
- sharon jones & the dap-kings + the budos band free at prospect park this sat.
- my friends visiting me on..
- my birthday weekend..
- go to Rock the Bells on Gov's Island ..
- & finally seeing Ms. Lauryn Hill perform.

"midwest is best" road trip

I just realized I didn't take any pictures of Chicago with film, just digital. It's funny because I uploaded film faster than digital. I'm being lazy right now to go through all the pictures that's in there and picking the ones I actually like. So I guess I'll skip that for now and show you pictures from my sister's house in Dayton, OH.

Day 6: We left Chicago Tuesday morning and decided to stop over my sister's on the way to Pittsburgh. Which works out perfectly because it's halfway to PA and we don't have to pay for a hotel. We got to check out a couple of Goodwill stores while we were there, but I didn't find anything, except for a $5 simple black Burberry dress in my sister's size. I had to convince her to get it too because she's not really into designer/name brand stuff, but even if it wasn't a "Burberry" dress, I thought it was still pretty.

This is the first time I'm using this camera and I like it.


Jhayda's such a great kid. She has this innocence about her and imagination that I wish I had as a kid. She paints, draws and writes stories. She's really good at taking care of her little brother and Sofia while we were there.

Jhaxie's collection. He just turned 5. He is still very much into dinosaurs and animals and has recently started getting into Pokemon. When he was 3 he knew more about dinosaurs that I ever did my entire life. He started reading last year. He's such a clever boy, but he can be very emotional and mischievous at times.

Sofia loved spending time with her cousins and still asks me every now and then: "Ate?"
(which means "big sister")

"midwest is best" road trip

We started the summer by going on a road trip from New Jersey to Chicago. To be honest, I was dreading this trip just because I wasn't sure if Sofia will be able to handle sitting in the car for long periods of time, this amongst other reasons. Much to my surprise, this trip turned out to be very relaxing. We made it a point to take our time, make as much stop as possible and just go at our own pace.

Day 1, Thursday: We decided to stay the night in Cleveland, OH. It took us about 10 hours to get there vs the estimated 7.5 hours. Which wasn't bad. We stayed in Lakewood, Oh which is the more residential part of Cleveland and it was really nice and quiet there.

We found Melt Bar and Grilled there which is famous for their huge melt sandwiches. The episode when Man vs. Food visits is actually going to show tonight at 9pm est on the Travel Channel. Though, I must say I didn't think my food was all that great. I got the "Purple Parma" which is just an eggplant parmesan sandwich. Andrew, on the other hand, seemed to really love the "Big Popper", which is basically jalepeno poppers and cheese, between two big slices of battered bread and deep fried like a Monte Cristo. Needless to say, he didn't eat anything the following day.

Day 2 Cleveland to Chicago

Day 2, Friday: It was hot. We tried to go down to the beach but by the time we reached this point, we were ready to go back to the car and turn up the ac. Which is exactly what we did.

The drive to Chicago wasn't bad. There was a huge storm right when we were by Gary, IN. so we stopped at the service station along with all the other motorists. It rained hard for 20 minutes. We sat by Hardee's while Andrew resisted the urge to buy food there. The electricity went out a couple times and we watched each others reactions and laughed to ourselves about how silly it is to get so scared about losing electricity. The rain calmed down a bit and we continued on.

We finally got to Chicago and talked about how great the skyline is compared to Cleveland's and probably all other cities. It was traffic of course, but I took Lake Shore Drive anyway because it's more scenic. Sarsi calls me from Hawaii and I get a quick update from him, but I had to let him go because, well, I was driving. Then I reminisced about days spent with friends at Grant Park, the one day I worked for Greenpeace and solicited people's billing information in Navy Pier, that one park with a great view, my old work, the places I used to ride my bike to and the quiet little area by the lake I used to do tai chi at. Finally, we exited at Montrose. Saw that the Target finally opened there and talked about how Montrose looks nice until we pass Western.

Finally reached Avers, namesake of this blog. My mom was home watching The Filipino Channel of course, and the house smelled like fried pork chops. Welcome home to us!

lunch hour

i make it a point to go outside for lunch, especially when its nice out. sometimes i eat ice cream, or read a book in this nice little garden tucked in the west village. it can be very peaceful and quite the contrary to what most people think of new york: busy, crowded, noisy, etc. sometimes if you look in the right places, you can find the perfect hideaway.

mahalo sarsi

this post is dedicated to J since he's moving to hawaii next week.
coincidentally, i developed ten rolls of film last week & discovered
these pictures in the lot from our southwest road trip in 2008.

this song 'the highway' by peter & the wolf sums up that road trip for me.

"wake up, were driving it's best to keep moving. things are going okay.
eating fruit on the highways, trying to stay healthy.
dreaming of the old days. eye sockets running out in the fields.
the life of the farmer, it always appeals to me.
i wrote on a postcard i may or may not send.
i was keeping distracted until i saw horses and thought of you."

J. was notorious for smoking cigarettes at that time. having learned i was pregnant, he decided he would not smoke around me. i was so proud of him because even though it was so hard for him not to smoke in the car, he was careful and considerate of me the whole way through -- from chicago -- texas -- new orleans -- memphis --and then back to chicago.
however, this might be the reason he decided to gulp down a liter of moutain dew
which turned him into a chatterbox and king of karaoke-in-the-car-while-bella-tries-to-sleep.
nevertheless, it proved to himself that he could quit smoking if he wanted to.
a year later, he did... noting that this trip was a precursor to it all.




now, with the weird air left behind, he will be be taking off in a week to follow the sun & worship the waves.
he'll breathe in a new life and know what lightness feels.

here's to your many many new adventures to come, my good friend.
i've enjoyed our voyages together and look forward to sharing a few more when i see you
in your new home.

aloha.