I hung out with my mommy on Saturday instead of Sunday. And we didn't really consider it a "Mother's Day" event cuz my parents don't celebrate any American holidays. lol. We were just talking, laughing & she caught me up on all of her friends' (whom I don't know) business. So I was just like "Oh, ok..." lol. Don't care what we talk about or do. I just like being around her. She makes me feel peaceful.

I made Bre's mom a cool Mother's Day card (that took forever cuz I was watching the Hawks vs. Cavs game & getting pissed off.) I would post it on here but I forgot to take a picture of it like a dummy.

Anyhoos, I woke up to my own handmade Mother's Day card from my doggy Brando :-D Actor made it for me. It had Happy Mother's Day on the outside & Brando's paw on the inside. Best card I've ever gotten.

Actor had to draw & cut all of the letters for the card out individually & said that he has so much respect for my card business now. Said it took him forever & he could barely cut out the letters & make it look good/ neat. I make all of my cards from scratch. I draw & cut out everything from the letters to the pictures & etc. Usually takes me 1-2 hrs. for one card.

It's pretty cool for people to try to do what you do & realize it's not as easy as it looks. I bet if I tried to write a rap song for him it would come out jacked up. Or I'd stick to what most rappers do nowadays & just do rhyming sentences with absolutely no word play, whack deliveries & off key singing. Oops, did I just sneek a diss in there? That would be a yes...

Anyhoos, on Sunday we took Actor's mom out to this sea food restaurant. I don't really do the whole Captain D's fried seafood deal but this was a greatttt restaurant. Definitely not fast food. I ordered this sampler plate of different fried seafoods & MANNNNNNNN. When I tell you that they brought out the plate & it was stack like half a foot tall? I am NOT LYING. I should've taken a picture of it. I've been slacking on my camera duty. Geesh.

I thought they were gonna give me 1 or 2 pc of each thing but I had like a gazillion big pieces of fish, jumbo shrimp, deviled crab, oysters, and Lord knows what else... And their hush puppies were shaped like onion rings & were the diameter of a baseball. lol. I'm not even kidding!

Me & Actor had 3 to go boxes of leftovers. Yea.... THAT much food.

All in all it was a great Mother's Day weekend. I hope everyone spent time with your moms and/or loved ones who are like moms.

Be blessed

I'M BACKKKK

Hey there me lovely ladies & gents. I just came back from Philly yesterday so shall post sometime soon. Trying to catch up on everything so gimme a few days & I shall have all ze details of the trip.

But to hold ya over, here are a few headlines:

~ I ate a real Philly cheesesteak for the 1st time. Heaven...
~ Sat next to army men who just came back from Iraq on my flight to Philly.
~ Spoke Vietnamese all week so getting used to speaking English again. haha
~ Hung out with some cute babies.
~ Ate too much, danced & sung karaoke at my brother's wedding
~ Ate like 80 times a day every day. And sleep. That's the gist of it. Eat & sleep. An extended Thanksgiving if you will.

Details to come!

3 more weeks till Christmas. WHOOO HOO!!!

RANDOM RANTS 11/24/08

Disclaimer: I'm having a brain shortage day so if this blog seems very inadequate or all over the place then... deal with it. Or come back another day. lol. Just trying to get my thoughts out for the day...

Anyhoos, yours truly is dragging today. Eh. I'm so glad we're having a short 3 day work week this week. WHOO HOO!!! So ready for Thursday. I love Thanksgiving! I'm going to my friend Story's & my Aunty's house for dinner.

I was supposed to go to Savannah with Actor & his family for Thanksgiving but my 2nd oldest brother announced a couple of weeks ago that he was gonna get married the same weekend so now I'm flying to Philly instead. I'm bittersweet about it because I've been looking forward to going to Savannah for a few months now to see his grandma & all but hey, my bro's getting married so I'm excited for that too.

I'm definitely not excited about the weather though. Ugh! I don't think I own jackets thick enough to withstand Philly weather. lol. If I come back as a prune then ya'll know what happened.

On a completely different note, Actor wants a PS3 for Christmas. Anybody knows where or who I can get it from that's cheaper than $400? lol. I really wanna get it for him but you know me, being a Capricorn and all, gotta weigh out my options & find deals. Besides, if the banks are going broke how am I supposed to afford things?

Remind me to post Brando's pix up soon. I took a couple of pix of him recently & you won't believe how big he is now. Still posing and all. His bad self. Just last week I was playing with him & training him some more. Do you know that I just realized that I never trained him to lay down? I'm a horrible master. One day I told him to lay down & he was like "Que?" lol. So I taught him to lay down & get back up last weekend. Also to freaking sit still so I can clean him with some doggy wipes. He used to fidget & try to bite the wipe like it was a toy so we'd go around & around in circles & sometimes I'd have to pin him down to clean him. But alas he is trained to sit still now. Treats works wonders I tell ya. Treats + training = a happy Brando & a less irritated me. Yays all around.

Oh yea, Aunty is babysitting him on Friday when I go out of town. Actor'll come back Saturday & get him so he won't be alone long at all. It's cool cuz he'll get to spend time with his parents & maybe some of his bros & sister for Thanksgiving. Hey, doggies need their fam too.

I haven't packed for Philly yet. I mean, who actually packs a couple of days before a trip? *stares* Don't judge me! AND my freaking washer broke last night as I was trying to do a load. Perfect timing. Now I have to go up there with my thin & dirty clothes & look like a fool. I swear I feel like a stepchild sometimes.

YES WE CANNNNNNN

I'm sure everyone is blogging about the election but... HOW CAN YOU NOT?!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OBAMA WON!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!

We took Q down to his county to vote & guess what? He was in & out within like 10 minutes. I swear! I was like dang! We should've waited till today to vote. Oh well, I don't mind standing in line for change.

We hung out at his dad's place for a minute & went back home around 6 or so. I watched the entire process on CNN all night; from beginning to end. Well, I switched to Trading Spouses, Real Housewives & Rocky inbetween but I caught most of it. I wanted to be surprised at the numbers so didn't want to watch it the whole time. At 1st McCain was in the lead 8-3 & then I turned back & it was like 33-16 (or something) in favor of Obama. Can't remember the specific #s but Obama kept soaring & never looked back. I screamed for joy EVERY. SINGLE. TIME his # went up, even if it was 4 points. lol. By the time he reached over 270 I was ecstatic. I ran in the room to tell Actor, high fived Q & screameddddddddddddddddd. Longest scream I've ever done in my entire life! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I wanted to go outside & run around & scream but decided not to. lol.

Everybody started calling us & we called others & all screamed & talked shit. Everyone we knew were rejoicing.

It was THE most amazing thing that I've ever seen in my whole entire political life. For the American political life period. The 1st African American president. Wow. I'm SOOOOOOOO proud. I feel deeply honored to be a part of this. I've always been a huge supporter & believer of civil rights. I'm so thankful for those before us that led the way, fought, bled & stood their ground so that we could come to this. It's a beautiful beautiful thing. I might not be black but my family & friends are & I'm a minority in this country so I still feel proud. I feel proud for Actor & Q & all African Americans. It's indescribable how much the atmosphere has changed. At that exact moment.

Actor said (looking at the tv) that black people actually look like they belong now (referring to this black lady host amongst her white counterparts.) That black children actually have a shot at becoming a president now. Nothing is impossible now. He said that back then black parents used to tell their kids that they could be anything, but they knew deep down inside that it couldn't be a president, you know? Can't kill a kid's dreams though.

Him & Q said that there's no excuse for black people now. Especially men. Alot of them feel like society and/or the judicial system is against them or whatever & now they can't say that. They can't use that excuse anymore to be sorry at anything. At parenting, having a job or any race related cop out.

I personally hoped that alot of racist people were watching, people who think white people are the only good or that only the blacks were happy for Obama's win. The crowd proved otherwise. Obama coming out & everyone at Grant Park (blacks, whites, asians, hispanics... everyone) cheering brought me to tears. It was refreshing & life changing to see that everyone wanted him to be president. Not just blacks.

That leads me to another subject: haters. I just don't understand why people are so hateful, angry & narrow-minded. Every since this election started there were strong supporters on both sides. But people are so wrapped up in their own views that they are condescending to the opposite party & I really can't stand it. My coworkers get so worked up & upset at each other talking politics that they don't speak to each other for days. I don't discuss politics at work anyway so don't ever engage them. But it's so disturbing to hear people call each other stupid & narrow-minded when you're the one doing the same but even worse. Everyone has their own opinion, who's to say who's right or wrong? Just stick to what YOU believe in & let others feel how they feel, you know?

On that note, I couldn't believe that the McCain supporters booed while he was making his congratulatory speech. Are you kidding me? Have some class and/or respect for your country & new president. HE AIN'T GOING NOWHERE. At that moment I actually felt a little sympathetic towards McCain. He's a good guy & he ran his race. Not many people can say that they've ran for President.

But they did & Obama won. By more than double. Now THAT I wasn't expecting. Since both sides had such strong supporters I thought this was gonna be the most heated & close race in history but it was quite contrary. I couldn't believe the numbers; I know alot of McCain supporters didn't believe it either. But that just goes to show that AMERICA wants Obama. Not just blacks. Not just younger people. But EVERYONE. Refer to the crowd at Grant Park for proof. And the number; numbers don't lie. He even won Florida & numerous other "Republican" states. Goes to show even further that everyone feels like change is needed. And they feel that Obama can bring that change. So for all those who say that people are stupid for voting for Obama I guess the whole nation is stupid then. We'll all be stupid together.

I'm extremely proud that this election broke voting records. From people voting for the 1st time to those who are voting again after a long time. From younger & more urban people to older & conservative people. From gays to straight, rich poor, abled & disabled. Everyone showed up & did their thing. That makes me proud. To see everyone unite for a cause worth believing in, for change that we needed. Shows that anything is possible when people work together.

Many people are fearing assassination plots and such. I refuse to believe that someone will carry that out. I'm sure many are thinking it, but if someone were to try then I'd be so disappointed at this country. I would lose my patriotism. I just, I dunno, I pray for his safety but I also pray that I wouldn't have to pray for his safety, you know? I shouldn't have to. People need to stop being so hateful.

But at the end of the day, I am proud to say that I am VERY happy that Obama is our new president. I pray for him to be successful, loved & respected. I pray that he makes the right decisions, change the right things & make a positive impact in this country & world. I have so much faith in him as I'm sure millions of others do. Make us proud Mr. Barack Obama. We'll stand by you every step of the way.

Love,
Hanh

ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE DAWN

We heard the news about Obama's grandmother last night at dinner. I'm so sorry for his & his family's lost. Mannnn. That is CRAZYYY. She's going to miss her grandson becoming the 1st African American president. Physically anyways; I'm sure she's watching over him every step of the way. I can't even imagine what he's going through right now trying to deal with the passing & the biggest election of his life at the same time.

They say it's always darkest before dawn & his dawn is definitely coming. I have so much faith in him & I know that he'll make a great president.

Today is a beautiful beautiful day in Atlanta. It's 72 degrees, sunny & bright; perfect for people who are voting. I encourage EVERYONE who hasn't voted to go vote. It's SO crucial. SO important to this race. Please don't be discouraged by the lines. You'd camp out for concert tickets, the new Js or the Wii so how can you NOT wait a couple of hours for the biggest political moment? Go vote!!!

I have to take Q about 45 min. from our house to go vote today. Since he couldn't vote in our county he decided that he didn't want to wait in line again at his former county. But I encouraged him to do it last night. So we're going straight there after I get off of work today. Hopefully the lines won't be too bad. Who knows whether people voted early or are voting after work there. Either way he's still gonna vote. I'm debating if I'm gonna stand in line to keep him company though. Me & Actor don't really want to but I'm sure he'd like the support. Makes the time go by faster when we're acting crazy. I'm probably gonna end up waiting with him. Cuz I'm that hype. lol.

One of the reasons that I didn't want to wait in line though is because I really wanna watch tv & see everything following up to the announcement. I wanna catch it all. I'm so excited!!!

So there it is. I'm not telling you who to vote for. Just go vote!!!

OBAMA

* And I just realized that I didn't have my "I voted" sticker on yet. It's in my purse from last week. About to wear it right now. Whoo!!!

OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT!!!

We voted yesterday. Stood in line for almost 3 hours but it was worth it. GO OBAMA! Whoot whoot!

My initial plan was to get off work at 4pm, get home by 4:30pm & get to the polls by 4:45 or 5pm. I was trying to beat the 9-5ers getting off work but that didn't happen. lol. I told the boys to be ready but when I got home Actor was still sleep. *stares* It was cool though, we didn't have any plans for the night so could afford to wait in line.

We got to the place at 6pm. Followed the signs, went inside & smiled. We saw the line wrap around a little bit but it didn't look that bad... and THEN the officer asked us if we were here to vote & directed us to go to the back of the line. We walked around a maze kind of to find the line. And boyyyy was it long. It snaked around the whole entire building. Not like a baby snake. Like the snake when you play that game on your phone when you've gotten to like the 10th level & you've eaten so much stuff that the actual snake is filling up the screen & you have no where to really turn & end up dying because you hit yourself kinda long. Yea....

It wasn't a bad experience though. I brought my word search puzzle book (that I've been on obsessively for over two weeks now,) Actor brought a book to read & Q had his Ipod so we were good. After a while all of us put our stuff down & started talking to each other. We always have a ball talking about random things. The better part of our waiting in line was spent people watching & talking about them. hahaha. People are funny man. We said who looked like which celebrity (good or bad,) who was looking crazy & etc. This one older white guy had a thickkkk mustache, teal sweatpants on, a white tee & a black & white South Pole hoodie on. It was funnnyyyyy. We did a "guess who I'm describing with these 2 adjectives" game. His was "stache & South Pole." haha. They spotted him immediately.

There were alot of celebrity lookalikes there: Shaq, Montel Williams, Charles Barkley, Flav & etc...

The line was moving pretty fast considering. But since it was still so long we started to play a "I know what can make you get out of line right now" game. (And this was when we had been in line for like an hour & a half. We weren't going ANY. WHERE.) We were in a building that hosted different boutique shops & stuff. It was like a mall/business plaza kinda thing. So Q was like "Actor, so if somebody came up to you right now & said "I have some Ferragamo shoes on sale for $20 each. RIGHT NOW. You wanna buy 'em? My store's just right around the corner. What would you say?" Actor was like "Ummm. I might have to hit that corner real quick & come back tomorrow." haha. Q then asked me the same but in regards to Jimmy Choos & Manolos. I was like "Well, if you had the time to go around the corner & ask me this then why don't you bring the shoes back to me & I'll buy them right here." Hence, I ain't getting out of this line. haha. We then proceeded with other temptations like PS3s, laptops, celebrity sightings & etc.

Once we got to the top of the line the actual process very rather quick. Had to fill out an absentee form, get the voting card & then to the booth. We got our stickers too. Yippee! I'm gonna wear it on Tuesday when Obama wins :-D

Tell me why Bob Barr was still on the ballot?! haha. I didn't even know he was running until like last week. Crazyyy.

And tell me why Q couldn't vote?! UGHHHH. It was the most disappointing thing of the night. He's registered under another county & didn't change his address on time. But I called the elections office & they said that he could just change it at the same time when he came & voted. THEY LIED. So he stood in line all that time with us for nothing. *shakes head* The lady at the door was really nice though. She gave him a sticker anyway.

All in all, we didn't mind the line. We feel special voting in a historical election. And if you haven't voted WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Go do it now!!! Don't wait till Tuesday cuz you'll probably be in line for 8 hours. And in some places you'd have to wait outside in the cold. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

OBAMA for PRESIDENT!!!

HAPPY BANNIVERSARY!!!

Today is mine & Actor's 4 year anniversary :-D
And tomorrow is his 25th birthday, or, as he'd like to call it, quarter of a century. lol.

Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!

Love you!
Hanh

"YOU DON'T WANNA GO THERE CUZ I WILL RING MY BITCH BELL SO LOUD..."

The past month have been the most busy & fun month as of yet. Of this year anyway, since it's the 1st month so doesn't have any competition. lol


* My birthday party was on Jan. 12th at Hooters. It was great! Started off kind of rocky but ended really well. We were supposed to go to the Atlanta location & I called & told them like 10 times but 20 minutes before we were supposed to be there they told me that they didn't have any tables available for me. Some sorry service... So we changed it to the one near where we lived instead. It was way across town so some people couldn't find a ride/ make it so I lost about half of my party but alot of people still showed up. (The real, true, ride or die friends. lol. Boo everybody else! Still love you though :-p) We had a blast! I got great gifts :-D

* My friend Cali's birthday was this past weekend. We had an all girl's dinner on Friday (well, all girls plus one gay guy, same difference) at F.R.O.G.S. I've never been there before but we ended up having to go there because Loca Luna (I hate you guys by the way) was a horrible horrible stupid idiotic place with the worst customer service EVERRRR. We got there at 8:30pm & waited until 10:30pm and left. Mind you there was no waiting area so we sat/stood by the door where people were coming in & out & it was the freaking coldest night of the week & I gotta freaking cold as we speak. And they said that we couldn't make reservations until 10pm but people were coming in in herds & got tables immediately, cuz they, of course, had reservations. WTF man??!!!!!!

When we 1st got there they claimed that the wait was an hour. We called around & every restaurant in the vicinity was about the same so we decided to wait. An hour later it was "Oh, your table's coming up. Give us 15-20 minutes." Half an hour later it was "Oh yea, 15-20 more minutes." Half an hour more... well, you get the picture.

F.R.O.G.S was ok. I'm just not into hispanic foods like that so... ehh. Just went there cuz the birthday girl wanted to.

But yea. Boyyy. Alot of people almost got stabbed that night. By my purple suede stilettos. For realll. But none of us made a big fuss cuz we were all starving & had no energy to. In the words of our fab gay friend "You don't wanna go there cuz I will ring my bitch bell so loud... honeyyyyy"


* We went to Bazaar for our friends' mixtape release party after dinner. They brought her a chocolate cake and all. It was delish! And thennnnn.... dun dun dun... a fight breaks out! Apparently 2 guys started fighting over lord knows what & our guys had to break them up. Turns out they were on the same team. They were both our friends. Crazy I tell ya.

Actor was mad because he met us there & had only been there for half an hour & we got kicked out. lol. They kicked our 2 guys that were breaking the fight out too & the party was for their mixtape. lol. Talk about ironic.

* We spent the night at Cali's house & went to Red Robin for lunch the next day. It was greattt. One of my favorite burger joints now. They're hugeeee. lol. Our friend Meth got a monster burger & by the time he (barely) finished it he was breathing heavy & face was a little flushed. hahahaha. It was funny. And their freckled lemonades? Whew! I had like 5 of 'em. The best ever! It's lemonade with real strawberries in it. *drools*

* Me & Actor have been going shopping crazyyyy. One of the things we said that we were gonna do this year (we don't believe in NY resolutions, you should try to do better all the time, not just on a list once a year. But anyways...) was get more stuff. And indeed we did. I swear I've literally acquired 5 pairs of shoes in like 3 weeks. Including some ridiculously banging Coach shoes for a ridiculously low price. hahaha. Yayyy. :-D

That's all I can remember as of the moment. I shall write more shortly.

Toodles.

Love,
Akanke

BIRTHDAY GIRL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

YAY!!!

Oh yea, in an addendum to my HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS are two very very crucial things:

1) Chrisette Michele's new/debut album is vital to your cd collection. It's all I've been listening to for like, 3 weeks.

2) Assassin's Creed= my new favorite game. I've been watching the guys play it since Christmas. It's rawww. Think I'm gonna start my own file in a minute...

Will blog more later...

~ Akanke

*INSERT YOUR FAVORITE CHISTMAS SONG HERE*

I'm excited about Christmas! Yay!

That about sums up how I feel about the upcoming weeks: I can't wait for Christmas to come. We just bought our tree last night. It's huge too! I'm guessing it's 7-8 feet cuz it's literally an inch away from my ceiling (According to me assuming that our ceiling is 8ft. It could be 9ft, but I'm pretty sure that the tree isn't 9 ft. so I'm assuming that my ceiling is 8ft. Confused yet?) But anyways, yay for the tree! This is my second real tree & Actor's zillionth, but we are excited about it like it's our first time. hehe.

We're probably gonna decorate it tonight or sometime this weekend. Bought some extra boxes of lights in case our old lights decided to give out... We have cool stocking holders & everything. I'm putting them on the bar counter since we don't have a fireplace like we did last year. Actor & his brothers still have their stockings that I decorated for them last yr. They're dope; I decorated them with glitter gel pens & drew things that reflected each person's favorite things on there. Speaking of I gotta find mine; it's in one of the Christmas boxes that we packed away somewhere...

We're having Christmas dinner at our house this year. This is the second year but will be the 1st time that his parents are joining us. And his mom is cooking too *drools.* I'll be helping her but she's doing all the important/main dishes. I'm probably only gonna do the sides & etc since I haven't really ever cooked holiday dinner & don't wanna mess it up. haha.

I've gotten each person at least two gifts already (well, Actor like 5+) but haven't shopped for his mom yet. I wanted to get her this beautiful necklace & earring set but Actor said that she probably wouldn't like it so... I digress. Gotta regroup & find something else to get her. I love her by the way. That's my second mommy :-)

On another note, I'm so tired of Christmas music! Oh my god! Everywhere I go everyone is playing Christmas music: radio stations, elevators, stores, EVERYWHERE! I love the music, but you know the saying: two much of anything is bad. It gets to the point I'm sitting there driving & I start to sing a Christmas song for no apparent reason. It's like it's injected into my skull or something. Yuck! And plus everyone shouldn't remake/ have a Christmas album ok? Give it up. If you can't sing a normal song then a Christmas song isn't gonna sound better. LOL at country Christmas songs btw. They're funny...

All in all, I love this time of year. Family, friends, presents, food, joy, love, and everything inbetween. Yay! Oh & plus everything is so close together it's like our holidays never end: Christmas is on the 25th, then New Years, then my birthday is Jan. 7th, so yea... The party never stops for us.

I've already decided what restaurant I'm going to for my birthday, but haven't decided if I want it to be just us two, close family & friends, or an all-out every we know kinda deal. Hmm.... oh the possibilities. I'll let you know what I decide... later.

Toodles for now (wow I haven't heard the word toodles in ages, but it's a fun word to use)
:-)
Akanke

*HAPPY HOLIDAYS*

HAPPY CHRISTMAS! *what?!* *oh* I MEAN, THANKSGIVING!

Ok I know it's cliche to write what you're thankful for for Thanksgiving, but that's what you're supposed to do. Duhhh. And besides I have lots to be thankful for & I'd like to put that out into the universe :-D

~ Life. I smile because I get to wake up everyday & I know that some people didn't. So, very thankful for that because I get to get closer to my dreams & goals everyday because I'm pushing forward. It's not over till it's over!

~ Family. I love my parents. We have the weirdest relationship & are still working on bettering it but for the most part all parties know that we love each other.

~ Friends. Even though I don't talk to everyone all the time (cuz I hate talking on the phone) they all know (or better know) that I love them dearly. All of my friends are my second family. With your crazy asses. Love you guys!

~ Actor. He is the world to me. Besides being sexy, smart & caring he makes me laugh. I think that's my favorite thing about him. There is never a dull moment around him & I cherish it. I'm laughing right now thinking about him. For more reasons why check out HE IS

~ Food. Not just today. But every day. I heart food. That is all.

~ Music. Music makes me feel so many things & I love it. Music transcends all ages, races & any differences that you might have.

~ Movies. I mean, how can you not love a good movie? I live for movies. I live to be in some too. No make that many. Hollywood watch out! Once I get there I'm not looking back. Better catch up!

~ Clothes. Tell me why I have clothes for years? I mean, as of right now, if I didn't have to wash clothes for a year I'd be fine. Dead ass. I'd probably have a couple of months of clothes left over after too. I love getting new clothes.

~ Work. I love working. And the fact that I love my job makes it easier for me to get up every day & drive 45 minutes to & from. I love my co-workers, the environment, my pay & best of all, I'm great at it. Yay! For more reasons why check out THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY JOB

~ Skills. I have many & love that I'm so versatile & blessed with being great at so many things. I take great photographs (abstract & etc.) I can draw, cook, clean, sing, write songs, play pool, paint & anything that you'd throw at me. If I don't know how to do it then I'd learn, and I'd probably be great at that too, I'm a quick learner. I'm a great adapter to any environment.

~ My car. If you missed that blog I just recently bought a new (well newer) car. It's my baby! I miss my old Honda but it was due time to let it go as it was falling apart by the second. This car is newer, shinier, more stylish & it just fits me. And it's all mine. Love it!

~ My apartment. This is my 1st official apartment. Me & Actor. We've lived together before & I've had an apartment before but we had roommates. Now it's just us two. Everybody says it's not a good idea to live with your boyfriend but we found out that they were wrong. We have a blast together. We're like best friends playing in the sandbox together. Except that sandbox is the apartment & we're some big ass kids. haha.

~ This blog. When I first started my blogs were sporadic & infrequent but now I feel more comfortable with expressing my feelings & letting strangers in my tiny little world. I know that there are many of you reading & I love you guys. Even if there are no one reading I'd still write. There'll always be something here because there'll always be something there *points to my heart*

Have a blessed & wonderful Thanksgiving you guys.
Love you & talk with ya soon,
Akanke

HAPPY BIRFDAY TO YOU!!!

Saturday 9/15 was Actor's 24th birthday. We had reservations at Madison Grill at 7pm. He woke up & went to hang out with his brothers & cousin while I stayed at home & got ready for the night. I was finishing cutting up his music/movie themed confetti (cuz he really wanted it but Party City was completely out, so I decided to make some for him) I literally hand cut every single confetti. There were about 800 pieces, maybe more; I didn't mind cuz I like cutting stuff anyway, plus I had some free time on me hands.

After finishing the confetti, I ate the Wendy's he brought me, then painted me toes. He loves it when I do french tip. I proceded to make a director's chair out of the bendable, fuzzy thingy (can't remember what it's called) to put on his music/movie cake. I also made a mini version of him to put on the chair with a real cut out picture of his face. He had butter yellowed cake with rainbow chip frosting. I cut the cake to look like a film strip & decorated it with pictures of the things he loved: music notes, guitar, microphone, etc...

As I was putting the finishing touches on the cake, he came home & we started to get dressed. I put on my white spaghetti strapped-knee-length dress with tan flowers & red decorative trim on the bottom. It was gorgeous! I had some tan shoes with red ankle ribbons to tie around. Actor had on some fresh black jeans, black dress shirt & a hot black & silver tie loosely around his neck.

We went to pick up his little brother & headed to the city. We were kinda late, lol. The party started at 7pm & we got there like 7:50. He wanted to be late anyway to make a grand entrance. I got alot of fuss cuz I kept telling everyone to be on time & we ended up being extra late. haha. Oh well... :-p

The restaurant was very nice; adorned with black, white & red colors. We had reservations for 40 so they set up 2 tables of 20 filled with candles on top. There was a whole section to ourselves with drawned red curtains for privacy.

We made our way around the room & introduced everyone to each other, chatted, made jokes... etc. and sat down to order. Blackened hanger steak with steamed broccoli & creamed spinach for me and shrimp & grits for him. He didn't like his food so he sent it back for shrimp & mashed potatoes. I didn't enjoy my food as much either but chewed on it anyway. We all had a blast. Everyone started buying him drinks & before you knew it, he was wasted! lol! He had about 7 glasses, not shots, glasses, of everything from Henesssy to Red-headed sluts. It was great. They even started freestyling at one point.

After a couple of hours we sung happy birthday to him & he opened his presents. His best friend got him a cookie cake & some money folded into a "Versace" outfit. It was cute. His brother got him a brown & tan/greenish sport jacket, his mom got him a black & silver Rocawear watch (he was twisted so was like "It's not on the right time" but turns out he had it upside down. haha.) He opened my present last (he's been waiting to open it for a couple of weeks since I had it at home, securely taped & he couldn't touch it) He finally opened it & saw some black, white & gray Nike low dunks with "Fontaine" on it. He & everyone else loved the shoes. Custom made things are the best!

We all had cake & I got numerous compliments on it. That was the 1st birthday cake that I'd ever made so I'm glad it turned out great. We still have some & I brought it to work today too. It's sooooooooo good :-D

Everyone started to spread & do their own thing, some went to watch the Poker tournament, some to play pool & arcade games, and some to the bar to get wasted... We hung out for a while longer & then went to the studio. His friends love to see him in the booth when he's drunk cuz he's already funny & goofy, but catch him when he's drunk & he's funny & goofy times 50.

He laid down like 20 freestyles to a plethora of beats & had his voice on auto tune sometimes. It was funny as hell! hahaha. Tpayne better watch out! He even got his cousin some booth time & he was ready too. He was all snapping on the track; he's gotten good since we've seen him last.

3 or 4 hours later we headed home. I dropped our friend, his brother, and cousin off & we headed home.

"Thank you baby, I had a great birthday."

You're welcome love. Anything for my boo boo :-)

DEAR ACTOR

Dear Actor,


I got an email saying that your gift is finished being custom made & is arriving shortly. I'm so excited :-D. I hope it looks just like how I saw online. I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but I'll give ya a hint: It's coming from China. You can try to guess what it is all you want to, but everything comes from China so good luck! haha.

Hey, you never know, it could be that Chinese baby I told you about ;-)

I don't know what we're doing for our anniversary yet, but I'm excited about that too. 3 years man. It's been a wonderful ride & I'm ready for years & years to come. We're gonna be one of those couples that still hold hands & be all hugged up on each other when we're 90. Gigady.

I'm also excited for your birthday too. Can't wait to give you your present, and no you can't open it early! I'm not quite sure the plans for that either (or maybe I am but not telling) but I know it's gonna be a great celebration.

I'll see you when I get home k.


Love,
Akanke

MY 21st BIRTHDAY!!!

That girl is GROWNNNN. Holla. The end.






















Just kidding. haha.

It was the best birthday everrrrr. I thought we were going out to a dinner party with our friends but boy was I fooled.

I did my girly thing & got dressed & dolled up and everything and was ready to go. Actor came in the room with some roses & a card & this HUGE happy birthday balloon. The roses were wonderfully scented & the card was perfect. It was black & gold with a magnolia flower on the front. I love cards & he always gets me a card with something gold or yellow on it because that's my favorite color. And this one had one of my favorite flowers on there too. Yay.

Then he told me that I couldn't leave the room...I was like huh? ...

I sat there, watching him run in and out of the room grabbing random things and taking it into the living room. About 20 minutes passed and he says "Ok you can come out now." We walked into the living room and it was astonishing. He'd turn it into a romantic restaurant. There were two tv dinner tables put together to form one table, a table cloth, a beautiful red charger (for those of you who don't know: No it's not a car; it's the big plate that you set your dinner plate on. Kind of a nice decoration or whatever. *"The more you know" music plays*)
But anyway... a beautiful red charger, candles on the table, and artsy folded cloth napkins. He'd put my yellow mesh laundry bag over the floor lamp and a red piece of tissue paper over it to create a radiant glow of reddish/orangish light in the room. My baby's creative :-) He's a born artist, you better recognizeee.

I'm standing there admiring the creativity and beautiful room set up when someone knocked on the door. We weren't expecting company so I was like "Who is that?" He was still being all silly & mysterious and smirked at me. The door opens & this big swole guy walks in holding a bunch of kitchen utensils & groceries. "Ok?" I thought. "Who is he & what is he doing here?" "Babe this is (I'll call him Chef) Chef, our chef for the evening; Chef this is Akanke the love of my life & birthday girl. Do come in." "Hey, nice to meet you." *shakes hand* Actor shows him to the kitchen & he starts to get down. He brought pans & restaurant ingredients & everything to our house.

At this point my knees are weak, my mouth is dry, I'm speechless, bout to cry, and lightheaded from this burst of happiness running through my veins. He grabs me closer, wraps his arms around me, kisses my forehead, nose, cheeks, lips, and said "Happy 21st Birthday baby. I love you." "I love you too baby. Oh my God this is the best day of my life so far!" "Yea?" "What are you kidding me?! Yea!!! Nobody's ever bought a chef home to cook dinner for me, EVERRR"

We stood in the kitchen & conversed & watched him cook. He showed us cooking tips, and explained step by step what he was doing so we would know how to do it ourselves. It was like a cooking show right in my kitchen...

After setting steak, shrimp, and this italian grits thingy (forgot what is was called) made with specialty cheese and white wine, decadently on the plate, dinner was served. Actor pulled out my chair and sat me down, got us some fruit punch (holla), and we started eating. It was one of the best meals that I've ever had. The food was orgasmic, the room beautiful, my baby's brown eyes glistening at me... The night was perfect.

A few hours later we went to the movies to see "Pursuit of Happiness" It was perfect because my name in Vietnamese means "Happiness" and what better time to see that movie than on me birthday? The movie was great. The acting was wonderful, and his son gave the movie a warm touch. It made me laugh, made me cry. It was truly worth our time. To me, a movie is good when it can make you laugh, cry, angry, sympathetic, and all these emotions at the same time. Especially towards the same person... Now THAT is a great movie. More about movies at a later time my children. More about movies at a later time.

All in all, my 21st birthday was more than I'd ever expect it to be. I was on a high that day, and a couple of days afterwards...


"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest."
- Larry Lorenzoni


Thanx for reading. Until next time... Akanke

CHRISTMAS

This Christmas started off kinda rough. Everyone's cash flow was low so we had to make the best of what we had. Our roommate ( I'll call her Cali because that's where she's from) quit her job and was looking for another one. Actor's younger brother's (I'll call him B-Ball cuz he lives & breathes basketball) girlfriend (I"ll call her Sci-Fi cuz that's her nickname) purse got stolen by one of her coworkers. It was dirty man; they emptied her bank account. And she was about to get a car too.

But anywhos, all of us did what we had to do to get each other at least one great gift. I hate getting stupid gifts. I'd rather you not get me anything than to get me some socks or gloves for Christmas. I mean sure I could always use some more, but as a Christmas gift? That's kinda sorry. Like one of Actor's uncles would say "Ummm... SOMEbody needs to step their game up *chuckle chuckle*"

Everybody chipped in to get a real Christmas tree. Me and Actor went to Lowe's and got us a 6ft tree for $30 bucks. hehe. I love getting good stuff for cheap :-). It was my 1st real tree in my first apartment. It was cool. Double :-).

We decided to have Christmas dinner at our place this year. We were gonna go to Savannah but things didn' t turn out as expected so we stayed in Atl. I cooked meatballs, cornbread, jambalaya, shrimp alfredo pasta, vegetables, and brownies for desert. Cali helped me out.

It was just family there: Me, Actor, Cali, her boyfriend & Actor's music mate (I'll call him Gameboy cuz he loves games), B-Ball, Sci-Fi, and Actor's youngest brother Meatball. The Fro was out of town.

After dinner we all gathered around the tree to open presents. Actor got sooo many presents. lol. loser. I got him a PSP that he's been hinting about since forever. (Got his ars too cuz he really thought he wasn't gonna get one) I also got him the Metal Gear Solid game to go with the PSP, a green Ecko hoodie, couple of Dvds, and a whole bunch of little knick knacks for stocking stuffers. He got me a diamond cross necklace that I've been wanting foreverrr (Got my ars too cuz I thought it was in a box under the tree but it was on the bottom of my stocking.) I cried when I saw the box. lol. It was very emotional for some reason. He got teary-eyed too. We're gay we know. Screw you *mugs*... He also got me these hard Nikes. It was white, gold, and red with flower embroidery on it. He always get me shoes. I'm not a shoe person so I don't ever buy any for myself. Occasionally I will but I'll buy stillettos. lol. I think every single pair of sneaks I have he bought for me. He also got me lots of little knick knacks that I like.

Cali & Gameboy bought me a green/brown polka dot shirt and matching necklace & earrings. We bought him some black Vans and an XOXO purse for her.

Sci-Fi & B-Ball got Bre a brown jacket and matching Nikes. They got me an electronic photo frame. It's hardddd. It changes pix and can play video and mp3 songs too. I love it! Me & Actor are gadget junkies.

B-Ball got a PSP too. Brothers I tell you... First Actor wanted one & me and B-Ball went & bought it. Then B-Ball saw how hard it was & told Sci- Fi that he wanted one too. We told them that we couldn't afford it to throw them off, but they both GOT GOT cuz they really weren't expecting it.

We got Actor's mom a silver & gold DKNY watch. Pop got some shoes. We got Fro a blue watch too.

We went to the movies to see Rocky Balboa. That's one of my favorite series of movies. It was great. We loved it.

Overall, our Christmas was blessed & filled with family, friends, great food, and great presents. I couldn't have asked for anything better.


Thanks for reading. Until next time... Akanke

THANKSGIVING

This Thanksgiving went by as sort of a blur. Since my family don't celebrate anything I usually spend my holidays with Actor and his family. But his parents are going through some sort of separation phase so they're not together for this occasion. We were invited to his cousin's house so we came through to show our face and ate a little bit. The food was alright. It wasn't the best but we're thankful to even have a hot meal so we can't complain. lol. We then went to our friend Fro's house to chill with his family for a bit. I'll call him Fro because he has this huge fro that people be diving in and getting lost and reach the other side of Narnia and shat. But yea... Me, Actor, Fro, and a couple other people went to the movies to see Casino Royale. It was great. The chase scene at the beginning was CRAZYYYYYYYYYY; that's a movie worth checking out.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned, I love movies. That's one of my passions. I 'll stay in (or go out) and watch movies all day if I could. I also want to be an actress one day. I'm working towards it :-)

But anyhoos, for this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for: my life, my family and friends, Actor and his family and friends, love, joy, happiness, pain, good times, bad times, everything and anything inbetween. They have all made me a stronger and better person and I'm grateful for everything. I hope you have lots to be thankful for too.

Thanx for reading. Until next time... Akanke