PCRF - May 6th!

May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th! May 6th!

Besides May 6th being my parents 30 YEAR anniversary (whole different post), it's also the PCRF event! So now is the time to sign up! As all of you know I am on the committee for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) and we put on a run/walk/bike ride every year in Orange County. It's the one thing a year I completely (and shamelessly) promote.

There are three ways to get involved:

1. Run or walk the 5k, 10k, or half marathon.  Sign up now! 

2. Volunteer! We have such a great event, but it only runs well with great committed volunteers.

3. Donate -  My goal this year is to raise $1200 bucks! Help me!! Please donate HERE.

In order to make this more personal, meet Gaby:

Gabby, was diagnosed with cancer on New Year’s Day a little over a year ago.  Gabby has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and she takes methotrexate at home, orally, via ELEVEN pills, every Thursday night. This drug is one of the most critical drugs in treating Gabby’s form of cancer.  In addition, she receives an intrathecal dose every 12 weeks at the infusion center. It's a low-profit drug for the manufacturers. It's old and it's not doing a lot for their bottom line$$. It's being reported that all 5 pharmaceutical companies that manufacture MTX have either slowed or completely stopped production, citing high demand as one of the reasons for the shortage. PCRF money goes towards making sure this little girls medications don't get discontinued.

Six Taste

This past weekend Thomas and I went up to Los Angeles to help celebrate Andy Getten's 30-something birthday! We took a tour called Six Taste, which has taken off in LA. It's a walking tour in different parts of Los Angeles where you go to 6 different places to eat. We did the Little Tokyo tour in downtown LA. They pick places you might not even know exist or have just passed by. While you are going from place to place (eating AMAZING food) a tour guide is giving you all the history of the area, signs, and restaurants. It was bunch of fun, and I am so glad we got to be a part of it!

Some fun moments:
 - Andy received an "authentic" Japanese hat as a gift, although our tour guide said it might be considered racist.
 - Saki Bombs were shared by all

- We were so full by the end we could POP.

There are a lot of pictures:

Start of the tour with our tour guide in red

First Stop - Tea Room

Smelling all the delicious teas

Enter Little Tokyo

Second Stop

Third Stop

Fourth Stop

Fifth Stop

Saki......

DRINK

Bomb!

Birthday Boy

Blow!!!

Sixth Stop

Uh boys...you have something on your face

We found it!

I really enjoyed Thomas and my time in the car together going to look at venues, because I am able to have him all to myself and just talk. I would ask him questions about what he wants and what he will veto. It's a good time to hash out any disagreements we might have on pretty much anything. As much as I was in a hurry to buckle down a place, I was also really trying to enjoy this process. I knew that the place we choose will dictate a lot of decisions for us, and so it had to be right for both of us.

Which is why I liked that Serendipity was about an hour away...On our first trip up, we thought to ourselves that this is a little too far. It would really become a destination wedding in sorts (without the expensive flights). We drove through the town of Oak Glen and Beaumont (next town over) and was getting really nervous. There was NOTHING here!

We drove up the windy hills and finally pulled into the venue. Tara introduced herself and showed us around. It was PERFECT! It was all outside, but we could plan a wedding during the summer. It had a charm to it that was unlike anything I had seen before. I remember thinking, "how is this place a secret?" We stayed about an hour and asked every question we could think of.

On our way back, we both decided that was the place....

It really was Serendipity (an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.)