*♥* Le Téa Et Crêpes *♥*

I'm currently not listening to any music right now, but I wanted to make this quick post before I go to bed - I did promise a post, did I not? ;) I literally just got back home after spending a wonderful day with Taylor :) I also got to see a couple of friends of mine whom I'll introduce in a bit. (^-^)

I wanted to share with you all something that I've been meaning to post all week:

I have a newfound adoration for tea and crepes! :)

Tonight I want to quickly talk about a little cozy hole-in-the-wall place called Le Téa Et Crêpes. (In French, meaning "tea and crepes").

Now, if you hang out with me and Taylor a lot, you'd know that we are very adventurous eaters and both of us try to be on the lookout for new places to eat. (Tay is better at this than I am, though, heh heh) I go down the road where the cafe is located everyday when I drive to and from work. For a while, I've wanted to go there, especially since there was a display board inviting customers to try their fruit and savory crepes. I realized that this was the place where my high school friend Brandon works - actually, he's one of the chefs! I contacted him letting him know we were going there and we made our first visit last Saturday. :)

I did a little research about Le Téa Et Crêpe and learned that Brandon's mom, the proud owner, opened the cafe in 2008. The website (click here) has the menu and information about their teas too. :) The crepes are cooked to order and made with the freshest ingredients.They've received a lot of wonderful reviews, mostly highlighting the food, tea, and comfortable environment. One reviewer said that they were very impressed by the extensive knowledge and recommendations provided from the server about the various teas they offered. They've even received a Best at the Beach award in 2009 for Best Tea Rooms.



...the pictures above was not taken by me, but anyway... It's a calm cozy place to be! I adore the lighting - the green and orange ball lighting design simply rocks! For a more romantic atmosphere they have these cute little candles on the tables; I think it was a very nice thing that Tay and I came in for dinner. :)
I apologize in advance if I make you hungry, but here's the food that we had while we were there that night - and I know I made all my Tweeps jealous when I posted these on Twitter!:

Taylor's Crêpe de Saucisse - Beef or Sausage sautéed with mix Peppers and Onion, topped with white wine sauce. I tried a little bit of it and it was very delicious :)
My Crêpe de Fruit (since I wanted something fresh and light after my heavy late lunch that day) - Filled with seasonal fruit and topped with mango guava sauce. I love the fresh fruit and the mango guava sauce was just out of this world... Wow. Simply wow!
We tried 2 teas: Oolong with Goji Berry and Tieh Kuan Yin (or "Iron Buddha") with osmanthus and honeysuckle. Very yummy! (You will find information about each of the tea ingredients provided in the link above). Enjoying some tea here and being with Taylor just made the meal experience very relaxing and romantic xoxo
And for dessert: Caramel Apple Blossom - it was so warm and cinnamon-y and a great way to end the meal :)

We promised another visit soon, and that's where we went for lunch today :) This time for our tea we had white tea with rose bud and honeysuckle - it was sweet, light and floral... I think that's my favorite tea combination thus far! Tay had the Crêpe de Saucisse again while I had...

OMG, CHICKEN YAKISOBA! Light flavors, yet very delicious :) I really adore the cute carrot flower, by the way. I couldn't eat it. ...yes, it was that cute. (^-^;)
Brandon, along with his older brother Josh who also runs the cafe, suggested that we try a new dessert: panna cotta. I really liked this, especially the creaminess of the Italian cream. The texture reminded me of flan, so the best way for me to describe it is that it's like an Italian flan! I want to get this next time :)
I wasn't going to leave without getting a crepe, of course, so I had the Crêpe de Liqueur - Filled with nutella, strawberry and banana, topped with Berries and Crème de Cassis, Orange Curacao or Crème de Banana. Considering that there is alcoholic ingredients, you must be 21 to order this. I like the flavored liquers of banana and orange, but I thought Crème de Cassis would be an appropriate choice to tie in all of the ingredients together. ...and oh my it was :) Another favorite to add to my food list!

Well, there you have it you everyone! If you're in the Virginia Beach area, or are planning to be in the area sometime soon, please give this place a visit!

...or Brandon will come after you in your sleep. XD

Time for bed, so until next time (and by that, I mean tomorrow) - good night!

Sweet fishie kissies,

~Reiko (^o^) zzzzz xoxo ♥

★☆ Early Morning Chat with Reiko ☆★

[Currently listening to Best of KAT-TUN - yes, I'm a JE fan too! :D ]

Good morning everyone :) It's now 5:11am, and I've been up for nearly half an hour. I'm not entirely sure why I got up at this time, but I'm feeling wide awake writing to you all, lol! It certainly has been a while.

Since I'm up, I wanted to share with you guys my weekend - it did have it's ups and downs, but I learned a lot in just 2 days...

There are a lot of things going on at work that it's gotten me so busy in recent weeks - if you're new to reading my blog, I'm a bartender in a retirement home - it will seem bizarre to you, I know, but as I've said time and time again, I love my job! :) I've been working full-time hours now and I'm enjoying that, but at the same time it's physically exhausting. (Imagine running around serving food where you have to wear long sleeves with little air conditioning for about 8 hours - ooh, yeah, that's me! >_< ) I like to have a break every now and then, and to my surprise I was given a weekend - Saturday and Sunday - off! It's a very rare opportunity for me, so I figured it's time I took it to fully enjoy it :)

[Saturday]
I met with @SleeplessFish, aka Taylor , my beloved boyfriend (of 2 years now) after he got off work. We did have a rocky start over something that was small and stupid, but we eventually came around and had a good time. He showed me around the church where he works - it certainly is a beautiful place, and it's big too! :) I just wished I had taken some pictures to show you guys, but I guess I will have to do that the next time I visit there :) We headed over to my best friend, Nicki's, house for a party :) Our college friend, Jeincy, is moving to Washington state soon to work there for a year, so we had a party to celebrate her new job! It was an absolutely fun fun night - I got to see a lot of cool people whom I haven't seen in so long!

This is Jeincy! I met her in her freshman year in college, my sophomore year. She's one of the sweetest girls ever!

This is me with @babyroach, aka Nicki, my best friend of 17 years next month - I met her while we were in religion classes and altar serving at our old parish, and we went to the same middle school, high school, and even college! I'm convinced God brought us together for a reason - I'm so thankful to have her in my life!

...oh, right, I haven't posted a picture of Tay and me together yet, right? :D As proof that we were at the party together, lol!

It was too bad that I had to leave the party early, but I stuck around for Jeincy's cake cutting :) It was such a cute and delicious cake!

I had to take a picture of this before I left, but it's one of the yummiest things I've ever tried: it's a can of whipped cream... with alcohol in it. I kid you not - it's flavored with amaretto, and is 36 proof/18% alcohol! I'll have to get me one of these if I ever have a party or something. Have any of you guys ever tried this or seen this before? It was my very first time seeing this on this night and it was so yummy :) I'm curious to see if it comes in other flavors!

[Sunday]

I never thought I'd have a day where I could sleep in and just be lazy for a morning until yesterday - I had gotten up a couple of times to get onto the computer to see what was going on in the world, but shortly after that, I decided to have what I call a "power nap" - I wanted to really re-charge my batteries and I didn't get up again until around 1pm! It was a wonderful feeling :)

I didn't take many pictures yesterday, but I met with Tay again after he got off work at the church in the afternoon. In case you guys were wondering about his job, for right now he's a weekend sexton at his parish until the original sexton, currently stuck in Japan, comes back. ^-^; We had a huge dinner at The Silver Diner - we split a peppermint milkshake; I had a small Ceasar salad and had the Shrimp Scampi with gluten-free penne pasta, which was actually pretty yummy! Tay had a small summer salad with his Grilled Wasabi Salmon Sliders - his was very yummy too :D We topped it off with a slice of the Chocolate Cream Pie :) We were so full, but it was very well deserved meal!

Don't ask me why, but yes, I'm a very silly person when I'm eating out :p

We finished off the day with watching "The Other Guys" - it's one of the funniest movies I've seen this summer, especially with Will Farrell in it :) If you guys haven't seen it yet, I recommend it if you really like really ridiculously funny movies :) I still want to see Charlie St. Cloud and Salt too, and even Step-Up 3D since it just came out in theaters :)

Overall I had such a good weekend! I'm fully relaxed and recharged. I will have to go into a full day at work later on today, but I'll be ready for it when I get in :)

If there were a couple of things that I learned this weekend, it'd be these:

1. Looking back at my pictures from this past weekend made me realize that I should appreciate and embrace each moment more and more, like they were the last moments of my life. I may not see these people or do these activities very often, but I need to enjoy them to the fullest. After all, you only live life once, and you need to cherish and embrace each moment with all your heart.

2. In addition to that, remember I mentioned that Tay and I had a rough start when we first saw each other on Saturday? We love each other very much, but our love is not perfect - we fight, sometimes, mostly over the smallest and ridiculous things. It's normal in any relationship, and in most cases, good because each of us gets to see a side of each other that we may not know about each other; we have our differences, but these can be worked out somehow. Tay and I have our differences too, but we work them out together. I guess that's why he and I have gotten so close, and I'm thankful for that.

So a little message from me if you are lucky to be in a loving relationship or even if you're still waiting for that special person: Love him or her with your mind, heart, and soul. If this is the one that you want, don't let him or her slip away - embrace him or her with all your might.

Immature love says, "I love you because I need you."
Mature love says, "I need you because I love you."

I'm not sure where I learned this from, but I do know that is is true. :)

All right, time to get ready for the day...

...and I just realized that I didn't put up my pics from my cousin's wedding as I promised... I do promise, though, that I will do that tonight :)

Lastly, a pic that I took yesterday that I hope will make you smile too - featuring DSK Jewelry's Rocker Pink Necklace and Heart Love bracelet :) Makes me feel so pretty in pink xoxo

Have a beautiful day everyone :) See you tonight!

With love,
Reiko xoxo

♠ Reiko's Back - About Damn Time :)v ♠

[Currently having some breakfast with her little brother, Jerome :) No music involved, but has Owl City's "Strawberry Avalanche" playing in her head :)]

My goodness, it really has been a while everyone - sorry for the delays again >_<

I'm crunching on time at the moment, so for now, I just want to bring you guys up to speed to what has been happening with me in recent days:

How's Reiko? Overall, feeling great and just going about my busy days loving each day to the fullest, even on the toughest days :) Due to some personal issues that I have experienced recently (which I can't explain to you guys here, I'm sorry... :( ) in many ways, I feel that I have matured from it all, and I'm taking the baby steps to becoming an even better person than I was a few weeks ago. One day I will be able to tell you all, but for right now, rest assured, I'm doing well, and I'm loving life! :)

Family: In about 2 weeks' time, my family and I will be venturing up north for my cousin Douglas and his fiancee' Christina's wedding. :) Douglas is one of my cousins that I've admired since I was a kid, and now I'm very happy that he is very happy to start his new life with his soon-to-be wife, who will also become a wonderful addition to my family :) I'll be gone for about 5 days to venture up to New Jersey to see my extended family, and then to Pennsylvania where the wedding will take place. I'm very excited not just for the wedding, but for the trip itself. It's been a while since my family and I had a vacation together, and this will be a real treat. I haven't been to New Jersey since seeing my relatives to embark on a flight to the Philippines together 5 summers ago, and I've never been to Pennsylvania before - I'm really looking forward to the adventures to come :)

Work: I'm loving and appreciating my work as a bartender/waitstaff in that retirement home more and more by the day :) I know some of you guys are wondering how on earth I'm able to cope working in a place like this, and I can simply tell you that it takes a lot of love and patience. There are times when it gets busy and difficult, but I know that in the very end, everything will fall into place and will be all right. I like being with people (especially talking to them) and I get along fairly well with the people I work with and work for. Love and patience are the keys, my friends! :)

Friends: Unfortunately, due to my very busy schedule, I only have very little time to see and/or chat with my friends in real life or even online (Facebook, Myspace, etc.). I was able to see a couple of good friends in recent weeks - Kai and Eleni - which is a good start, but when I have time to hang out, or even have an online chat with you, etc. , I will let you guys know :) I may not be able to say this to each of you individually so I'll say it here: I love you all and thank you for being a part of my life :) xoxo

Love life? Taylor and I are doing very well :) I feel that he and I have gotten much closer since the last time I posted, and that makes me feel very good. Tay is a really important person in my life, and I'm very grateful for everything he does and even just being there for me. He's been by my side even through the most recent slumps - I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate his love and loyalty to me... But anyway, we are doing very well, and we'll be celebrating our anniversary (1 year, 11 months) in a few days, as well as his birthday... which is a week from today! Whoo! xoxo

Car accident update: Remember the car accident I had back in March? Well, the case will come to a close in the next few days: On Monday, I will be appearing in court to testify as a witness in the case against the woman who hit me and my car, Rinoa. I have been looking forward to this day for a while - this will be my very first time testifying as a witness in court. As I said before in my post-accident post, I have forgiven the woman since that night, and I still do to this very day. I'm not sure what the outcome will be for the other woman, but I do hope that from whatever punishments and/or fines that will fall upon her, she will learn from that so that she won't have to experience that ever again. After this, my family and I will be truly ready to move forward from this, and I pray that she will too.

So yes! That's the gist of what's been going on with my lately, but I do want to announce one other thing... As of yesterday, I now have a brand-new digital camera!

This is the model of the digital camera that I now have: Samsung T220 digital camera, 12.2 megapixels and dual LCD screens. I'm loving this camera the more I use it :) ...should I come up with a name for it? :D What do you guys think?? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

And of course, I wouldn't end this post without showing you guys a few pictures from my new camera eh?? :D I had to compress them in order for them to fit here, so if they appear small for you guys, I apologize - I will have to work on them later :(

My handsome boyfriend, Taylor :) He made dinner! ^0^

A very interesting mug that held some tea he brewed for me :)

Dinner! Little steak and vodka pasta! We had a huge helping of seconds after that :)

My brother, Jerome finishing breakfast... and trying to be cute. :p

...and there's yours truly! :)

And there you have it guys! Now that I have a new camera, I'm looking forward to posting more for you guys. I'll update when I can, but I'll definitely chat with you all soon. Have a great day!!

xoxo,

~Reiko :)

Can't Introduce Squall Just Yet... :(

[Listening to "I'mma Be" by the awesome Black Eyed Peas! :D ]

Hey, everyone, it's about 11:30pm, and in about half an hour I will be working on my last Art History homework for the semester. I know, I hate having to do things at the last minute, but... What can I say? Lots of things to do... ^^; I will be up for a while, but I'm not gonna stop until it's done :) No, not an all nighter this time - I hope it won't end up being that way!

...shame on me, what did I say I was going to do for my Resolution(s)...? ^^;

Yesterday, I was supposed to take pictures and tell you guys about my wonderful new Rav4, Squall. Well, unfortunately, my digital camera has been giving me problems since yesterday morning: for some reason, it's malfunctioning even though I haven't done much to it in the last few days... Yes, I've changed the batteries, and yes, I've made sure that they were put in correctly... It's frustrating... :( I may have to invest on getting a digital camera that *will* work for me... That probably won't happen until around summertime because guess how broke Reiko really is... I hope to take a look at the camera and get it fixed soon so that I can show you guys some cool vids and pics of Squall. I will say, though, that I'm in love with it... even if it is a car ^^;

In the meantime, I want to tell you guys a few highlights of what's been going on with me in the last couple of days:

So, my college besties, Stephanie and Nicki, came home for a short break before starting their May Term (Good luck, girls!). I spent some time catching up with them on Thursday night when they came home, but I had more time to spend with them during my day off from work yesterday. We went to California Pizza Place for a late lunch, then went to my favorite gelato shop, Melt (soon to become "Confetti" about a week or so from now). After parting ways for a little while so that Nicki could finish up some homework, Taylor met with me and we hung out at Barnes and Noble for a little bit.

Guess what caught my eye when we reached the comic book section...

Yes, it's Yoshitaka Amano's Final Fantasy "Dawn" artbook. :D Now, for those who don't know, I'm a big Final Fantasy fan, and every FF fan would know one of the artists behind the concept art of the popular series. Amano is not only famous for his art for FF but also in other works such as Vampire Hunter D, another series that I'm a big fan of. What I really love about his work is that it is very beautiful and magical, almost as though the characters and creatures, though in 2-dimensional traditional art, could pop out of the page and come to life. As a fan of his work, I had to get this artbook. :)

This is one of my favorite images in the book - it's Firion, the main character from Final Fantasy II. :)

Anyhow, we were able to hang out, watch ourselves be silly and... just have a great time! Being with my friends yesterday made me realize how much I really love and miss them; I've been working a lot and doing a lot of things myself and with my boyfriend that it made me realize how much I really do love and appreciate people like them in my life. Even when I have my cloudy, gloomy days, I know that these guys and girls would always be there to bring back the sunshine! Much love!!

Another thing I want to share with you guys is that I'm getting into a physically better shape since the accident. I've continued to work out in the gym on the days that I do work, but tonight I started doing some abdominal exercises that I've been wanting to try in the last week.

While I exercised one night, I watched a couple of my co-workers as they did some ab-work; they followed along to a DVD series for physical workouts and this particular one caught my interest. I used to do ab-work a lot during my days in my high school's varsity tennis team; my coach trained us hard doing ab-work, pilates, etc. that by the time I finished my time with the team, I had some nice abs! I wanted to gain that back, and tonight, I started doing it.

I found the workout videos online via YouTube and I'd like to share them with you all in case you want to try this out. If you do decide to work out with these videos, exercise with caution and care - results come in small increments and large amounts of effort!
Here is part 1:


And part 2:


Trust me, after doing these exercises... I feel it in there! o_O Sexy abs, here I come! :Dv

...and I will admit: the guy in the video kind scares me with the way he talks to you while he's exercising... It's scares to where is actually pretty funny that it's scaring me and I end up laughing. ...but what else can I do? =/ Just saying... ^^;

All right, well it's about time I start tackling this Art History homework eh?! Better get a'movin' so I'll chat with you all soon!

Until next time, be well! I hope to get my camera fixed soon too!

xoxo,
Reiko