I celebrated St Patricks Day with my family on Sunday. It almost didn’t happen. However, my sister and I decided how important it was that we do celebrate our heritage for our daughters.  Our Irish roots come from our father- he has passed onto us the knowledge and love of our heritaga and now we had to keep the tradition going strong.  With the help of our Mom (who cooked the cornbeef and cabbage) and our brother (who provided the Guinness) we made it special.

My niece had her first St Patricks Day and my daughter, her only cousin got to celebrate with her.  That is a shared memory we have forever.  There was food, drink, irish jigs, friends and laughter and really that what it’s all about…being together to celebrate our love and respect of our heritage.

Erin go Bragh! 

You can get this cool design on a tee shirt at http://www.cafepress.com/ameriwear/69655

For all of us toki lovers who dream about toki and wish we could find some way to squeeze even more tokidoki into our lives…your dreams have come true!  www.funhousewares.com has tokidoki pillowcases for preorder!

There are 6 styles are available.  They are $29.85 for a pair of soft cotton standard size pillowcases.  You can even order all 6 sets for $135.  Since this is a preorder item they will arrived in late March.

Visit www.funhousewares.com 

for a limited time 15% off and free shipping. Casey is ready to help with print placement. Call (636) 519-4022 or go to www.pulsestl.com to place order. Use code LEO15.  You can also email toki@pulsestl.com or casey@pulsestl.com

Our friends at Kid Pirate have done it again! I just checked out their website today and was overwhelmed by the super cuteness! Check them out at www.kidpirate.com

I woke up really early this morning to watch all the inaugural fan fare from our nations capital. I had the DVR set to record everything in HD but I had to see it in real time, LIVE and in living color.

I had a few friends who made the cross country trip but I decided to watch from the comfort and warmth of my couch in my fuzzy slippers and pink bathrobe.

What a day in history to celebrate but as our new President said in his speech…”its time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start going to work to remake America”

So in that spirit..think about what you want to do as a citizen to make America stronger, better and ready to take on all the challenges we have yet to face as a Nation.

God Bless President Obama, our First Family and his whole Administration.

Next Tuesday will be a historic day…Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I am sure many thought they would never live to see a man like Obama become President of our great nation.

That being said, next Monday is a day celebrated in recognition of another great American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  What better way to honor both of these men and all their accomplishments then to get involved in your community on January 19th, 2009.

I have always believed that volunteerism is good for the soul. I promise you if you take the time to be with others who believe in your cause or share in your hopes for our country and it’s citizens you will walk away a BETTER PERSON because of it!!!

I plan on doing some voluneer work in my community with my 13 year old daughter. Our children are never to early to learn about being a good neighbor and even better citizen. 

More and more Asian Americans are reaching out in their communities in love and respect for others. Let’s show them what AA’s are really all about. Show them what I already know….we are a big part of this country and even bigger part of the global community!

Have a wonderful “day of service” and let’s keep our new President and the first family in our prayers.

So after standing outside in the cold weather for three hours to attend the Grand Opening of Happy Six’s flagship in El Segundo, I have to say it was totally worth it!  I met such cool people in line…I have four new toki bff’s (you know who you are!) and my hula sistah, Brandee was there with her boyfriend.

Sophie, the owner was so super nice to everyone who attending. She offered 10% off all tokidoki merchandise and there was also a free gift for the first 50 people.  I was number 10.  Yeah, me!!!! We got a toki shopping bag filled with awesome goodies. There was a poster announcing the grand opening, signed by Simone :), a full size pack of toki buttons, a full pack of toki stickers and two really, awesome buttons from Happy Six that say “I love tokidoki and happy six” and “I partied with tokidoki at happy six”…oh, I just love them they are so darn cute.

With my 10% off I bought a toki bracelet and an orange onitsuka tiger (which I have been wanting so bad) and two boxes of the toki mirror mints. 

Simone Legno, creative director, tokidoki was available to sign one item.  I was so excited because he remembered me from previous signings.  He smiled and said “nice to see you again, I remember you, thank you for waiting” AAHHHHHH, I was too over the moon.  I always like to get a sketch from him, which btw totally rocks!

I have to say the event was just off the hook- Sophie and tokidoki hosted a grand event. Food, drinks, goodies, 10% off and of course Simone was the cherry on the sundae. 

Oh, new flash- Simone told me that a new tokidoki store will be opening on Melrose in March 2009!!!!  I can’t wait-

Thanks Sophie and tokidoki for an awesome time and a shout out to Quinton, the cool security guard working at “The Edge”

Pics to follow….

 I received this email today from one of the groups I supported during the Obama campaign: 

Many of us are still pinching ourselves today. But we did it, Filipinos for Obama. Your tireless support at phone banks, voter registration drives, and fundraisers, your passion for and belief in strengthening and uniting your community, and your commitment and determination to make a difference helped — in the truest sense of the word — change the world. Together, we made history.

From an idea that started over lunch less than four months ago, Filipinos for Obama has accomplished a great deal and organized an unprecedented movement within our own community. Together, we have grown 13 chapters across the nation, recruited over 400 volunteers, registered 450 new voters, organized nearly 130 events nationwide, and reached over 12,000 households through canvassing, phone banking and getting our own friends and family involved.

Our victory was in believing in ourselves and believing in an America inspired by truth, unity, and hope. As Obama said in his speech last night, “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change….So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.” Stay tuned for upcoming events. We’re going to celebrate…and collaborate, and we want you to join us.

Thank you for your people power. Thank you for believing. This is your victory, mga kababayans.

With heartfelt gratitude,
The Filipinos for Obama Leadership Team

Barack Obama has proven that he is the best choice for the Filipino community.

Please get out and VOTE today—-let your voice be heard.

Barack Obama:

• Will Restore the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to Work Towards its Original Goal of Meeting the Underserved Needs of AAPIs
• Praised Passage of The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which Provided Millions for Tribal and AAPI Serving Institutions.
• Will cut taxes to 95% of Americans (individuals and families making less than $250,000/year in income)
• Cosponsored Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act .
• Passed the DREAM Act in Illinois.
• Cosponsored the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007.
• Cosponsored Comprehensive Immigration Legislation, and Introduced Amendments to Reduce Immigration Backlogs.
• was Raised with Asian Culture in Hawaii And Asia.

 I wanted to share an email with you from the “Asian Americans for Obama” group I belong to on www.barackobama.com

As you may know, there are a lot of rumors, misleading e-mails, and suppression efforts out there designed to prevent voters from exercising their constitutional rights. These include everything from false claims that voters who have had their homes foreclosed lose their right to vote to the lie that voting a straight Democratic ticket does not include a vote for Sen. Obama.

Help fight the lies and misinformation - spread the word about the new Obama campaign website Truth.VoteforChange.com. If you encounter false information about voting, look up the correct information and make sure everyone exposed to the lie gets the real story straight from the campaign. There should be only one winner in this election - the truth.

Let your voice be heard- get out to the polls and vote on November 4th!

Vote for Change - Obama/Biden ‘08