Take 5

1. 5 Makeup Steps in 5 Minutes - iVillage
2. Change the World in 5 Minutes - SBS.com.au
3. 8 Things You Can Do in 5 Minutes - latinpulsemusic.com
4. If You Only Have 5 Minutes to Make a Difference - The Health Advocacy ToolBox
5. Top 10 Things to Do in 5 Minutes - Associated Content

Make it a TEErific 5 Minutes of your Life!!!

Oh, That's Hot!!!

How to cook with Lava - John Alexander, owner of Dolphin Bay Hotel, Hilo (photo from website)

While at 2000°F , it still took about the same amount of time to cook as in a standard oven roasting. Only difference is the special attire & equipment required when cooking with lava.

A word of caution - it is illegal to cook food in lava or remove lava from the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. So the next closest way to have a taste of lava is cooking on volcanic stones or attend a traditional way of cooking pig in an imu pit. Luau anyone?

US Tennis Open 2008

Go TEAM USA

Olympics athlete news at NBC Olympics.com!

A COLD Mistake Turns SWEET!!!

July was National Ice Cream Month and A Daily Scoop: Ice Cream Reviews had a contest for a chance to win the grand prize of a box of PhillySwirl ice cream cupcakes delivered right to your door. Well, I did not get the grand prize but was one of the lucky ten runner-ups to receive a coupon for free ice cream cupcakes. The coupon for the ice cream cupcakes was still a great prize until.............

On 8/8/08, I got the congratulatory letter and a coupon for a "frozen treat" from Fortune Public Relations. Nowhere on the coupon indicated any free ice cream cupcakes. Read the back of coupon and it stated that "customer must purchase specified product". As you can see above, no ice cream cupcakes on the coupon.

Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt so I sent inquiring emails to A Daily Scoop and PhillySwirl Company. Elizabeth of A Daily Scoop sent a prompt response. She, too, was disappointed to hear about the wrong coupon. She sent an email to the PR firm representing PhillySwirl about the mistake. Elizabeth would be in touch with me as soon as she hears word from the PR firm. After 3 days, I got antsy waiting and sent my own email directly to Fortune Public Relations.

I received an email from Anja of Fortune PR the very next day. Anja was very apologetic about the whole situation and offered to rectify the misunderstanding by sending a box of PhillySwirl ice cream cupcakes to me. Well, they arrived on Wednesday morning in a thermal cooler from Florida. Cee and her dad (Mr. D) had fun playing with the dry ice.

The list of ingredients can be found on PhillySwirl's website.

With this batch of ice cream cupcakes, it was very difficult to determine which had the chocolate cake and the white cake. Both were coated on the bottom with chocolate layered with vanilla ice cream and topped with a mocha flavored whipped cream frosting & chocolate sprinklers. The best way to eat the ice cream cupcake is with a fork unless you prefer frosting & ice cream on your face. So it is more like a mini ice cream cake shaped as a cupcake.

I like the chocolate cake one. It was cross between a brownie and an Oreo cookie topped with just enough vanilla ice cream. The mocha whipped cream frosting was just right - not too sweet. It is a convenient novelty item to delight the hearts of the young crowd and less clean-up for the parents.

My family panel of ice cream aficionados rated PhillySwirl ice cream cupcakes 3TEEspoons. As for me, I am an old fashioned cupcake gal that still wants a choice to have my cupcake with or without ice cream. Much thanks again to Anja, Fortune Public Relations and PhillySwirl for the box of ice cream cupcakes.

Cupcakes with or with out ice cream, treat yourself to a TEErific one!!!

All photos courtesy of Cee'2008

Take 5

1. Can you get fit in five minutes? - Time Out New York
2. Watch a 5 minute short video "HISTORIA DE UN LETRERO (THE STORY OF A SIGN)" - winner of the NFB Online Competition Cannes 2008
3. The Best Lose Belly Fat Exercise You Can Do - Lose Inches Quickly in 5 Minutes a Day at Home - Ezine Articles
4. First 5 minutes of your interview matters most. You can make a good interview impression - Focus Internet Marketing
5. 5 Shocking Things You Can Tell About a Guy in 5 Minutes - Don'tDateHim.com

Have a TEErific 5 minutes!!!

TEE-GIF Weekend Fun 08.15.08

KNBC4 Weather Forecast: SUMMER FUN

Check out some FUNtastic weekend events:
1. Friday Night Sing-Alongs - Music Center Plaza
2. Glorious Glazes - Armstrong Gallery, Pomona
3. PIMCO Free Friday Nights (Terracotta Warriors) - Bowers Museum, Santa Ana
4. Summer Music at Farmers Market - LA
5. Movies/DVD releases
- Henry Poole is Here - PG
- Fly Me To The Moon - G
- Mirrors - R

Whatevah catches your fancy, ENJOY and make it a TEErific weekend!!!

HB GGtwins JS & PJ

YouTube video by arcoseres

Have a TEErific 2nd Birthday!!!!

Take 5

1. Chocolate cake in 5 minutes - Dizzy Dee
2. How 5 minutes of meditation a day can save your life - real women fitness
3. You Can Become A Millionaire in Just Five Minutes a Day - The Simple Dollar
4. 40 Household Jobs in 5 Minutes or Less - Woman's Day Magazine
5. 5 minutes to unlock your motivation - Sean Rasmussen

Have a TEErific 5 minutes!!!

Oh, What a Night!!!

Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony
YouTube video by gettyimages

Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony - YouTube video by SOZGUNTV

Simply TEErific!!!

H2O + melon = Summer Delight

Here are some of my TEEfavs:

(1) Watermelon Rubiks Cube (2) Turtle (3) Watermelon Glazed Mini Barbequed Meatballs (4) Tiki Mask Table Decoration (5) Red White And Blue Watermelon Sundaes (6) Watermelon Crab Cups (7) Watermelon Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling (8) Tea Pot (9) Watermelon cupcakes (10) Watermelon Cherry Mojito (11) Smile (12) Kids Watermelon Sandwich Cookies (13) Kung Pao Watermelon Shrimp (14) Birthday cake (15) Lobster Spring Rolls with Watermelon Sesame Sweet Sour Sauce
photos & recipe links courtesy of NWPB

Other TEEmazing links:

• Square Watermelons - snopes.com
• Giant Watermelons - giantwatermelons.com
• Watermelons for the World - Mother Earth News
• Tracy Byrd - Watermelon Crawl - YouTube video

What a TEErific way to summer!!!

Got Medals?

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

08.08.08 Beijing Welcomes You!!!

YouTube video by napt2007

YouTube video by AntiCnnVedio

Let the 2008 Summer Games begin!!!

Beijing 2008 Olympics

Exclusive Summer Olympics news & widgets at NBC Olympics.com!

TEE-GIF Weekend Fun 08.08.08

ABC7 Weather Forecast: SUMMER HEAT

Check out some FUNtastic events:
1. Dance Downtown - LA
2, Summer Shakespeare Festival - Westside/Beverly Hills
3. Sunland-TujungaWatermelon Festival 2008
4. Big!World!Fun! Diavolo Dance Theater - Ford Amphithteatre
5. Movies/DVD Releases
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants PG-13
- Bottle Shock - PG-13
- Pineapple Express R

Whatevah catches your fancy, ENJOY and make it a TEErific weekend!!!

Swan Lake - Simply TEErific

Swan Lake - Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China YouTube video by RoyalOperaHouse

Great Chinese State Circus - Swan Lake YouTube video by raulrocks

August TEErific FREEbies

Check out some TEErific FREEbies:
1. Free offer for Family Circle
2. WorldEBookFair 2008 - free downloads July 4 - Aug 4, 2008
3. Feature Films for Families - free DVD
4. Hulu is an online video service that offers hit TV shows, movies and clips at Hulu.com and other online destination sites — all for free, anytime in the U.S. For more details on Hulu's service, check out the Hulu product tour.
5. Andrew's FREE CONCERTS calendar
6. DailyLit - Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don't find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. This works incredibly well not just on your computer but also on a Treo, Blackberry, Sidekick or whatever the PDA of your choice. In the words of Dr. Seuss: Try it, you might like it! (Oops -- it would appear that the actual quote from Green Eggs and Ham is "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may.")
7. OpenOffice.org (Windows) 2.4.1 - free download
8. GIMP 2.4.6 - free download

Enjoy your August TEErific FREEbies!!!

The Cat's Meow!!!

Our very own paparazCee photographing Miss Snowball for the purrfect pose.

Pretty TEErific!!!

2008 E Hula Mau

What is E Hula Mau?

E Hula Mau is Southern California's only Hula and Chant competition, staged annually every Labor Day weekend since 1995 by Na Mamo, a non-profit organization based in Southern California.

Pomaika`i (Good Luck) to all Halau participants.

Please mark your calendars:

• Date: August 29 - 31
• Venue: Terrace Theater - LB Convention & Entertainment Center
• E Hula Mau Event Schedule
  

Hula Halau O' Lilinoe garnered several awards last year ( 2007 E Hula Mau results) .

• 1st place in Hawaiian Language for Solo Kahiko - Ka`ale`a Riveira
• 1st place in both Kahiko and Auana - Wahine
• 1st place in Oli - Sharna Mahealani Weaver (chanter)1st place in Hawaiian Language in Group Kahiko & Auana
• Mary Kawena Pukui Perpetual Trophy
• 2nd place in Wahine Solo - Ka`ale`a Riveira
• 3rd place in Kaikamahine Solo - Malia Corona
• 3rd place in Kahiko - Kaikamahine & Kane

Award Winning Kahiko Performance 2007

YouTube Video by onelove072405

Hugs & aloha kisses to Kelli Tani (Cee's BFF from last year's competition) who will be Halau 'O Lilinoe's 2008 Kaikamahine solo performer.

Hula Halau 'O Lilinoe, Kumu Aunty Sissy & Annette - Pomaika`i & aloha kisses from Cee & alohaTee

TEE-GIF Weekend Fun 08.01.08

ABC7 Weather Forecast: SUMMER HEAT

Check out these FUNtastic events:
1. Taste in San Pedro - Point Fermin Park
2. Los Angeles Filipinotown Festival
3. Long Beach Crawfish Festival
4. Lowrider Nationals - Bakersfield
5. Movies/DVD Releases
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
- Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day - DVD (5 TEEstars)
- What Happens in Vegas - DVD (4 TEEstars)

Whatever catches your fancy, ENJOY and make it a TEErific weekend!!!