and the beat goes on...

28 is still looking great!! had a great weekend with my family and friends and the good vibes are still coming...cue me singing "and the beat goes on, and the beat goes onnnnn."

friday, we (gizelle, jess, dede, mae and me) had dinner at hooters and kicked back at gizelle and jess' apartment and watched hangover. jess, congratulations on the new job.

saturday, was a busy busy day. it was annika's first bday celebration at the sir francis drake. she had a alice in wonderland tea party theme. they even had alice come and entertain the kids. the party was fabulous.





tea and i ended up spending the rest of the day in the city with a few of her friends...and then i was off to azul for ROUND 4! good music + good folks = GREAT times. thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate. i have all of you to thank for making this year memorable. mike and art...thank you for showing me a good time and not letting me get kidnapped. lmao! like i said, good times!!

sunday. valentines day! i've never been too big on valentines day. not that i don't appreciate celebrating it, it's just not a huge priority for me. this year i spent it a little differently. mike, arther and i ventured off to papalote's to grab a bite and then it was off to San Francisco's Annual Pillow Fight in justin herman plaza. i've always seen it on the news, but this year i got to watch firsthand. TOTALLY FUN! random pillow fights everywhere. really, it's just plain good fun. we even witnessed a little girl beat on our friend for a good 5 minutes straight. she had a pillow tied to a sheet, so in a circular motion she delivered hit after hit while her dad and grandpa, dressed like hugh heffner, stood by to watch.

feathers everywhere. and the laughing contagious! this is why I LOVE SF!

(picture taken by arther)

28 is looking GREAT!

Yeayyy...I AM OFFCIALLY 28! Obviously my bday is on a Monday this year, so I had to start the celebration early.

This Friday, I celebrated with my best friend, Dee. Her real name is Melody, her birthday is 3 days before mine and we have very similar names. Hee hee, aren't we cute!? lmao Friday, was her celebration, but of course I got a few birthday drinks b/c people heard mine was near.

ROUND 1 - the FOUNDATION at SOM
Do you read my blog? So then you know who my favorite DJ is right? hahahaha! Miguel (DJ Mr.E), Apollo and Jon (DJ Shortkut) were the line up for the evening. I'm soooo lucky to know these guys. They definitely made my 28th start RIGHT! My feet were hurting in my 5" heels, but I just had to get up and dance...the music was too good to just sit around. I didn't even really dance with anyone in particular. I was surrounded by everyone so while they were there dancing with their significant others or friends or whoever...I just enjoyed the moment dancing in the middle of all of them. And double fisting for I'd say 90% of the night! lmao! Needless to say I had a good time. Of course, my family came out to celebrate, I can always count on them for a good time, like they can count on me to pick a spot with good ass music. lol Again, THANK YOU JON AND MIGUEL! Friends new and old came out of the woodwork and I definitely felt the birthday love!

ROUND 2 - Superbowl Sunday at the heez
The family and a few friends came over to enjoy the game. I wasn't really interested in who was winning, I just wanted my damn squares to hit! I won the 3rd quarter, soooo yeay me! That money is going to Japan. lol

I had 3 requests for my Superbowl birthday. 1) If I had to have noodles (you know the long life superstition), I wanted palabok. Thank you Auntie Pining for my delicious palabok. 2) Uncle Onofre's bomb ass crab! I have no idea what he puts in it, but it is HELLA GOOD! I had to leave the kitchen or else I would've eaten it all. I don't care how messy it is. 3) Salt n pepper spare ribs from Paradise. If you don't know about these...you better go get some now!

Got all my requests and it was HELLA GOOD!

ROUND 3 - Warriors v. Mavericks
Hee hee! Saturday night, Mark (an old friend) asked, so what are you doing for your real birthday. I said, I'm going to the Warriors game. His response: You are ALWAYS there! Hahaha! I have been to my share of games this season, and I sho will be there tonight!! Dee, got me tickets for my birthday! Sec 122 Row 4. Look for me and my sign. "8 is GREAT!" the other side will say "MONTA it's my bday!"

28 is looking up for me. Let's hope I can ride this high for the rest of the year!

Melanie Fiona

We all know that I'm a music LOVER! Last night I got to enjoy another GREAT music night. I've been up on Melanie Fiona for some time now. No, not because we have the same name! The first time I heard "Give it to Me Right" I was on it. The song had a good beat, had me moving, and her voice was amazing. So, being the person that I am, when I'm passionate about something I'll look it up. And look her up I did. I found video after video on youtube. Lots of backyard stuff, so you can really hear her pure voice. The second song I heard is what really got me, "Somebody Come get Me." OOOHHHH CHILD! That one had me! I followed her instantly on youtube.

"Give it to me Right" was playing more and more on the radio. Woo hoo for me, but people still didn't know who she was. So, whenever anyone would ask me who was singing b/c trust me I was screaming the words along with it, I would give them my schpeel on how they really need to know who she is b/c SHE IS AMAZING! (And, I'm sure you've seen me post her videos on my fb page.) Lucky for me she was visiting KMEL! HOOLLLERRR! I don't know who made the initial call, but I got to be instudio when we came and sang on air. Her voice was even more amazing in person, a capella. Really, it brought tears to my eyes (that I had to hold back), gave me goosebumps, and made each hair on my body stand on end....yes it was that moving. Phil and I got to hang around after and I got to meet her. We even talked for some time. She asked me if I was a singer too b/c of my voice. I even asked her about "Somebody Come get Me," she was surprised I knew about it. She's a really down to earth person, which is what makes me love her even more.

On to last night!!! I heard Melanie Fiona was coming to town and of course I HAD to make the call or text. lol Happy early birthday to me. I got the confirmation that I was IN!!! I invited a few of my close friends and we got to watch her interview with Chuy, and sing the night away. She only had a few songs to sing...but we (the crowd) yelled so many of her songs that she did a little medley. Of course I was yelling along to each one she did sing! But, the one I wanted her to sing most, and she did was "Sad Songs." Oh man how that song speaks to my soul. It's bringing me to tears even thinking about it. Hearing her sing it in person was sooo much more powerful than the CD. The CD has nothing on her skills in person. OOOhhh and she sang the clincher song for me, "Somebody Come get Me." It's not on her CD, and the person in front of me must've heard me singing (aka yelling) along it b/c she turned and asked me what it was called. hahaha!

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself. I wish we would've stayed longer so I could take a picture with her again. But, I received her personal notes for the evening, so I'll be happy with that.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Tone, great early birthday gift!

Hemophilia Walk

I'm involved in yet another great cause. I'm not doing a triathlon this time, and this time it's actually for Hemophilia. My goddauther, Annika Nikole, has FVII deficiancy. It is such a rare bleeding disorder that there is not much research on it. The closest bleeding disorder to it is Hemophilila. So, when Tiffany told me about the Hemophilia Walk, of course I was ready to dive in head first.

Tiffany and John first discovered this disorder when their 3rd son, Ethan Nikolas, was diagnosed and passed away a week from being born. When they were blessed with their 4th child, Annika Nikole, the doctors knew what to look for and started treatment right away. Annika is healthy and almost a year old.

To read more about my Tiffany's experience with the disorder, please visit her blog

To donate to the cause, please visit: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=811260&LangPref=en-CA

Annika with her 2 older brothers, Anthony and Kevin, on Halloween