Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

This is what we did today: We visited Atsi and Mark's place. Here they are welcoming us into their home.

This is the two of them in their kitchen cooking lunch.

Lunch was pasta with turkey/tomato sauce, a green salad with homemade dressing, celery sticks with cream cheese and peanut butter. Mark and Atsi's friends came over too - they brought roasted chicken and fried rice with saffron. I think the dishes were Iranian. They were really good by the way. Jojo and I brought fresh peaches for dessert.

Here's Atsi and Mark with their friends. The guy's name is Marc too and his wife's name is Zara. They were both so friendly and funny. Their son, Masih, was incredibly adorable.

Here's a picture with me and Jojo. This is Atsi and Mark's living room.

After lunch the guys played Xbox while we just sat around and chatted. At around 2:30, we all headed over to Gottschalks at the Redlands Mall. It was so sad since Gottschalks has already filed for bankruptcy and was liquidating all its goods. You could see signs everywhere saying "everything must go", "60-80% off", and "the store is closing in 9 days". Prices were unbelievable. I got a Liz Claiborne shirt that was retailing for $36.00 and paid only $9.00 for it. Jojo bought a Timberland shirt that was $30.00 and paid $8.00 for it. I wanted to get 400-thread count sheets ($120.00 down to $36.00) but stopped myself since we don't really need new sheets even if they are that cheap.

We stayed for about an hour then decided to go to the Ontario Mills outlets. (Sorry no more pictures since I left the camera in the car). Prices at the outlet were not as low but still good. Sadly the place was not even half full. I guess the recession is still in effect since a 3-day weekend and holiday sales usually mean outlets are packed. I got a cardigan and a 2-piece suit for work (if and when I find a job!) at Ann Taylor, Jojo got summer polo shirts from Oakley and we got my niece a few things at Osh Kosh. The stuff we got was all marked down 50-60% off. (Don't worry, mom, we will get rid of stuff from our closet before adding our new stuff!).

We re-grouped at 6:30 and had a quick dinner at La Salsa. Then everyone headed their separate ways. We were on our way home, driving down the 110 freeway, just in time to catch the fireworks at Charles Wilson Park. It was really quite breathtaking. All in all a great day.

Happy Independence Day, America! We did our part to help stimulate your economy. =)