Rene turned 29 and we celebrated with a small gathering. His nephew, D, was the first toddler I’ve ever seen who didn’t try to blow out another person’s candles.

The second field trip took me back to Disneyland. It was a long day, but I can’t complain about a free trip to Disneyland and California Adventure and comp time.

It’s been a hot summer. I hope all this heat stays in August. I stayed cool by wading around in the pool at my cousin’s new house. It worked, too bad my cousin doesn’t live closer.

Sean’s Jamaican pride really comes out during the Olympics.

My mom took off on a 10-day vacation/chaperoning trip to Zacatecas. She returned with candy, Santo Niño de Atocha trinkets and stories of all the security — plain-clothes and military — accompanying the entourage.

I went on a biotech field trip for work. I was less impressed with the sophisticated machinery in the labs than the beauty of the campus and the cool recreation/sports facilities available.

Sean, Anel and I had crappy seats for el Reventón Super Estrella at Staples Center. I generally don’t like arena shows, but couldn’t pass up the chance to see Café Tacuba. I’m still bummed I missed Julieta Venegas who played much earlier than I expected. At least I got to meet Anel.

More excitement: watching the Mexican men beat Brazil to earn Mexico’s first gold medal in the sport. This reminds me that I meant to write something about Ruben Navarrette’s column. Navarrette excoriated Leo Manzano for celebrating his 1500 meter silver medal by holding up both the US and Mexican flags. As you can guess, I wasn’t offended by Leo’s actions. Rather, I was touched by the gesture and his words acknowledging his roots. I could relate. I opted against a response because others wrote pretty good responses and I think the column was just trolling for pageviews. Navarrette seemed really excited by all the comments on the CNN piece and on his FB page.

Tío Joe passed away two years ago. His lost is still felt, but he’s survived by an amazing family. I know my cousins are still making him proud. Christine, the youngest of the bunch took the lead on organizing the third annual blood drive in his honor. I couldn’t give blood, but Sean donated. The last few times I’ve given blood, it’s been with my tío Joe in mind.

I found out about the Café Tacuba show at the Observatory in Anaheim a few weeks after I bought tickets for Reventón. If I would’ve known about the former, I would’ve skipped the arena show. Oh well. At least I had a better view for the second show even if I stayed way back by the bar. I can’t stand to be smushed by other fans. Plus, it was way too hot. I can’t wait for their new album. (I’ll post setlists soon. I’m lagging on this stuff.)

My sister, mom and cousins/bridesmaids did an amazing job planning and hosting my bridal shower. It was a fun evening, I just wish it was a little cooler. I tried to match the color scheme Lori picked.

I finally tried 800 Degrees in pizza in Westwood. I’m mad at myself for taking so long to go since the restaurant is so close and pizzas start at $5-6.

I met with a makeup artist to get a feel for wedding day makeup. I’m not using the same person (Evette) I used for the engagement shoot since she’s not available. Luckily, I liked the new makeup artist, Elisa. She was recommended by our planner. After I got done up, I tested out how the makeup would hold up throughout the day and dancing on a warm evening.

Sean and I took the Metro to Chinatown for the free Summer Nights event. We danced a bit to some live music (Buyepongo) before exploring the rest of the area. We ended up up at the KCRW dancefloor where DJ Anthony Valadez put on a great set.

The 10-week summer research programs come to an end this week. I coordinate the largest program, so this week was busy with events every day. One of the events was a poster session. Usually their descriptions just go over my head, but this time I tried to learn something.