Summer Manifesto -- How'd I do?

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Remember the Summer Manifesto? Since it's now Fall, I thought I should recap and see what I actually accomplished.

What did I do this summer?

.Spend daily time with God I tried, but for sure there were days I failed at this

.Be more active outdoors Hiked the 9+miles around Lake Chabot for the first time in my life, does that count?

.Go to the Alameda County fair We ended up making it to the fair twice! Thanks to finding free tickets online

.Write a speech for my sister's wedding Yes! I did it, and I made the speech too feeling less nervous than I thought I'd be

.Decide if we want to do any work on the house After some debating and thinking, we've settled on finishing off our garage and adding shelving. Hopefully this will happen before the end of the year.

.Go fishing FAILED, utterly failed at this. I think we fished all of once this year.

.Find a rug This we did do, found us an affordable rug with a pop of color that we can change out if we get tired of it.

.Try at least 3 new recipes (without modifying) meh, probably didn't do this one so well, i took a brief hiatus from cooking after getting preggers

.Clean out closet & donate clothes Got through some of this, but not everything

.Take care of our fruit trees Yes! Trimmed our apple, orange, and lemon trees. Even getting fruits on the lime this year!

Now we're reaching the end of the year. Can you believe it's almost November?

My Summer Manifesto

Inspired by Meg Tsang

What would I like to do this summer?

.Spend daily time with God
.Be more active outdoors
.Go to the Alameda County fair
.Write a speech for my sister's wedding
.Decide if we want to do any work on the house
.Go fishing
.Find a rug
.Try at least 3 new recipes (without modifying)
.Clean out closet & donate clothes
.Take care of our fruit trees

Bridal Shower

A few weeks ago, we threw a bridal shower for my sister (she's getting married in less than a month!!! AH!). As a tribute to her love for the Oakland A's, we played off a green & gold theme.



Some of the crafty bridesmaids created the pinwheel backdrop along with the pom-poms. Along with a "Yes Dear" sign.




In the entry way we setup a station for guests to fill out these fun fill-in-the-blank tags and pick up a favor on the way out. For the favors, one of the girls found that M&Ms makes MLB team candies! So we ordered some A's M&Ms and supplemented with some generic white and cream candies. We also did a box of mint almonds with yogurt pretzels.




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Decorations: DIY by the bridesmaids
Food: Catered by Christine of Full Belly
Flowers: Trader Joe's & Safeway
Tags: Seafoam Safari
Cake: Nothing Bundt Cake

NOLA {Part 1}

I can't believe its been almost 3 months since our New Orleans trip! It was our "big" trip of the year; we were there from Christmas Eve through the 29th before heading off to LA for a wedding.

Most of the trip was spent walking, exploring, and, of course, EATING! This was our first time in NOLA (first time in the south - minus TX). The culture is definitely unique and enticing. It also felt quite familiar and comfortable, like easing into an old, comfy couch. There was a lot of old, mixed in with the new; and the rebuilding of the city was definitely felt, as well as the love of the citizens for their city.

The architecture was amazing; it really transports you back to a different era:






We also did a swamp tour while in Louisiana. The bus picked us up and drove us out about a half hour to the swamp. During the drive, our driver pointed out different areas where Katrina had hit and the damages that occurred. I wish I got photos of it, but I was too busy soaking it all in. In some places the water was 15-20 feet. Some buildings, like a movie theater, decided to not rebuild, and it still sits there - stranded and debilitated. Then some areas have rebuilt and come back strong. We also got to hear/see the damage on the swamp.





It was winter, so the expectation was that we weren't going to see much wildlife. We did spot a couple of little gators, including one whose jaw was busted open, saw a pelican, a nutria (giant rat). I was most excited about getting to hold a gator!


(Please excuse my ridiculous look, someone said something that made me laugh)

I'll end with one of my favorite scenes from the trip. This was the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel, dressed to the nines for Christmas:

(my photos really don't do this place justice)

Time Flies

Wowee! It's MARCH already, how crazy is that? Looks like I've been slacking again on this blog thing. So I thank you if you still read this thing. Here's a peek at what's been going on:

So many goodies: Noodle Theory Ramen w/ +Lynn Vuong; panne cotta & roasted chicken (from +Irene Byon bday); Koja Kitchen Truck; homemade pasta casserole and miso braised chicken; BeardPapa chocolate cream puff; lamb chops and oysters from Sushi Delight


 3crosses Volunteer Appreciation Month; ironman micro mugs (thanks to +Peter Lee); Sideboard w/ +Nicole Makinney Miranda; Chinese New Year dinners; Mimosa & Monte Cristo breakfast w/ +Erica Dang & +Matthew Lee; Homecooked Valentine's Dinner by +Edmund Lee; M.Y. China lunch


(I'll have to do a full post about our trip to NOLA still)

長尾巴...

attack of the cute

There's a saying in Chinese "長尾巴" or growing your tail - which is a nice way to say "you're another year older"... My tail grew this week, and I was reminded again of how loved and blessed I am.

Here's a quick collage to summarize it all. Surrounded by family, friends, and food.

Thank you to all of you who are in my life and constantly remind me of how great our God is and how His love is all around us.

31 Days of Being Where I Am: Day 5-16 (catch-up)

Since I missed a few days... let's do a quick recap of what happened.

The hubs turned the big 3-0. Had dinner w/ the family and 3 cakes

(this picture is super fob)

...and a football get together the following day (which i have no pictures of except the aftermath)

Went to my first postseason game. Game 4 of ALDS. The green n gold were amazing. It was an amazing season.

Did a quick drop by to see the matsumoto's...and a sleeping lukey through his video monitor


Had some yummy blue bottle


Leave you all with one last picture of this cutie chubster

31 Days of Being Where I Am: Day 3

This will be a short post. More A's and more family today. Seems to be a theme this month.

Enjoying and growing in the circumstances and places I have been planted in.

31 Days of Being Where I Am: Day 2

Today was about family...in fact this week has been about family. My dad's siblings are all in town to celebrate my grandma's 96th birthday and what a fun time we have all been having.

Short but sweet post today. More to come...

Weekend Happenings

Happy hump day!! The sun has been shining and warming up our house, maybe a little too warm. Here's a few photos to recap this past week.


FortMason & catch-up w/ the Lums (Koja Truck // Cupkates)


babysat the nieces on saturday (sleep when the baby sleeps)

That's it for now! Hope everyone finishes their week off well...it's off to oyster land this weekend!

EastCoast WestCoast Family BBQ

A few weeks back, my cousin Felicia invited us all over to her apartment for an EastCoast WestCoast family bbq. We had family in town from both sides of the States, hence the name.

She marinated some meat, fired up the grill and we started chowing down.


Food on the Grill
Here's just a snipbit of the food that we had that day. Some drumsticks, hot dogs, carne asada..


Seasonings
Some grill side seasonings


ChauMian yes, i put chauMian instead of ChowMien bc i'm mandarin speaking.
The noodles were made for my grandma who isn't so keen on the bbq meats


Grandma!
Speaking of grandma, she was so happy and proud of my cousin. no one had ever had my cousin's "cooking" up until this day :)


Strawberries
Some fresh strawberries that one of the aunties brought




Alchie
And of course, no meal with my family is complete without some alcohol involved..We had our assortment of wines. there was one can of beer, that no one touched.


It was a fun time. great sunny afternoon. got to meet some new extended family members. Also got to see this little one again.