Alex flew up for Christmas this past weekend, and our adventure began Thursday night in Seattle. We drove down to Portland on Friday evening and decided to stop in Long View to visit Charles! We got caught up chatting with Charles, playing scratchers and the lotto, and ended up staying longer than expected.
By the time we got to Portland it was past midnight! We met everyone up at the Barrel Room - LOVE that place. It was my first dueling piano experience, but there was also an outdoor dance area with a club dj setup! I had fun even though I barely drank anything. I'd like to go back there one day.
On Saturday afternoon we went to get brunch at Jam on Hawthorne. I ordered the corned beef hash and it was SO GOOD. I also poured some of my coffee into Chad's milk and we made a masterpiece! It was yummy. We did some shopping before we headed back to the house and I took my nappety nap.
We had family dinner later that night and there was SO MUCH GOOD FOOD! After dinner we went to Peacock Lane to check out the houses. The pretty lights were a lot cooler than I was expecting. I can't believe San Francisco doesn't have a block with decorated houses. I surely wouldn't mind living in one of those areas, maybe not in Portland though.
We went back to the house and watched Jingle All The Way. The movie was so cheesey, starring two of my least favorite actors - Sinbad and the Governator. It was okay, Selena seemed to enjoy it at least. After the movie we opened gifts. David is such a sweetheart, he got gifts for Alex and myself! I think mine was the better of the two, the most adorable polar bear ear warmers. Perfect for winter!!! The gift-opening ceremony was heartwarming, my family never did anything like that.
After the gifts were all opened, it was around 1 AM. The young adults decided to partake in a game of high card low card, for half shots. Alex and Wilton ended up taking the game to the next level, and they continued to drink into the wee hours of the morning. They both paid the price, HAHA.
The next morning, we went to Legin for dim sum with the family and Wilton didn't make it. I'm surprised Alex did, he was a mess the night before... standing-up sleeping HAHAHA. Dim sum was pretty good, I actually liked the chicken feet there!!! That's impressive in itself. I left shortly after we got back to the house because I didn't want to drive at night. Unfortunately, I hung out with Charles and Sunny too long during my visit in Long View and I ended up driving up in the dark through a storm. It was SCARY. I very seriously considered pulling over and getting a hotel room for the night because it was absolutely pouring and I could barely see anything. Luckily I got through it and a few hours later I was at home unpacking.
I changed and headed to Victor's house for Christmas dinner. I was late for serving but I got to eat everything except for the asparagus. Darn! Oh well. All of the food was delicious, especially BJ's wings and JR's mom's flan. After dinner we drank boots and hung out. It was a merry Christmas indeed!
My first Christmas in the Pacific Northwest was delightful, fun, and so much more. I'm very thankful to have been invited to celebrate with the Huangs, and as always they were a blast. And such wonderful hosts! I had a very Merry Christmas, and again I am reminded of what excellent company I've been blessed to keep.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Discovering the Seattleite Within
Over the past few weeks, I've started to become more attached to Seattle.
In one sense, literally - I just registered in Seattle and took out a new insurance policy in Washington. This is something I hesitated to commit to these past months because I wasn't sure I'd be staying. Now I'm sure, I'm staying. Well.. for a significant amount of time at least.
And in other sense, emotionally; I found myself very offended when Alex, Anthony, and their friend came to visit this past weekend and would not stop complaining. What could they possibly complain about, you ask? Well they said it was boring, that there weren't very many people, and that they had nothing to do. And I suppose if you show up somewhere with no plans, don't meet up with people or try to make new friends, and don't even try to enjoy a new place... then you certainly won't have fun, will you? I was very annoying. So, very, annoyed.
But some good did come of their visit. I met them at Pike Place the day that they arrived and got to have my first Piroshky Piroshky, and also my first bowl of Beecher's mac n cheese! And OH YUM, piroshkies are so good! I think I've only had one once before in my life, and I do not remember it being so tasty. One of my new fave foods :) I should go to Pike Place more often!
And on Saturday we drove up to Vancouver to party. Unfortunately, in Vancouver, the drinks are so weak that each of us was completely sober the entire trip even though I at least was drinking double my normal intake. It was .. fun.. but we definitely weren't having as much fun as the locals. I was actually glad to be home on Sunday - I think I would have enjoyed the weekend more if I'd stayed home and watched movies with Charles and Matt.
Anyhoo, here comes Christmas just around the corner. I already made my holiday rounds last week in San Francisco and spent plenty of time with my mom and brother. Colby actually came out with my friends, which was pretty cool. I think he had fun and I hope he joins us more often! I miss my family, but it's okay because I know they're doing well. I'm going to try and visit less because I've been back and forth every month since I moved. Even though I fly when flights are relatively cheap, they're really not THAT cheap. And I spent a lot more on gifts this year then I usually do. But hey - what the heck right? I'm making more money than I ever have made, even though it isn't much compared to everyone else.
This also seems to be the seasons of visitors :) Alex will be here this week, and Eric and Jen are coming first week of January. Exciting exciting! I hope people visit in the summer as often as they do in the winter, because I want them to see the lush Seattle beauty in full-force.
In one sense, literally - I just registered in Seattle and took out a new insurance policy in Washington. This is something I hesitated to commit to these past months because I wasn't sure I'd be staying. Now I'm sure, I'm staying. Well.. for a significant amount of time at least.
And in other sense, emotionally; I found myself very offended when Alex, Anthony, and their friend came to visit this past weekend and would not stop complaining. What could they possibly complain about, you ask? Well they said it was boring, that there weren't very many people, and that they had nothing to do. And I suppose if you show up somewhere with no plans, don't meet up with people or try to make new friends, and don't even try to enjoy a new place... then you certainly won't have fun, will you? I was very annoying. So, very, annoyed.
But some good did come of their visit. I met them at Pike Place the day that they arrived and got to have my first Piroshky Piroshky, and also my first bowl of Beecher's mac n cheese! And OH YUM, piroshkies are so good! I think I've only had one once before in my life, and I do not remember it being so tasty. One of my new fave foods :) I should go to Pike Place more often!
And on Saturday we drove up to Vancouver to party. Unfortunately, in Vancouver, the drinks are so weak that each of us was completely sober the entire trip even though I at least was drinking double my normal intake. It was .. fun.. but we definitely weren't having as much fun as the locals. I was actually glad to be home on Sunday - I think I would have enjoyed the weekend more if I'd stayed home and watched movies with Charles and Matt.
Anyhoo, here comes Christmas just around the corner. I already made my holiday rounds last week in San Francisco and spent plenty of time with my mom and brother. Colby actually came out with my friends, which was pretty cool. I think he had fun and I hope he joins us more often! I miss my family, but it's okay because I know they're doing well. I'm going to try and visit less because I've been back and forth every month since I moved. Even though I fly when flights are relatively cheap, they're really not THAT cheap. And I spent a lot more on gifts this year then I usually do. But hey - what the heck right? I'm making more money than I ever have made, even though it isn't much compared to everyone else.
This also seems to be the seasons of visitors :) Alex will be here this week, and Eric and Jen are coming first week of January. Exciting exciting! I hope people visit in the summer as often as they do in the winter, because I want them to see the lush Seattle beauty in full-force.
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