Christmas & NYE 2016

I never understood what "baking season" was until now. With this winter being especially cold and snowy, the warmth from oven cooking is a welcome feeling. 

For our beer and cheese white elephant exchange, I made a parm and rosemary loaf with a garlic butter. It was a hit! I also think I got THE BEST gift at the exchange because my beer came with brie and salami (my faves). 

Most of us wore festive sweaters, and we had a great friendmas. I like being able to host these kinds of gatherings, even though I miss hosting at our last house. We had SO MUCH space there! 

Matt and I spent Christmas Eve at church with is family and then we all ate dinner at his sister's house. For the dinner, Matt cooked up a bunch of butcher steaks, and we brought sundried tomato basil bread with garlic butter. And Pokemon snickerdoodles! When I was making the royal frosting for the cookies, I was horrified at how much sugar the recipe called for. No more frosting in 2017! 

The dinner was delicious, and I've been having so much fun playing with Matt's niece. Matt's sister gave me a LC loaf pan for Christmas, and I am so excited to use it! Another one for the collection. Between the Keurig that Matt's sister gave him, the Anova sous vide that I gave to Matt, and the hand blender that Matt gave to me, I think this Christmas has successfully maxed out our kitchen space. 

On Christmas Day, Karen, Sam, and Melissa came over to hang out and watch basketball and movies. Melissa made dokkbokki and I made another rosemary loaf. After we finished eating, we watched The Secret Life of Pets. It was a very relaxing day after what felt like an exhausting weekend!

After Christmas, I made a roasted garlic and rosemary Le Poulet Rouge in my dutch oven. The skin was buttery and the chicken was perfectly sized for my 3.5 qt. pot. A few days later, we used the drippings to make fried rice, and I think it was the best fried rice I've ever had. 

For NYE, David, Matt, Charles, and I headed down to Portland to meet up with other Charles who was visiting his cousin. 

When we got to Portland, I caught up on email and saw a message from my mom about my uncle passing away. It was a really shocking moment, and I thought how sad my cousins must be this NYE. I can't imagine what they went through over the weekend, and what they are going through now. Growing up, we spent many holidays at my uncle's house and he was always kind and welcoming. Since moving away from home, I haven't seen my uncles much at all. It makes me sad that I've lost touch, and it also makes me feel guilty for not going home for the holidays. 

For the rest of the Portland trip, I stayed in touch with my mom via email to make sure she was okay. I couldn't do much else about the situation. Ringing in 2017 at the Midnite event was a huge hit. The venue was gorgeous, people were nice, and music was on point. Most importantly, I got to spend NYE with my closest friends and we all had a great time. My uncle's passing reminded me to live in the moment and enjoy all that is around me. It's easy to get caught up in life and forget that tomorrow is never promised. 

For 2017, I want to be more present in my day-to-day life and appreciate every moment. I'm going to be more thoughtful and more connected. 

Visitors, Ursher, Thanksgiving in Portland, and MORE WEDDING!

Jon and Kathie were in town a couple of weeks ago! And Melissa's friends were also here for the weekend. We went to Aston Manor, and had SO MUCH FUNS.

We also saw USHER at Key Area!! Dude. DUDE. That body, those dance moves, and that voice. I'm so glad we went!!! As good as Beyonce? Almost. But I didn't cry like a baby, like I did at the Bey & Jay concert earlier this year, so probably not on the same level.

For Thanksgiving, Matt and I drove down to Portland, where Gary, Chad, Tiana, David, and Kevin were! John just moved back, and Charles came down too. I was so exhausted from PMSing.. unfortunately. But I still had a really good time. Thanksgiving dinner was gluttony, as per usual. We played games, watched movies, and even went to Punchbowl the second night! *YESSS!!!!* Totally bowled, and I haven't bowled in maybe ten years? We failed at Black Friday shopping. The only thing I bought... wasn't on sale. Ugh. Why do I keep trying?

We brought Forrest with us to Portland, and he was all shaking and anxious from being in a new place with so many new people. He wouldn't eat any dog food, but we managed to get him to eat some turkey. He wouldn't even eat his bully stick or his treats, which he normally will do ANYTHING for. Oh well, he lost some weight. And he got to sleep in the bed with us for both nights! He was ridiculously happy to be home, I guess he's just a homebody like me. First for everything though... first road trip! :)

And then we drove back Saturday morning, THROUGH SNOW, for the wedding! Lisa and Quanh got married in the ID, and it was pretty cool catching up with Matt's old coworkers.

And then this week at work we are sandboxing. OMG. I was so stressed out last week when we started delving into the use cases, and I'm so tired. This week I have things more under control, so I'm not feeling like smashing my head through my monitor, but I'll definitely be glad when it's all over. The experience is VERY VALUABLE to me. I've never been so involved with a project of this magnitude, and even though it is a lot to handle I am enjoying every bit of the learning experience!!

I have so many things to be grateful for this year. A great job, a loving boyfriend, a supportive family back home (and two amazing cities to call home), a wonderful puppy, and my health. Everything is awesome!

Memorial Day Weekend - Portlandia & More

While I appreciate that Memorial Day is in honor of the veterans who have served and/or died for our country, the only way I know how to spend it is 1) shopping and 2) taking advantage of having Monday off.
And this year, I did great on both counts!
Friday night was kind of a blur... attempted to go to the Mariner's game but arrived to the stadium so late that we decided to enjoy the game at Sluggers instead.
Saturday I done got my hair did, and then I found myself an adventure! I took the wrong turn after heading home from my hair appointment, and ended up at Juanita Beach Park! I saw the sign and pulled into the parking lot - got a nice serving of Vitamin D while I walked along the dock and stared out at the water. Later at night, Matt and I went to Eric's house where people were watching movies and eating. We chowed down on the leftover bbq and watched The Devil's Double. Some people were very disturbed by the movie, but I was absolutely intrigued. Very, very interesting.
Sunday morning, Matt and I picked up Charles in Long View. The weather was amazing, and the drive down to Portland actually seemed a lot quicker than it usually does. Along the way, Charles informed us that he booked a hotel room and that we were staying night. FANTASTIC! Luckily, Matt and I didn't have work the next day, so we didn't mind too much. Once we checked-in at The Nines, we got some shopping done at Pioneer Square. After a snack at Buffalo Wild Wings, we went to Sinju Sushi and stuffed ourselves with delicious Japanese food! We got a huge boat platter and weren't even able to finish everything - such a shame that we couldn't take leftovers.
After dinner, we cabbed over to the the Aladdin theatre to catch our burlesque show. Now, I've never been to a burlesque show, but I think this was a GREAT one to experience. Dita Von Teese was extraordinary. Her body is a temple and her charisma as a performer is sure to demand a religious following. Although, there was one act in particular that bothered me - there was a midget burlesque act, and even though I fully respect little people I still did not feel comfortable watching her seduce the audience. It was like watching a child take her top off. Anyway, one of my favorite moments of the show was when they picked three members of the audience for a dance-off. Leave it Portland to offer up one gay film student, one aspiring female burlesque dancer, and one butch dike painter. Ironically, the least talented dancer of the three was the aspiring dancer. The gay film student blew our minds, and then the butch dike showed us her cleavage and blew everyone out of the water. The show was fabulous and highly enjoyable, so glad we went!
By the time we got back to the hotel we were beat, and decided to stay in. We watched Safe House, which was a great movie, and Ryan Reynolds was hot as always. The next morning, we were all relieved that we decided against going out because otherwise we would have been miserable.
Monday morning felt like borrowed time. We shopped at Lloyd Center, then had lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Great pizza! On the way back to Long View, we were talking about how relaxing the weekend was. It really was nice to get back from a trip and not feel like I need a vacation to recover. More shopping at the outlets in Washington before heading home!
I'm staring at the friendship bracelet that Matt and Charles gave me this weekend, and am so grateful for my awesome new friends.

My First Christmas in the PNW

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.

Portland Adventures & Thanksgivings

Let me begin by saying that I am oh-so thankful for everyday of my life, and this trip to Portland was awesome on so many levels. While I realize that this sounds totally cliche, since the accident I really feel like everyday is a blessing and I hope I never lose the mindset of giving thanks and always being appreciative.

And now, the Oregon Trail! We left Thursday morning and the car ride went smoothly. Like literally, Alex did a superb job of driving stickshift -- especially for someone who only learned a few weeks ago, it was most excellent. Gary was all over the place in the car, screaming nonsensical things. It was beyond entertaining though, and we definitely had interesting conversation. By the time we got to Portland it was dark and we were all antsy pantsy. We had dinner with Chadwick's family and then afterward, THE DRINKING BEGAN. We did Century Club but I only made it to 23. Oh well, I beat Henry. ;] Oh man, and Chad's uncles and dad sure know how to party. By the end of the night, there was a house full of drunk travellers... who did NOT make it to Black Friday!!!!!!! Sad. I wanted to go. But it's okay, I didn't wake up either LOL.

The next morning was very interesting. One of the boys, woke up pants and underwearless next to another boy, who was shirtless. Of these boys, who shall remain nameless, neither of the two seems to know how that happened. HAHAHAAHHAAH. That's awesome, awkward, and hilarious all rolled into one. We started the day with Waffle Window (which was yummers by the way) and we shopped the stores on Hawthorne (?), their Haight-ish neighborhood. We saw some cool stuff at the thrift stores before making our way to Downtown for the FOOD CARTS! The KBBQ tacos/burrito were pretty good, and the cheesasaurus rex was coooooooool. We shopped downtown a bit and ended up at Pioneer Mall. I got the coolest f'ing moose hat ever. I love it.

We had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night, and I kid you not that was the tastiest turkey I've ever had in my life. I don't know WHAT they did, but it was sooo juicy and flavorful!!! Chad's dad also did the lamb and it was SO DELICIOUS!! After dinner we played Scattegories, I'm so glad Alex brought it!! I think Priscilla and I liked it the most because by the end everyone else wanted to play Taboo :( Later at night, we went to Ground Kontrol so the boys could play barcade. Afterward, we went to Blitz sports bar and I got sooo many compliments on my moose hat!!! :) :) :) I'm just going to end the recap of that night there... because I don't know exactly what happened in what order.. all I know is I had lots of fun!

Saturday we went to The Kennedy School for lunch. The food was not bad just not too memorable -- the raspberry ale I liked a whole lot. The place was kind of creepy, but kind of cool at the same time. Maybe it's just weird when you almost have to squat to wash your hands because the sink is so low? Whatever the case, I liked that place for the most part. After lunch we went to the flea market. MY FIRST TIME AT A FLEA MARKET!! I didn't buy anything but it was cool to walk around and look. I also tried an elephant ear for the first time :) As we were leaving the flea market it started to hail major. We went back and the other car went to pick up Voodoo donuts. I tried the blood filled Voodoo and it was good. Not the best thing since sliced bread though. They should really use more jelly in the filling!

I tried playing beer pong against Brian (totally thought I had a fair chance) but I lost pretty miserably. THANKFULLY David was my sponsor so I didn't have to drink! I thought I was bad at losing, but I think Alex might be worse. After games, we headed out to Duke's and WE WERE IN FOR A BLAST!!!! I really love Duke's, totally one of the best parts of the trip. In the beginning, a bunch of us went out onto the dancefloor and started line dancing, but I was really hestitant because I had no idea what to do. Later in the night though, I went out on the dancefloor and had the MOST EXCELLENT TIME!!! I also rode the mechanical bull, which I was EXTREMELY hesitant to do at first but afterwards I was definitely glad I tried it :)

They even played the Taylor song I requested for Alex and myself! Too bad he left early and didn't hear it, and also too bad no one else there seemed to know the song. OH WELL, I LOVED IT!

The rest of us eventually headed back to the house and sat around talking. Some wanted to drink more, some wanted to sleep, and I was just happy to be there :). I had soooooooooooo much fun on the trip, and that was the moment that I realized how badly I didn't want it to end. It did though, only a few of us were left for late night Rockband. Eventually that ended also, and it was time to turn in for the night. Chad's family was so welcoming and generous, they were the perfect company for a warm and relaxing holiday. And even though spending the weekend with nine guys was kind of gross at times, it was WELL-worth the fun times we had. The ride home the next day was a tad bit gruesome. In the car after I took my meds, I kept dreaming that we were crashing over and over again. Jeepers creepers...

I'm so glad that the weather permitted us to take this trip. And even though I don't think Portland is a very pretty city, and I'm not sure if I'd ever want to live there, I had a super fantastic time visiting Chad with my awesome friends for the Thanksgiving weekend -- and I'm so thankful for each and every moment.