July 4th

Given the year that this country is having, WOW -- WHAT A YEAR TO BE AN AMERICAN! But politics aside, I love the USA and July 4th has become one of my favorite holidays. 

Forrest and I got patriotic AF!

Eric and Jen opened up their home to a huuuuuge party, and there was a ridiculous amount of food! The dogs were all happy to play and run, but the fireworks changed everything. Eric's neighbors do a legit fireworks show, and the dogs were so spooked! Forrest is usually fine with fireworks from afar, but I guess this year it was too loud for him.

Forrest and Walla hiding out in the house

The fireworks show was absolutely amazing, and I'm glad we got to celebrate the holiday with all of our friends! Next year, we'll bring Forrest's bed along so he'll be more comfortable. 

Country Western Bee-day

For my birthday this year, we had a FEAST at the house! Unfortunately, the chosen day was a dreary and overcast setting for a BBQ. Fortunately, it didn't rain the entire time. :) 

I got to wear my awesome Stetson all day, with my denim overalls!! I actually wasn't planning to dress up, until Gavin and Lisa arrived in their country attire. And then Mike showed up dressed like a cowboy... so then I went upstairs to change, and it was immediately more fun.

My faves of the day:

• Dinuguan
• Chili and cornbread
• Crawfish
• Poke 
• Ginger molasses cookies  
• Pistachio and taro froyo
• Chicken pasta salad 

And there were a LOT of other dishes. We ate so much that we could barely drink! That was probably a good thing.. 

I'm really sad that I didn't get any pictures with my strawberry cheesecake, which JR made from scratch!! Hopefully by next year I can train Matt to take my birthday pics. I'm incredibly thankful to have so many friends in Seattle, and I was delighted to help others find friends here. Nick and Steph just moved up, and I was so excited to introduce them to everyone - especially to Wilson because he's also from the Bay. 

Looking back at my previous birthdays, I sure have simmered down over the past few years. I'm happy to be where I am now, though, and am an even more firm believer that everything happens for a reason. 

July 4th weekend low-carB-BQ!

After returning from Carmel, and having a stressful work week, I couldn't agree with Matt more when he suggested that we stay home for the 4th instead of going to Spokane. One huge benefit of staying home was having air conditioning... BUT THEN the A/C went out late Thursday night. And of course all of the businesses were on holiday on Friday. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 

Matt smoked a pork butt from 9 PM to 4 AM. And it was so delicious on Saturday! We invited the dog regulars over, and a few other people showed up. We had a low-carB-BQ! Chicken heart skewers with red onion, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Pulled pork tacos. Grilled corn! Sarah and Sean brought the most adorable balled and carved watermelon, with a really delicious cheese plate and crackers. Chelsie brought a pasta and veggie salad (so perfect for the heat A/C-less temps) and these strawberry cheesecake treats. SO GOOD! Other people brought snackety snacks, and we ended up with plenty of food! 

We spent the day bbqing, chatting, eating, and hiding in the backyard shade. The dogs were entertaining as always, and daylight slipped away before we knew it. When the mosquitoes came out in full force, and we realized that the tiki torches weren't cutting it, we moved the party to the front of the house to watch the neighbors set off fireworks. 

Someone brought sparklers and people were playing with those. We spent a good amount of time just sprawled out on the driveway, wasted, with music blaring from Eric's over-sized pickup truck. And, it was, amazing. I'd never imagined how much fun it would be to just relax, on cement, for a hot summer night. With wine and beer galore, just out in the open, in our suburban neighborhood. I don't think I've ever felt so American! We played some drinking games when we went back into the house, but people started dropping like flies. Too much fun!! 

On Sunday, Sean and Sarah came over to do the spicy Korean noodle challenge! Wilson came over with Blizzard, and brought Korean spare ribs. Now that I think about it, we had a very Korean Sunday, LOL. Sarah and I cooked up the noodles the best way we knew how, making them with broth, and then when we started the challenge we realized that the noodles weren't very spicy at all. Upon a closer examination of the package, we realized that we were supposed to cook them dry so they would be coasted in a paste instead of a broth. NooOOOooOOOooo. We'll have to do it again! Too bad we couldn't read the Korean, though. Charles was so useless. We sent him a picture of text, and he replied with "the last four words are 'did you know?'" .... HAHAHAHAHA. 

And we caught Forrest rolling a frog into the ground. Last time we caught him, it was a snail. YUCK!

 

Rock The Bells & Reno Rubfest

Summer has been INSANE - a vicious cycle of anxious planning, being really busy, and then ending up absolutely exhausted!

The job search is still ongoing, I had a resume workshop with a professional and learned a ton about how to better customize each application. Although he assured me that my content was solid, I definitely feel that the advice he gave me on the delivery will help me tremendously. And so I apply, and wait, and apply, and wait again.

I've also been working remotely nights and weekends again. Thankfully, my assignments have conveniently fallen between big events so I haven't had to choose.

The weekend before last, I went to Rock the Bells in Mountain View! Salt 'N Pepa was wildly entertaining, with the baby daddy and the husband on stage - I love their dynamic! I also thoroughly enjoyed Ice Cube, he is an AWESOME entertainer. The way he transitioned from one hit to another kept us on edge, and he always dropped the beat at the perfect moment. Watching DMX was pretty great also, until he started preaching about God. I don't mind that he's deeply religious, but I didn't pay to see that. DJ Quik and Bone Thugs were good, but I wish E40 and Too Short were there - they would have completed by perfect RTB lineup. Overall, it was an amazing weekend. We stayed over at Hiep's friend's house in Mountain View on Saturday night and had a giant sleepover. SO FUN! <3 br="">
This past weekend, for Labor Day, Charles, Victor, and I went to the Rib Cookoff in Reno (dubbed the rubfest per miscommunication between Alex and myself, LOL). The ribs were excellent as always, and I'm glad this has become an annual tradition. Charles was cracking me up the entire trip, from the airplane rides, to the ridiculous comments he made throughout the weekend, and his overall loveable personality. I'm glad Charles and Victor made the trip this year, I think everyone enjoyed the company through and through. We went to a new club in Reno called Rise, and it totally blew our minds. The venue was definitely on part with San Francisco clubs, maybe even on the same level as LA clubs! Beautiful, open spaces with easy access to drinks and awesome music. We had such a blast dancing our butts off!

For September, I think I'll be taking it easy. I've got two remote work assignments the next few weeks, and I'm going to start a 24 Day Challenge (diet) mid-month. I'm trying to slim down before Moonlight Masquerade on 10/13, and definitely before FreakNight! All of this yummy food and experimental cooking has given me a nice, juicy, spare tire. Not cute.

Visitors & Belated Birthday Dinner @Crush

Last weekend, Christina and Victor were in town! I haven't seen them since.. 2005 maybe? They're both in great shape and as lively as ever! Christina invited me to her brother's BBQ at their friend's house in Bellevue, so I headed there Saturday afternoon with my own Victor. We got a chance to catch up on years gone by, and we played ladder golf. I actually had a really fun time with the ladder golf and will definitely buy a set if I ever get a backyard.

Charles came up from Long View in the evening and we had dinner in Kirkland. We went to Volume later that night with a small group and decided to get champagne bottles for no apparent reason. Whatever, no big deal. LOL. Chinese food after as per usual and we called it a night early!

On Sunday Victor and I had kbbq with Charles, Sunny, and Amber. The best part of the conversation was Sunny doing an impression of his Korean father - it was absolutely hilarious. I still laugh when I think about it now. That guy has always got some ridiculous story up his sleeve, love it!

Sunday night Victor, Charles, and I went to Crush for dinner as a belated birthday for me. The food was awesome and the service was even better. Getting dressed up was fun! And the quiet, intimate atmosphere was different (in a good way). My favorite part was dessert, where for the first time in my life I was encouraged to order EVERYTHING on the dessert menu. Charles is awesome! Best belated birthday dinner ever.

Snowboarding, Menie, and Charles

Finally made the trip! Snoqualmie was tiny, but it was perfect to break me in after two seasons of not boarding. Unlike Boreal, it was clean. HAHA!

Lunch time at the resort, which also means boozing time. I got peer pressured by Matt and Eric, but I have to admit that it was an entirely different experience to drink and board.

Like feeling compelled to do this. And being daring enough to try and pick up speed in the terrain park. I failed miserably by the way, lost control and ending up on my back gasping for air. It was a really bad tumble but I'm perfectly fine. I should probably call it quits before I break something.. amazing day trip though!

Black Bottle Postern in Bellevue for Menie's birthday dinner before Blue Martini. This was my second fave dish, my first fave was Victor's Roasted Tomatoes. Mmmmm.

Pesto wood fired pizza for lunch on Sunday with Charles. The weather was perfect and we sat outside near the Kirkland Waterfront.

BBQ at the Zante house after Charles left. This weather is amazing, it's getting me all hyped for summer! Looking forward to bbqs and sunshine in Seattle <3

BBQ Gloriousness

Reno's Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off!!!

Early Saturday morning we headed up to Reno for the BBQ festival, and O-M-G the ribs were so good! Before this I honestly didn't care for ribs at all, but the ribs here were NOTHING like any ribs I've had before!

My favorite ribs of all were:
1) Bone Daddy's sweet sauce ribs
and 2) Wellingham's spicy sauce ribs.

The Aussum Aussie ribs were a tad bit too salty for me, and I can't remember the names of the other place's - but they weren't as good. Wellingham's also had pulled-pork nachos. YUM! Alex's taste in ribs seems to be exactly opposite to mine. Nonetheless, everything I tried was deeee-licious! I'm so happy I went! The drive up and back wasn't so bad, because I took the Charger and we had some very interesting conversation with great company.

By the way, still love that car. I think it's hilarous that the doors have ridiculously strong hinged springs and when you open the door, it bounces back and smacks you back into the car. This whole week I thought it was just my imagination, but it was smacking everyone else today too. HILARIOUS!!!

And I played the Betti the Yetti slots at the Nugget during our gambling break and turned $20 into $60! Of course, then I kept playing and I lost some of my winnings. I ended up walking away with $40 though, I'm pretty lucky that I was able to walk away before squandering more.

Other notables were the fresh-squeezed lemonades (SO refreshing), root beer shaved ice - I've always loved shaved ice and root beer is also a fave, and the rocky road apple for dessert! Great selection of scrumptious foods, and now I can see why people drive 5 hours each way to eat ribs ALL DAY LONG in the scorching heat. Because it's totally worth it and I'd do it again every year! =)

Horse Racing & BBQ

So I had one hell of a Saturday at work this weekend! I really like open houses, I get especially excited to welcome people to our shop! The environment is always really upbeat and warming. It's like a challenge to impress and be ridiculously pleasant, and I love stepping up to the plate.

Today I went with Albert to Golden Gate Fields in the East Bay, and it was such a gorgeous day. We had lots of beer and hot dogs, and watched two of the races. In between races there was a live band doing covers of current popular hits, and they were pretty entertaining. I placed bets on the second race, and I had to ask the guy at the info window how (I've never done it before). Luckily, he was nice enough to explain everything to me!

But alas, my pick ended up in 4th place. And because I didn't understand how to use the betting machine properly, I made two bets on the same horse LOL. Anyway, it was FUN!


Afterward, we went to Albert's family barbecue in San Jose. Apparently he has a pretty significant extended family in the South Bay, and they're all really nice! I had a good time meeting them, eating, drinking, playing with a huge chowchow, getting my hair re-layered, and even getting a massage from his aunt. What an awesome barbie right? And to top it off, his sister was there, and we had lots of time to catch up.

Farewells, For Now.

Yesterday we had a barbie at Coyote Point for Menie, because she's moving away - I was just starting to get used to having her around again... and here she goes leaving all over. Well, we had lots of fun anyway. For the most part, everything went well.

The pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon was sooo good. And I guess I never thought about it, but yesterday I learned that cinnamon is actually tree bark? Lots of good company, old friends and new, and delicious food. I got to use my activity mat and tanned while people played volleyball. I also made jello shots, and I'm pretty sure they were amazing - if nothing else, they were at the very least POTENT.

And then today I had brunch at Stacks with Julian. He is also leaving on Thursday to pursue his career. I'm so sad that he's moving away! We had a nice meal and then went to the driving range at Crystal Springs. It was a gorgeous day and there were animals out on the grass, so nice.

Afterward we hung out at his place for a bit, playing with the cats and chatting by the pool. I'm going to miss hanging out with him! This week will be sad, and I wish I could send other people away instead of them and keep my favorites around. But still, I'm excited for them both and wish them all of the best =)

Menie and I went for a late dinner with Ryan and Alan at Santa Ramen - I think this may be our last meal together for a while. And then we ran into some friends at Golden Island for dessert. Lots of funny moments throughout the night, those guys are hilarious. I'm sooo going to miss that crazy girl!