Happy Holidaze 2015

This holiday season has truly been a daze!

I spent Thanksgiving in Seoul, after exploring Hong Kong for a week, and am so thankful to have the financial stability to travel as well as the great company to travel with. Our Asia group was mostly awesome, especially because we got to piggy back on Nan's food research/plans in HK. The most intense night of eating of my life was probably our dinner food tour with Nan's cousin. GEEZ! They sure do know how to eat! And catching up with Greta was fantastic, as she took us to some of our favorite Chinese meals. In Hong Kong we stayed on Park Island, and I really loved the area. Life on the BEACH but near the city - a dream for me. We rode the MTR a lot, and even though I don't like public transportation... I have to admit that it was very clean and convenient. One of my fave destinations in HK was the Wong Tai Sin temple where I got my fortune read!  I mean, we even went to Macau and karoke'ed in HK... it was really my ideal trip. 

Korea was much colder, but we ALWAYS had grapefruit soju to warm us up. The food in Seoul was also really delicious, and the shopping was overwhelming at times. Most of our meals were KBBQ, but all of the KBBQ was really tasty so I didn't mind at all. The street food was such a treat, especially because we stayed at a hotel in Myeong-Dong within walking distance to the vendor strip. We also had ginseng chicken and black sesame honey tea (both of which I've never had before) with Charles' cousins, and they were so nice! Can't wait to see them again in Spring for the wedding. I brought back a few Korean beauty products that I really like, and wish I had purchased more! 

Since coming back from Asia, we hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater/White Elephant party, as well as a Holiday Turn-up at Tia Lou. We also saw Beauty and the Beast at the Paramount with Vic and Christina! 

On Christmas Eve, I attended mass with Matt's family, and then enjoyed a delightful family dinner at Matt's sister house. I made frosted donut holes for dessert, with the cake pop maker secret santa gift from Alom. They took forever but were pretty good, if I may say so myself. =) We even brought Forrest, and he had so much fun with the nephews! 

When we got home, we opened our gifts and I got a MAGIC MIC FOR CHRISTMAS!!! I stayed up until 4 AM singing, and now I am having a very, very lazy Christmas Day. WHEW! 

Halloween 2015

This year's Halloween was ... pretty spooktacular!

Seeing as this is our first Halloween in a house, we decided to get much larger pumpkins than usual. You know, the kind that I can't even lift on my own. HAHA. But OMG we didn't account for how much thicker the pumpkins would be and the additional pulp that would need to be removed. 

In fact, the pumpkins were so big, that JR broke the big serrated spoon that we had. It was pouring outside, so we made a deal - Lorraine and I would go to Target to get more tools, and the guys would clean out our pumpkins! Lorraine found a really cute pizza costume, and I found Forrest a hot dog costume. It fit him PERFECTLY. We also got pumpkin Oreos and pumpkin cheesecake cookies. YUMMY. Our pumpkin carving was a success! And wine followed. 

On Halloween, we went to BJ's house party. I haven't been to a legit house party in sooo long; I'm really glad they hosted it. And their house was pretty big! The theme was 90s, and a lot of people had appropriate costumes. I was surprised that there were THREE tamagotchi costumes! And one guy was Windows 95. Lots of overalls, but I think I nailed the look. I was laughing to myself the entire time I was twisting my hair and applying brown lip liner (it took ridiculously long). I got a lot of compliments on the lip liner for sure, and the butterfly clips. Like middle school all over again!! And of course, everyone loved Forrest. He stole pizza, again! This time from Sarah's hand as she bent over. Oy vey. 

When we got home, we checked the candy bucket that was left outside for trick-or-treaters. AND IT WAS GONE. Someone took our whole candy bucket!!!! Rude. Now I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have ordered a wreath. After my disappearing Costco order and now the stolen Halloween bucket, I'll be so mad if they take the wreath!

Cabin weekend at Lake Cushman

Since I missed last year's trip to J's cabin, I've been looking forward to this year's trip for MONTHS. Forrest and I left for Lake Cushman on Saturday morning, and I was totally freaking out about getting lost. Because I knew there wouldn't be any cell reception at the cabin, I wasn't sure if I'd have GPS reception and I really, really didn't want to get lost while driving alone. I printed the directions, highlighted the important parts, and memorized the key actions. Good thing I did, because driving on the winding roads and reading directions at the same time might have been really bad. I felt like I was going back to the 00s - when we used Mapquest printouts, considered car GPS units as still new and exciting, and relied on CDs for music when radio went out (because we couldn't stream music from our basic ass Nokias, LOL).

We finally arrived shortly after noon, at J's super cute a-frame cabin. It reminded me of a smaller version of cabins I've stayed at in Tahoe, and the drive actually wasn't so bad. I loved that they don't have TV or Wi-Fi or cell reception, because I so rarely am "off the grid" that I sometimes forget what it feels like. What a relief it is to be disconnected! Not long after I settled in, I walked down to the lake with M, J, and D. Mia, Marley, and Forrest came too, and we played along the water on the naked shore of the once-floating dock. I was so glad that Forrest, Mia, and Marley got along immediately. Instant buds! 

The sun even unexpectedly came out! We later returned to the cabin when we finished our drinks. Time flew by quickly as we drank, ate J's delicious kimchi soup for lunch, drank some more, enjoyed a cheese and salami tray, drank some more, played Pictionary, sat down for a lovely pork loin dinner (with fresh mashed potatoes and roasted apples/onions), drank some more, and played Scattergories. PHEW! The dogs had as much fun as we did, and before I knew it I was waking up to Forrest barking in the early AM on Sunday morning. He got to sleep in a bed with me for the first time! And he spent most of the time off leash, exploring the woods around the cabin. =) 

They even had a RECORD PLAYER! And they let me choose one (based on cover, because I don't really know very many artists in their collection... and the Michael Jackson one was 'banned'). I actually really enjoyed my pick! The cabin was so full of character, and it felt both homey and cozy while providing more than everything that you'd need for a getaway! I'd love to have a cabin, but I don't think I could deal with the upkeep (or the bugs). 

The drive back was pretty painless, and Forrest was absolutely pooped. We had so much fun, I can't wait for the next group trip!! 

The-Dream & Oktoberfest at Leavenworth

One of my favorite R&B artists, The-Dream, came to the Crocodile on a Wednesday night and the concert was SO GOOD! He opened for Hudson Mohawke... but now that we no longer live in Belltown, it was getting too late on a weeknight to stay out and see the main act. But anyways, OMG! So, The-Dream had some suh-weet dance moves and his voice was just as amazing live as on tracks. He did all of his classic songs that I was looking forward to, EXCEPT for Love King! Booooooooo. But that was the only disappointment for his show. We even had to wait an extra 45 mins for him to come on, but it was all worth it in the end.

For the weekend, we rented a cabin in Leavenworth during Oktoberfest! Everyone arrived at different times on Friday night, and we stayed in to do games, PJs, and family dinner. We ended up with lots of junk and frozen food, LOL. For games, we started off with Guesstures and then played Telestrations. SO FUN! Friday night flew by quickly, and then Saturday we headed downtown for Oktoberfest. We reserved a private shuttle to/from the event and it was a FANTASTIC idea because we didn't have to worry about parking or getting DUIs.

Leavenworth is such an adorable town! I felt like I was walking down the streets of Beauty and the Beast, and I could run into Gaston at any of the beer halls. The official event was smaller than I expected, but was a really interesting experience. The brats and turkey legs were so delicious, and I enjoyed the lively live music in the tents. We explored the streets of Leavenworth outside of the official event and checked out some shops. Eventually, we re-entered the event to get some more beers, and headed back to the cabin early. Everyone was so tired from Oktoberfest that only a few of us were still awake at 10 PM. SO LAME! I stayed up past midnight because I couldn't sleep, and I wished everyone else had stayed awake for our last night. Oh well.

The cabin trip was perfect, and I definitely want to plan a repeat trip to Leavenworth! However, now that I've experienced Oktoberfest, I'm not dying to go back for the official event. We waited in line a lot, and it was pretty crowded in most areas. Maybe we can go on an off-week and still get the seasonal beers at local bars, without the crowds. Regardless, I'm still so glad that I finally went!

Corinna's wedding + mini high school reunions

On Friday evening, I had dinner with Anita, Cindy, Kanomi, Lauren, Lisa, and Anna - most of my closest girl friends from high school. Aside from catching up with Anna and Lisa over brunch, and running into the others at weddings, I haven't seen much else of them! Witnessing Kanomi, Lauren, and Cindy as mothers was wonderful and eye-opening, and it really hit home that most of us are in that next phase of life (married or kids, or both). It's hard to catch up on ten years of life, but I'm so glad that we had dinner. Kanomi suggested that we get a private room reservation, and the Izakaya Kou tatami room did a pretty good job of containing the children… and hopefully muffling some of the screaming. LOL. We parted ways after dinner, and I met up with Andy, Matt, and Alom at Andy's place. We headed to the Castro, to meet up with Charles and Angie. It was a crazy night at Beaux, and Matt's first time in the 'stro - and WHAT a first night it was. After clubbing, we stopped by Brian's place to hang out with the Cotopaxi participants, and the craziness continued. A night out in the Castro always means a painful morning to follow.

I look forward to weddings, because I love to witness the happy moments. Corinna's wedding happens to be especially meaningful to me, not only because she was one of my close friends in high school, but also because I was still close to her at the very beginning of her relationship with Jon! Nancy was my hot date for the wedding, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. We had SO MUCH fun catching up and she had me cracking up all day and all night. Corinna's ceremony, venue, and outfits, were all flawless. The weather in San Rafael was perfect for the outdoor ceremony, and it ran like clockwork. Even Corinna's dog walked down the aisle - it was the CUTEST thing watching Race drag the little kid around. From Corinna in her stunning dress, to the details on the flower petal bags, and the lush greenery, it was absolutely picture perfect.

After cocktail hour, we moved indoors for the reception. The hall was HUGE and well-lit with wonderful floral pieces (which we later found out were arranged by Nixon!). The party favors were Asian snacks and adorable fun fact cards with all different statements about the bride and groom. The ONE TIME I didn't order the steak at a wedding, it was actually decent. I did enjoy my mushroom ravioli, though, so I wasn't disappointed. I loved that Corinna and Jon asked for volunteers to demonstrate kisses for the crowd, and that they then duplicated the kisses in an adorably mocking way. What a great idea! The reception flew by as fast as the ceremony did, and before I knew it we were dancing with Corinna to some awesome throwbacks. We actually stayed after everyone else had left, and spent some more time with Corinna before heading to karaoke.

We got back to the city after midnight, and Amy, Nancy, Drew, and I went to DO RE MI. LOL. Regina met us up there too, and I think we were karoke-ing for 3+ hours. It was so fun that I don't even know where the time went! We even ran into Kirby there, and he sang with us too. I thought about how great it would be to move home, and every weekend could be as awesome. And then Sunday morning rolled up on me and I re-thought, boy I'd be hungover every weekend if I moved back. HAHA. Growing up in the city was rough at times, but as I look back at my formative years I appreciate every person and every experience more than ever. I had some really good times, with amazing people that still invite me to their weddings after 5+ years of not seeing each other. That is really something special. And during dinner, Nancy recalled that her most vivid memory of me was when Danny was getting ready to defend me (which I can hardly remember the details of). Through the night, a few other people mentioned Danny too, and it reminded me of how much I regret not attending his funeral. Even though we ended up having our differences later in life, he really was so very dear to me those first years in high school. Had I been a more mature person, I'd have known better than to miss it. That's one regret I'll never be able to shake. 

On Sunday we hung out with everyone at Dolores Park for Lisha's birthday. Lots of people came out and I tried to be as social as possible even though I was exhausted and hungover. I think the best part was when we sang happy birthday to her in the middle of the park, in front of a gazillion strangers. How cool! I don't know if anyone got that moment on video, but I hope someone did. Before we flew out, we watched Babadook with Andy. O, M, G, creeeeeeeee-pyyyyy.

Literary relief

The past few weeks at work have been stressful, exciting, and sometimes overwhelming. With regular day-to-day tasks, intense project work, meetings, and a few curve balls, I've pushed myself to find balance by exercising more and reading. The work gym finally set up the ExpressoHD machines properly, so I've been really enjoying my evening bicycle rides.

I stayed home with Forrest over Labor Day weekend to catch up on TV, eat healthy food, and most importantly... sleep to my heart's content. I've also just finished Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Chelsie recommended it to me when we were on doing our regular hikes over the summer, and I'm so glad that I finally got around to reading it. I found some moments in Cheryl's story to be really bizarre and disturbing, but overall I appreciated how brutally honest she was in sharing the raw moments of her adventures. I can tell how close I felt to the author because I use her first name (as if I know her, HAHA).

The weather is cooling down, and football season has begun. My fantasy league collapsed at the last minute, so I don't have any interest in watching football this season. Maybe it was meant to be, because now I have time to watch some hockey! Although, I must admit, I am pretty disappointed that I don't have a league.

I signed up for a couple of short writing classes this semester, because I'm afraid that I won't be able to juggle the craziness at work with the stress of school/homework. Especially with our HK/Korea trip coming up in a few months! I think I can focus on school more next semester, and still be on track.

But I do have an exciting update! I finally requested a standing desk at work, and they installed a really awesome power-adjustable desk that has an LED silicone lever thing. I also upgraded to a Herman Miller chair. WHY DIDN'T I ASK SOONER!? :)