More friends

My brother and I hung out with Chris & Laura, friends from college and their puppy Pau.  The cutest dog ever.  With the cutest name.

With W's friend from from college and his family.  Their daughter Jace is the cutest:

Girl friends are the bomb

I miss all of my girl friends in LA.  They are such quality people.  Thanks for a great time of eating and catching up.

With Helen at LaMill in Silverlake:

Jiyoo let us borrow her car.  Thanks Jiyoo!  I think she looks so cute here:

With Dianna at Starbucks.  We found out that Starbucks does not allow you to take photos inside their stores, so we had to do this fast.

With Margaret at her place.  We look like this because we walked out in the rain and were drenched.  The walk was worth it though because we had yummy food at Europane.

With Diane at her pad in k-town. She cooked me a yummy dinner. She was all insecure about her cooking but it turned out great.

With Janice at Joan's on Third:

More Janice:

With May and her dog Mochi at her home:

More on LA to come...

edit: I totally forgot to take a photo with my dear friend Rebecca.  Ugh!  Rebecca, it was so good to see you!  Even though I don't think E was too happy with me. :)

Congratulations to my mom

After taking classes part time for 7 years at APU, my mom graduated and received her masters in theology.  I'm so proud of her and she's an example to me as I go back to school.  This break, I had to a chance to remember what an amazing woman my mom is.  She's so gifted, loving and generous.  I have a lot to learn from her.  Congratulations, um-ma!  I love you.

18 blissful days in LA

I finally have some spare time to post photos from my LA trip.  It was such a blast to see family and friends.  I wish I had time to meet up with more people but the trip was packed.  I made a point to take photos with people this time.

Hanging out with Allison...

Breakfast at Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock:

Hanging out at her new pad.  We have like 10 stop motion photos of us.  I accidentally put it in the mode where it takes 10 all at once.  Here's the one somewhere in the middle of it:

Cupcakes at Lark Cake Shop in Silverlake:

My Year in Cities

I saw a blog posting the year in cities traveled and thought I'd do the same for 2010.  The rule is that one or more nights must be spent in each city:

Los Angeles, CA
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Kansas City, MO
Seoul, Korea
Namhae, Korea
Hanoi, Vietnam
Hoi An, Vietnam
Danang, Vietnam
Sapa, Vietnam
Krabi, Thailand
Phi Phi Island, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
New York, NY
Park City, UT
Palm Springs, CA

16 cities in a year is probably a record for me, with the extensive travel we did in Asia.  I'm looking forward to seeing where 2011 will take me.

Thanksgiving 2010

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We thoroughly enjoyed cooking the big dinner and it turned out well. We mostly stuck to our original plan, with some changes:

Small turkey (10 lb cage free turkey from local farmer)*

Gluten-free apple pecan cornbread stuffing*

Brussel sprouts w/ lime & honey

Raw butternut squash salad with cranberry dressing

Baked purple yams*

Pumpkin pie*

Bottle of Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz 2007*

Holiday-Spiced Vegan Creme Brulee

Garlic mashed potatoes*

Friday:

Pear-ginger cranberry sauce* (from my cookbook)

Garlic mashed potatoes*

Kabocha squash soup with mochi balls*

We tried some new recipes, and I put links to them above, with a star next to the ones I would do again. The stuffing was amazing and I highly recommend it. Janice baked Paula Deen's pumpkin pie recipe modified, with less butter and less cream cheese, and it was really good. The pear-ginger cranberry sauce was great too - I put less sugar, and the ginger and anjou pear adds a lot.

The photo at the top of this post is the centerpiece I made from twigs and branches in our front yard. And a photo of the dinner below is courtesy of Janice's iPhone:

Janice carved the words "give thanks" out of butternut squash leftovers. My aunt recently gave me a set of china as she had 2 sets, and we didn't have one, so we used plates from the set. It was a nice touch. 

Also, I started watching the first season of Glee online over the holidays. I'm kind of late, I know, but that's how things roll in a TV-less household. I LOVE it. It's bringing out my inner orchestra geek. 

Thanksgiving Menu

Janice is coming into town and the 3 of us are going to enjoy a quiet dinner on Thursday. Then we'll head over to my aunt's for a bigger dinner on Friday.

Our tentative plan for Thursday:

Small turkey (10 lb cage free turkey that W bought from a local farmer)
Stuffing
Brussel sprouts w/ lime & honey
Raw butternut squash salad with cranberry dressing
Baked purple yams
Steamed corn
Pumpkin pie from local Smith Farm Market
Bottle of Rex-Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon

And I may attempt this Holiday-Spiced Vegan Creme Brulee.

It looks like a lot but it's actually going to be pretty simple. It's our first time preparing the entire spread as a couple. I'm excited!

For Friday we'll contribute:

Pear-ginger cranberry sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes (both recipes from my cookbook)
Kabocha squash soup with mochi balls

Happy eating!