Happy Holidays!!!

Iron Man at the Dome

Mr. Cee spent his Friday at happy hour at Mojitos while I stayed at home waiting for the rental guy to drop off the chairs for tomorrow's event. I'm hosting PharmD and Chinaman's baby shower. So much prepping for a lil ol party.

Later that evening we met up w/ some friends to celebrate TexanLonghorn's bday by watching Iron Man opening day at the ArcLight. Thank goodness we pre-ordered our tix and scored some awesome reserved seats. No waiting in lines. I'm too old to be waiting in line for a flick. Ah, to be young again.

Someone got Texan an Iron Man t-shirt and we scored him an action figure. Of course we had him take an actual pic w/ the display. Of course I had to take in on the action.



They also displayed the Audi from the movie. Such a drool worthy car. One day. Le sigh.

The movie was awesome. When I first heard that Robert Downey Jr was playing a super hero, i scoffed at the idea. Well, I was proven wrong. Loved him and it was perfect. Very sassy in the movie. I won't spoil it for the rest of you but after seeing that movie, I don't know how I'm gonna watch the rest of the summer blockbusters. Oh and SpeedRacer looks like a candy coated explosion of lameness.

Graduation

After 8 weeks of training the day is finally here. He first has to take his test before he can graduate. So much pressure!

Sit

Down

Shake

Stay

Wave

Yes I'm a proud momma. He's just too darn cute and so well behaved. He passed with flying colors. Yay!

Getting his certificate of completion

I heard the most funniest thing while in puppy training last night. There was a 3 yo kid holding his mommy's hand walking through the store.

kid: Look horsey!
mom: No honey, that's a doggie.
kid: Horsey!

The kid was pointing at Brownie, the Doberman. I busted up laughing in the middle of class while the instructor was trying to teach Brownie to stay.

I'm behind on blogging. What else is new. Le sigh. I need to stop making friends. My wkends are now consisting of meeting w/ a friend to catch up, birthday party, wedding, some type of shower, or wedding.

Last Sat - I went to a wedding at New Capital.


The centerpiece we brought home. 'nuff said.

Sun - baked Peanut Carob Isabooscoti for the pups and some blueberry muffins recommended by Karen.



The pups loved their treats. Every time I reached for them, they would do my bidding. Sorry the muffins aren't as pretty as tater's cupcakes but they were quite delish since this recipe consisted of NO butter or cinnamon. I'm still trying to figure it out but it tastes really moist. A lil on the oily side. Nevertheless still yum.

This past Sat - Get a phone call from grandma claiming that tomorrow is the Qingming Festival. Since I was meeting up w/ Kannie to plan Jannie's baby shower and then heading over to flower mart, I thought I could pick up some flowers for the offering. We spent the morning looking for flowers to be displayed on our desks. Flowers just makes the week work mucho better.

Later on that evening we attended Jessica + Wilson's engagement party at Universal Hilton. It's where Mr. Cee and I got married at. The engagement party was like a wedding consisting of 100 guests, speeches and family introductions, lots of wine, and an 8 min slide show that Jessica put together of "How Wilson Proposed".

The wedding party

Jannie who's 6 mths preggo. OMG. I can't believe it. I'm going to be an auntie.

Sun - Woke up early to get ready to head out to Rose Hills Cemetery to meet my family for the Qingming Festival. It's against Mr. Cee's religion to attend this festival since it consists of praying to our ancestors. As usual my family runs on Asian Time = 1 hr late.

My brother and grandfather are buried at the same terrace just a few steps away. The cemetery was packed w/ families to pay their respects to their ancestors. We brought tons of food, incense and paper to burn and offering to my grandfather and brother. After we finished the burning the joss paper, we all sat down and had a picnic. I know it sounds crazy to have a picnic at a cemetery but it's also a celebration. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I was late to my next appt thanks to the late start. I had to go home pick up Mr. Cee and headed out to South Bay for a late brunch w/ a dear friend and her husband. The breakfast was yummy w/ huge portions. Sigh. I still want that waffle. After brunch, headed over to Fabric Barn to buy some ribbon for Jannie's Baby Shower, Jessica's Bridal Shower and for Amy's wedding. Wheee, I <3 shopping for ribbon.

Then met up with another friend to play some catch up and did some grocery shopping at Marukai. whew. what a wkend. I'm still recovering.

Teddy & Yoshi get their hair did

Ahhh, the sweet smell of spring is in the air. After months of the doggies walking around like sheep, it was time for Teddy's summer cut. This is Yoshi's first hair cut and I loved it. Even their stylist came out and mentioned how cute they look. Heehee!

Business on the side, party on top.

Rockin' their mohawks

The Sandra Veil

Couple months ago, I get an email from Sandra asking about a birdcage veil referred by Joyce Luck. Omg?! Seriously? Since I didn't have a portfolio to show her, I asked her to show me some photos of what she wanted. All I could show her was my veil from the boudoir photos.

photo credit: Unveiled Bridal Designs

We met up in January for her to try on the veil. Plus, I wanted to make sure it fit her and she knew how to care for it and put it on. She loved it! Yay! I made the flower separate from the veil so that she can wear it alone for a different look. I decided to name it after her since it is after all HER veil.


I'm so excited. This is the first print ever. To see more, go to Tuan Ngyuen's blog. I'm still working on several. Thanks to Crissy, my biggest supporter, I'll have some more made soon.

I've been a very bad blogger lately. I already broke my resolution in trying to blog at least 3x a week. Apparently laziness + busy schedule = zero posts. boo. I'll try a little harder this week.

Tatou Supper Club - One of the owners of the club was hosting a private party for his friends to celebrate Chinese New Year at Tatou. Back in the hey day, it was known as Club Soho. It was one of my old stomping grounds when I barely turned 21. My girlfriends and I practically owned that club. Now, it has been revamped to Tatou Supper Club, and my how much has changed. I realized how old we are when D and I hit the dance floor. Everyone looked like they were barely 21. sigh.

Appetizer buffet

Exerpt taken from Citysearch:

"Hell's Kitchen" winner Michael Wray has added a Latin tinge to the restaurant's corporate Wokcano menu, including favorites like sliced filet mignon, pan-seared striped bass, and a honey-walnut dish that the staff lovingly refers to as "shrimp crack." The restaurant also holds jaw-dropping athletic dance battles. The main dance floor features looming palm trees and a giant Doric column. As dancers bounce to Top 40 and salsa, ubiquitous plasma screens display music videos, and scantily-clad women perform on elevated stages.

Yoshi's first day of class - We have been unofficially training Yoshi at home but felt that we needed more outside. We signed up at our local Petsmart. The first day of class was jam packed w/ 4 small puppies and two giant dogs, a greyhound and german shephard who kept barking at each other. The instructor, Marysia had to pull boxes on display to create stalls for them.

Class instruction was more for the humans, the correct language and tone to usage, the introduction of a clicker, and how to massage your dog to calm them down. Eventually it got so boring that the greyhound keeled over and started snoring. Dahahahaha! He's behind the shopping cart if u wanna see.

Marysia introduced herself and the clicker to each dog by giving them a handful of treats every time they touched the clicker w/ their nose.

Yoshi giving Marysia the utmost attention. Maybe she'll give him those treats in her hand as he sits quietly.

At the ended of the class she handed out homework. WTF? We have homework? Dammit. This dog better be worth it cuz the last time I had HW was in college.

Vday Weekend - D and I don't really celebrate Valentine's since it we have always kept it low key. This wkend I decided to make him something nice. Instead of going to our usual brunch haunt, I decided to make him a quiche. It turned out really delicious full of flavor. I just followed the Ham and Cheese Quiche recipe. I substituted 4 eggs and a pre-made pie crust and added caramelized onions, zucchini and extra cheese.

D loved and requests that I make it at least once a month. The next one, I think I'll add gruyere, spinach, and bacon. Yum.

Where's Yoshi?

Can you spot him in the picture?

The weekend update

Lots to talk about so let's get to it.

Friday
Immediately after work, I hightailed out to Torrance to pick up Denis. We grabbed a quick dinner at El Pollo Inka which was quite disappointing. Mario's is so much better.

We had to get down to Borders in Torrance early for the Lisa Loeb signing of The Purple Tape. In case you youngsters don't know who she is, she's the one who sings Stay from the Reality Bites soundtrack. I totally love that movie and her CD. She was re-releasing the Purple tape on CD since it was originally on a cassette tape. Ancient I know. Lisa came onstage and performed Snow Day, Do You Sleep, Hurricane, and Stay. I assumed that she didn't have any Q&As due to her still being quite sick. Poor thing.
It was a great Friday night to see her perform and meet her. Of course I got her autograph. She complimented on my Pink Head Tarina necklace. EEEEEE!

Saturday

More unpacking most of the day. My lil cousin Munchi was in town for CNY and of course she paid me a visit. We went out to dinner at CPK cuz we were craving salad. After dinner she wanted to do a sleepover w/ the puppies.

Sunday

Munchi and I dropped of Mr. Cee at 8am in Chinatown for the Annual Firecracker Run. That gave Munchi and I some time to catchup. Since D's was only a 10k, we decided to head out to Echo Park for the morning, grab a couple of cupcakes at Delilah Bakery. Her storefront is very cute and inside was charming. It had the 1950s decor and home made feel. The red velvet was moist and delish topped w/ the semi sweet cream cheese frosting. It was a perfect balance of sweet and cocoa. So good.
We needed to counter the sugar in our system and headed over to Masa Bakery and Cafe. I've heard great things about the brioche and have been wanting to taste. Their brunch menu isn't the typical pancakes and eggs but great plethora of crepes. Yum. Sorry no pictures since Mr. Cee took my camera.
After our tummies we full, it was time to pick up Mr. Cee. Munchi and I bumped into several friends who were also running the race.

I also saw JP who is on the Firecracker committee cheering on the munchikins running the Kiddie Race. So. Darn.Cute. Maybe next year I'll rejoin the committee. It's been while since I've done any charity work.

Since the weather was perfect, we decided to take Yoshi and Teddy to the Dog Park. This was Y's first time. At first he was scared and wouldn't leave our side. Eventually he started chasing other doggies and making friends. Too cute.

We'll definitely try taking them both out there more. Sad that the weekend has already ended.

Happy Chinese New Year!

This is one of my favorite holidays when I was a kid. Relatives and family friends would hand out these pretty red envelopes after you have wished them:

Kung Hay Fat Choy!

Xin nian kuai le!

It's a fun and boisterous celebration filled with lots of candy, food, and family. Once my brother and I have opened all our red envelopes, my mom would take us to the bank to deposit. But I always kept a little to buy something fun. Like a new Hello Kitty erasure that rings when you shake it.

Now that I'm married, the tables have turned. I now give out red envelopes to unmarried children and adults. I'm a little sad that I will no longer get them b/c they always remind me of my childhood. And who would be sad w/ money? At the same time I'm super excited that I get to give out cute envelopes by well wishers. This is my second year of handing them out and so far all my younger cousins have visited or called me. Makes me so happy to have a large family.

I wish you all a prosperous and wonderful new year.

Red Hot

After seeing Wan's new do, I knew I should visit Rochelle. The only problem, slightly on the far side. After talking to Wan, I was convinced that it's definitely worth the drive. I've never been to Downtown Glendora; it's such a cute town similar to Monrovia that I wanted to spend more time exploring the shoppes and restaurants. Maybe next time since I had an appt.

Rochelle is one hip lady and one of the sweetest. She immediately knew what to do w/ me. I usually give the stylist free reign (which could be a bad idea) . She listened to what I had to say about the things I do, my hair regimen (just blow drying) and what I wanted. I usually give the stylist free reign which could've been a bad idea but I trusted her. Right away she started snipping and chatting making me feel at ease. All a sudden she got a bright idea to color my front bangs red.

Uhhhh...really? Ya she sure did.

I've had different color highlights before but never my bangs.

Alright. Ya only live once. At first I was shocked and scared. Worried what people might think. After looking at the mirror again, I liked it. I love the cut, it's super easy to care for. I felt so mod and punkish.

Thanks Wan, I'm definitely going back to Rochelle and can't wait to see what she's going to do next.

Rock the vote

It's Super Tuesday. Remember to get out there and vote.

jovovich-hawk for target

Oh Joy! just announced the next Go Designer, Jovovich-Hawk. Yay!!!!

I just love their collection of feminine classic pieces similar to Anthropology. I've been eying their stuff since they were featured on Domino but can't bring myself to spend $$$. Thanks to Tar-jay, now I can. I can't wait till March 2nd.

Back to the Holidays

[getting into my time machine]

beep, bloop, blip, beep, beep...

1. Xmas week was spent w/ the inlaws in Norcal living in gluttony. All we did was sleep, eat, watch tv and repeat. One great thing about visiting them is going up to Napa. We hit up Lavender Hill spa for our couples massage, at brunch at The Girl and the Fig, and dined at The Culinary Institute of Arts (CIA) otherwise known as the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant which is cooked by culinary students. The food was soo good that Mr. Cee and I were pratically licking our plates. We would definitely go back there and take some cooking classes. I decided against it this time b/c the only class they had was making Mexican chocolate. I need something more challenging.

Although the prices are a bit steep, it was definitely a worthy experience and fun to watch the chefs do work in the open kitchen. If you're ever in Napa, I recommend dining here or taking a class.

2. After Xmas, we met up w/ some of Mr. Cee's Norcal friends for dinner. What do a bunch of Asians do on a cold winter's eve? Hot pot of course! We went to Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, an oxymoron IMO but neverthess, you do walk out a little fatter from eating all that laaaamb.

Hot pot is essentially Chinese fondue w/ a pot of broth. It's similar to shabu shabu with a plethora of meats, meatballs, and veggies that will warm up your body on a cold winter's night. You can choose from plain broth to so spicy it could make your head itch. Gotta love these imports from Hong Kong.

3. Couple of my friends threw an NYE at Flight Bistro & Social Lounge in Huntington Beach w/ a couple hundred of our closest friends. Newly opened, my gf Peipei knew the owner so we ended of having the place to ourselves w/ dinner and drinks. We had a blast and it was so good to see so many friends all at once.





I was pleasantly surprised how delish the food was despite it being a fixed dinner and served to the mass. The steak was cooked perfectly and accompanied by a Cabernet sauce. The molten chocolate cake w/ caramelized bananas was a great way to end the 4 course meal.


Our first kiss at midnight.

Cheers!