Tag Archives: Holiday

A day in Maui Part 2

Posted on by

IMG_5907

For most of the week we were pretty low-key. We ate breakfast at our condo and had a slow morning. Then we would pack up our stuff, picked up some spam musubi’s, mango bread and coffee, and hit the beach. Often mid-day we needed a pick-me up, and upon the advice from friends and family we stopped at Ululani’s for a refreshing shaved ice.

 

IMG_5816

It was honestly the best shaved ice I had ever had. They take filtered island water, and freeze it in big chunks, that they then shave down to make the ice. The first time I went for my usual childhood trifecta favorite of : lime, grape and cherry. A was more adventurous and tried tropical flavors. I tasted her’s, and agreed the flavors were amazing. The next day, my shaved ice flavors were passion orange, coconut and pineapple. I wish we could bottle that shaved ice up and have them here all the time, they were so good!

Have you had any food traveling that you wish you could have all the time at home?

Love,

-S

Google Party at the Asian Art Museum in SF

Posted on by

Last weekend after the yummy crab lunch, Annie, Natasha and I attended one of the many Google Holiday party, this particular one for the Apps Division. It was perhaps the best night in a long time. The party was up in … Continue reading →

Miami Beach and the Everglades

Posted on by

The last day or two of our vacation was spent in Florida. We flew back to the US and took a tour of the Everglades, and then poked about my mother’s hometown. It was great to finally see the house that my mother grew up in, and see the city that she spent her youth in. I had grown up visiting my father’s parents and seeing his hometown almost every summer but this was my first time seeing my mother’s birthplace. The Everglades was beautiful, and bursting with wild-life.

We grabbed lunch at Joe’s Stone Crab and it was the perfect finish to a fantastic family vacation. It took all day on Sunday to get back to California (3 flights again!), but it was worth every minute of the travel to have a week in the Caribbean.

I hope everyone is getting a chance to relax this weekend! You’ve earned it.

Love,

-S

Cranberry Cocktails, Friends, and Holiday Parties,

Posted on by

This past Saturday I hosted a holiday party at my parent’s house. We went to the Crucible Faire in the afternoon so I invited Robert, Annie and Alli over to help tidy the house up for the party. They were a magnificent help and in no time at all we had the place ready for a party!

We had a tasty cranberry lemon cocktail, apple and fig jam crustini’s, a cold pesto pasta salad, bread and cheese tray, cranberry walnut salad, and a shrimp fritatta. People came in their winter best, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Robert took the photos, and as always, did an amazing job.

2013_12_14_holiday_party-6

2013_12_14_holiday_party-8

2013_12_14_holiday_party-13

2013_12_14_holiday_party-17 2013_12_14_holiday_party-21

2013_12_14_holiday_party-22

2013_12_14_holiday_party-27

2013_12_14_holiday_party-30

2013_12_14_holiday_party-31

2013_12_14_holiday_party-34

2013_12_14_holiday_party-36Earrings: Stella and Dot       Necklace: Apricot Lane

Dress: Macy’s (Sold out)      Shoes: Steve Madden

Have you been going to any holiday parties lately? I love seeing how people dress up for the holidays! Finals finished on Friday (i had all my grades in Thursday!), and I can breathe again!

I am done with all my holiday shopping, and I am now looking forward to playing lots with the pups, playing on the wii and eating yummy things!

Happy Sunday!

Love,

-S

J. Crew Bow Heels

Posted on by

1

I was browsing the J.Crew website, as I often do, and ran across these little beauties. It took all my willpower not to buy them immediately, but I may end up treating myself closer to Christmas.

I love everything about them: the ankle strap, the bow placement, and the closed toe cap! Surprisingly enough, I like them in both colors, black and pink, which is very dangerous.

I would wear the pink heels to work and brunches, and the black heels to parties and evenings out.

black bows

What do you think? Would you get them? Have you seen anything on the J.Crew website that has been calling your name?

Happy Monday!

Love.

-S

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Shopping

Posted on by

I wanted to thank everyone for all the lovely notes on being nervous about my dentist appointment. It went well. :]

This week I took a hiatus from the blog, because I wanted to focus on family time, relaxing with the pups, and taking a breather from school/work. I also have realised that my computer sucks me in, and then it’s four hours later and I’m still on pinterest/bloglovin’/keep. I have been trying to stay more grounded lately, and less time on my computer. I love to snuggle up with the pups and a book, and that happened a lot this week.

Anyhoo, Thanksgiving was awesome. It was a small group this year, but that did not mean our menu was any smaller. In fact, I believe this year we topped out with the most recipes in a long time. The final number was 12 by the way. We made so many tasty things, but I managed to try a bite of everything!

IMG_8975 IMG_8976

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two occasions where the family goes all out, and I really enjoy hearing the family stories about the carving tools, glassware and old family traditions.

Prosciutto and Pears Appetizer

Our yummy cranberry cocktail

Maryah sitting at the head of the dining room table

My favorite part of our thanksgiving meal.

On Friday, the Roomie, her brother and I got up before the crack of dawn (2am, to be precise) and went to the mall. I had never gone shopping on Black Friday, and I wanted to try it, at least once.

 Most of the shops had opened at 5-8pm on Thanksgiving, and the rest at midnight. We arrived at 3 and it was busy, but certainly not insane. We shopped, and the John was a complete dear. He even met up with us, and carried our bags to the car! Maryah treated him to a Jersey as a thank-you for being so kind about the whole day.

I made out like a bandit, but some were Christmas and birthday gifts for other people. More details on what I got tomorrow!

My Black Friday shopping haul.

My Black Friday shopping haul.

This year I was very thankful that everyone was here for Thanksgiving. I know some families aren’t able to all be together on Thursday, but we were, and it really meant a lot to me. In the past, with both of us away at college, it was tricky to get all four of us together. Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the two that I have the fondest family memories of, and I really do treasure the time we have together.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksiving, and enjoyed some relaxed family time.

Love,

-S

Stockings Holders, Ornaments, and Trees

Posted on by

2

When I was younger, we often decorated our house for Christmas on the same day that we got our Christmas Tree. Getting our Christmas tree though, was always an adventure!

We would pile into our big, comfy, green Ford Explorer, and head into the mountains. After getting lost for a few minutes we would discount the first few tree farms, because predictably they would be picked over. We would settle on a farm, grab our jackets, put a leash on our pup, and head into the wet wintery forest. Finding the perfect tree has become somewhat of a routine. We can’t go with the first tree we find, because there might be a better one out there. We usually haggle over the final tree, because I want a Charlie Brown tree, while the family wants a wide, large tree with evenly spaced out boughs. I wanted the homeliest tree out there, to take home because no one else would. Often, I lose the vote and we get a tree that is tall, wide, and barely fits on our car, let alone in the family room.

When my brother and I went away to college, sometimes we got our tree closer to Christmas, sometimes we would even pick one Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, we joined with another family for the Christmas tree selection, and it was a blast. This year, we plan on going with the Issa Family again, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. When we picked a tree during Thanksgiving break, we also decorated the house.

Now that I have my own place, I have been itching to get cute Christmas decorations. I have been resisting these cute things for a few days now, but I might give in!

My mom and I were the two that usually were anxious to pull out the Christmas Boxes and decorate the whole house. I usually was in charge of the Christmas Tree decorations, while either my dad or my brother did the lights on the tree. To this day, decorating the tree is one my of favorite holiday rituals. I love that the holidays are finally here.

Happy Wednesday!

Love,

-S