Only 20 Days ’til Christmas!

Koa Reindeer

Can you tell that Koa’s super excited for Christmas?!  Haha.  Jes found the antlers today while he was digging around in some boxes.

Little Tree!

This afternoon we went to the tree lot and picked out this cute little tree that will live in our home for the holiday season.

Tree in the Car

It was even small enough to fit in the backseat of the car!

Christmas Tree

The tree might be small but it was perfect for the corner table.  With some lights and ornaments, it became the perfect Christmas tree for 2009.  Yippee!!

To top off the weekend, I might just bust out the flour and do some baking.  Michelle’s annual pie party is next weekend and I need to work on my pie crust.

Happy Friday

Alicia's Last Day

On Friday, it was my intern’s last day and the past 12 weeks with her have been fun.  We had some tough kids and she did a great job with them.  She’s moving back to New Jersey on Monday so she wasn’t available to go out that evening.

MoMo's

But of course, the Rehab girls and I went out anyway.  We took the super duper carpool lane on the bridge that afternoon and had a well-deserved Happy Hour in the city.  What fun!

Check her out!

My cousin in North Carolina posted this on facebook today.  It’s so cool to see her in action and to hear her Southern accent! Congrats on your 15 minutes of fame, Amy!!

Sunday Outing

SFMoMA

For the past 2 years, Jes has said that his company has special membership privileges at certain museums in the city.  We finally used it today to visit SFMoMA.  Fortunately for me, there were lots of photography exhibits on display this weekend.  It was also the last day of the Richard Avedon exhibit.  He’s a well-known photographer who took lots of black and white portraits with plain white backgrounds and also shot fashion photos for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

richardavedon_01

Dovima with Elephants

richardavedon_02

Carmen (Homage to Munkacsi)

These two were my favorites, which also happen to be soe of his most famous ones that are also displayed at The Smithsonian.

holidaylights

Afterward, we took walk around Union Square to find lots of holiday shoppers, lights, and signs of Christmas all around.

thai iced tea

For dinner, we had some Thai food and just the smell of the restaurant made me happy.  There’s something so comforting to me about the smell of garlic fried in oil.  Reminds me of Mommy.

Anyway, this evening was a nice way to end this year’s Thanksgiving weekend…especially since I spent most of if at home in my pjs.  🙂

Turkey Aftermath

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving dinner was another tummy-stuffin’ affair.

Koa and the turkey

Koa also benefited from the holiday and got a bunch of turkey and ham scraps.  Unfortunately and as usual, we all paid for it for the next two days with his squishy poos and 4 am emergency walks.  Oh well, I guess it’s like his version of being hung over.

Korean hot pot

On Saturday night we drove down to Santa Clara to meet up with some friends for Korean food.  They specialize in a hot pot that comes piled on with veggies and underneath are pieces of udon noodles, hot dog, spam, and other tasty meats.  They also have the fried chicken that we’ve been longing for ever since KoKo House was shut down several years ago.  We also met a couple who were Korean by blood but grew up in China.  What a crazy combination!  They both spoke Korean and Chinese and I was trippin’ out the whole time.  I wonder what it’s like to identify with both cultures.  Traditionally they don’t particularly like each other so are you in constant conflict with yourself?

Thank you, Mr. Turkey.

Thanksgiving Menu

It’s Thanksgiving, my 2nd most favorite holiday of the year!!!

Things I’m thankful for:

  • my health – no H1N1 yet!!
  • my job – hooray for regular paychecks in a down economy!
  • my family’s health – parents are thriving, husband is exercising again, and brother/joy are super happy and in love
  • plenty of friends around me at home and at work – they keep me sane
  • my dog – keeps me entertained and gets me out the door at least twice per day

The turkey is in the oven and all the ingredients for the sides are waiting their turn for a trip to the stove.  We’re making dinner for the Masayas and Yuans this year and the menu is complete with all the regular fixings.

Just in case you can’t read the chef’s writing, the menu is as follows:

Roasted Turkey

Shiitake Mushroom Gravy

Haricot Verts

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Spinach Salad

Cranberry Compote

Baked Ham

Creamed Corn

Crescent Rolls

Stuffing

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Happy Thanksgiving!