Happy (Belated) Leap Year!

I'll skip the usual apologies and excuses of the general busyness of life. But life has certainly passed by quickly!

I've been at my semi-new job for nearly 3 months now! It's been super busy-I've had to work almost 65 hours per week (including Saturdays, which can be miserable). But such are the joys of a tax accountant! The great thing is that I love my job! And I especially love the people and positive environment! My firm believes in home-work life balance and maintaining relationships. We do things like take Wii breaks in the afternoon to reconnect. The firm also caters dinner on Thursday nights for everyone + spouses/significant others. I feel truly blessed!

It's somewhat belated, but Happy Leap Year! It's super special for me because T is a Leap Year baby-so this year he turned 8!!!

Happy Belated babe!

 

Also, Happy belated Lunar New Year!  It was such a treat, this year T's grandparents were in town during the Lunar New Year to escape the cold/rain of Vancouver.  Since Grandma was here, a couple of his other aunts & cousins decided to come down as well.

The oldest cousin with the youngest cousin

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your Thanksgiving went well!

Mine was certainly relaxing!  :)

It started off with watching 50/50 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan & Anna Kendrick @ the $3 Theater!  On Wednesday nights, they have a Date Night Special for $10 which includes 2 movie tickets, 2 popcorns & $2 sodas!  Great Deal, Great Movie!  :)

T&I don't have family in Cali - all his family is up in Vancouver, and mine is back in Chicago.  So Thanksgiving can get kinda lonely.  But we're so blessed to have amazing friends who welcome us into their homes/families to stuff our faces with food!  =)  We ended up having TWO Thanksgiving Dinners!

Pumpkin Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, & a mix of American and Vietnamese Food!

This year, we didn't do any Black Friday shopping, so it was nice to just sleep in and chillax!

Today, we decided to do take part in a "serve others" day, so we handed out care packages to ppl in the community in need.  I'm not normally comfortable doing stuff like that - it's definitely out of my comfort zone!  But I was so ENCOURAGED by this opportunity!

One hand in the air for the big city

Back to NYC updates (2 months later of course)-

We went to the 9/11 Memorial - very somber, but very well done!  Of course, as a business/finance person, I felt I needed to see the charging bull & NYSE.  At the charging bull, we encountered the rudest Chinese tourists! 

9/11 Memorial & Charging Bull Statue

Anyways, there were obviously so many pizza places to choose from, but we chose Lombardi's.

Of course we did some SoHo shopping!

One of the best egg tarts in NYC @ Tai Pan Bakery!  Having lived in Hong Kong for 4 yrs in high school, I can vouch that this place is LEGIT!  They had soooo many other HK goodies that I sooo wanted to try, but was way too full!  Next time we're back in NY, we're definitely heading back here...

Tai Pan Bakery

Finally, The BEST meal/dessert in NY:

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Cereal Milk & Creamsicle (not pictured), Crack Pie-truly addicting!

Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for NEW YORK

Our first full day in NYC was a packed day!

A trip to NY wouldn't be complete w/o BAGELS!

Gold painted car

I love this dedication

The MET

Temple of Dendur

A little Jackson Pollock & Andy Warhol

Onto Times Square for some-

Shake Shack definitely beats In-N-Out!!!

Ran into the Naked Cowboy

Empanada Mama, NY Times & Muji (my favorite store)

How to Succeed in Business (w/o Really Trying) - HILARIOUS!  And to top the night off-Halal Cart!

Welcome to the bright light...

T&I went to NYC last week to celebrate my graduation, bday (belated), and our 2-yr anniversary!

We've been eagerly awaiting this trip-and it was well worth it!!!!

The update on NYC will probably take a few posts, but here is the first installation of highlights from the trip:

Excitement on the plane! We even got a whole row to ourselves!

NYC here we come!!!

The first evening there, we decided to give a go at the metro system.  Since we don't have smart phones (cuz I'm too cheap), it made getting around the city that much more frustrating!  After a couple of wrong turns and heated words, we finally found-

Flatiron Building

Eataly

Madison Sq Park Eat!  Sept 23-Oct 21

Nunu homemade beer + Wafels & Dinges w/ peanut butter & whipped cream-to die for!

C&D

A couple weekends ago, our friends Caroline & David got married!

T had the privilege of being one of David's groomsmen...

I love going to weddings - it appeals to the romantic in me.  And now that I'm married, I find it a great reminder/time to reflect on the commitment I made to T 2 yrs ago. 

Caroline is a wedding planner by profession-AND an incredibly talented one at that!  So, needless to say, their wedding was MIND BLOWING.  Everything from venue, vows, decor down to every tiny detail made this night unbelievably memorable.  Since Caroline & David are close friends, we were planning on partying it up all night long.  Unfortunately, T ended up doing 8 shots + 3 drinks within the span of 2 hrs (thanks to the open bar) - making him pass out by 11 pm.

But here are some photos from the wedding:

Programs which doubled also as a fan!

View of the seats

Wedding party photos

 

Ceremony-GORGEOUS backdrop!! LOVED the C&D floral lettering!

Amazing venue!

Ice Sculpture (yes, C&D IS carved in!!), Cake, & Tea Ceremony

T&I

Partying it up!

David & Caroline did a handful of unique ideas for guests to play with, including a casino, lemonade bar, video booth (15 seconds to say something to the bride & groom), dessert bar, cappuccino bar, photo booth, flip booth (it's like a photo booth, but it creates a flip booklet - absolutely FUN and ORIGINAL!), annnddd...most importantly, FOOD TRUCKS (king taco & crepes for late night party-ers!)

Dessert Bar & Lemonade Bar

Tuesday morning

It's only Tuesday morning, but already the week is turning out CRAZY!

T was away on a 4-day weekend at Cancun for a close friend's bachelor party.  (Yes, doesn't it look GORGEOUS?  I have to admit, I was a bit envious when I saw this photo...)  So I had to spend the weekend alone livin' the single life.  Although the late night movie watchings, catching up with old friends, and not-having-to-cook-for-4-days straight are all great things, I'm glad to have him back.

Cancun, Mexico

Now we're off to a crazy start of the week!  This morning, T's car wouldn't start.  First, I thought the battery was dead and needed to be replaced, but that wasn't the problem.  After a few hrs of phone calls and coordinating, the car has finally been towed to our mechanic to figure it out (thank God for AAA!!!)  I have an interview later today, which I'm now finally able to sit down and prep for, and another interview tomorrow!  Although this week has started off hectic, I'm hopeful the week will end peacefully!