Tag: Birthdays

Birthday Travel Options

April 15th, 2013 · · Birthdays, Travel 27 comments - Tags: , , ,

My 30th birthday is on the horizon and I have a few airline miles burning in my pocket. I’ve started thinking about how I want to celebrate my 30th. Here are few contenders I’m currently considering for a weekend trip.

  1. Houston

    Obviously no airline miles are needed for Houston since I live in Austin. I always have a great time in Houston. I’ve never been to Houston with Alan. Since we’ve been together for five years, I think the Houston introduction is overdue! Plus some of my closest friends are in Houston. We can spend Friday night eating take out with my parents since they work all day. Saturday, I can show Alan around and grab dinner with whomever is free. Sunday, brunch with whomever is around before heading back to Austin. If I don’t do this for my 30th, I definitely should drag Alan to Houston soon regardless.

  2. New York

    I’ve been missing New York like something fierce. I take 2-5 trips a year and told myself that I should stop going back to New York City until I cross off more states. I’ve been five times and the last time was 5 years ago! Best Dudie Friend still lives there and it would be great to see him in his element again. The only two cons to this plan are that I’ve been here before so it won’t fulfill any travel goals, and NYC in July can be a bit balmy.

    But man would I eat so good.

  3. Baltimore

    I’ve never been to Maryland. If I go to Baltimore, I can scratch off one new state and fulfill my visit two new states resolution! I can also revisit Washington D.C. and see the Smithsonian again. I’ve always wanted to go back.


  4. New Orleans

    My good friend, Jennifer lives in New Orleans. She just visited Austin last weekend and she told me I should visit her during her medical residency. Mmm. I love me some good Cajun food. The last time I was here was for New Years in 2006, pre-Katrina. Like New York, it won’t fulfill any travel goals but I salivate just thinking of the food in New Orleans.

  5. Nashville

    I’ve never been to Tennessee. I very much want to eat Nashville and visit Elvis’s home and Dolly Parton’s park!

What do you think about these places for birthday weekend trips? Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could wrangle up a few people to meet me out of state? Until recently, my 30th has been a source of much anxiety. It wasn’t until I earned some miles from my new travel credit card that it’s become a source of fun daydreaming!


Questions: What was the most elaborate birthday you’ve had? How did you celebrate?

28 Awesome Experiences from My 28th Year

July 28th, 2012 · · Birthdays, Lists, New Thing(s) of the Week, Travel, VEDA, videos, We Blog We Vlog 35 comments - Tags:

I turn 29 today and it has been customary for me to post a list of some sort on my birthday. I don’t have any shared life lessons to share so thought I’d tell you about 28 things I’ve done in the last year that I really enjoyed doing.


  1. A few days after my 28th birthday, Vlog Every Day in August (VEDA) started. I completed my 2nd year doing VEDA despite being out of town twice (once was out of the country!) and moving. We’re gearing up for VEDA Year 3. The people of VEDA are just sweet and adorable, evident from this surprise video from a bunch of them today:


  2. I moved in with a boyfriend for the first time. It was a challenging experience but we’re about to sign our second lease!

  3. I left the country for the first time in 10 years and went to Vancouver, which is currently my favorite city!

  4. I adopted my first dog, Bob! Since then I taught him how to sit, shake, rollover, play dead, and act like a thug.

  5. I went to Bloggers in Sin City for the first time and had a grand time.


  6. I visited Arkansas for the first time, crossing one more state off my 50 states goal. In Arkansas, I climbed my first mountain on Earth Day with Treavor.

  7. In November, had the most perfect day with Kim and Thomas and friends. We ate a lot of food, wore sparkly tattoos, and learned how to fold paper cranes. Later in April, Kim and I scattered the cranes from the perfect day around Houston.

  8. I saw the bats in Austin for the first time.

  9. I dramatically decreased my meat intake.

  10. I hosted a “Never Have I Ever” dinner party and tried my first meal worms.



  11. Had a special tasting menu centered around bone marrow made especially for Kim and me. Read about the fun and unique experience on my food blog.

  12. I judged my first food contest! Volunteered as a cupcake tasting judge at That Takes the Cake.

  13. Became a more active member of Austin Food Bloggers Alliance by joining a couple of committees and have met so many powerful women through this organization. This fairly new organization is a constant source of inspiration.

  14. I shot my first real bow and arrow and got my face painted for the first time.

  15. I finally graduated from a dinosaur phone to a smart phone! What a life changing move that was!

  16. I started cooking 4-6 times a week, thus improving my cooking skills.

  17. I had my first cable TV show cameo! I ate fried bacon wrapped pickle for Eat St.


  18. Had my first TV news bit, promoting Dishcrawl.

  19. Worked with Dishcrawl as a brand ambassador and launched them in Austin. What a growing experience this was and continues to be!

  20. I made my first Vietnamese chicken curry and it was delicious!


  21. I went to my ten year reunion!


  22. I saw Snoop Dog in concert and Kevin James live.

  23. Made my first cheesecake! Making cheesecake has been on my life’s list for years now but I was just so scared of screwing it up. I rocked it! Maybe this year I’ll tackle roasting a whole chicken.

  24. I learned how to skip rocks, another thing that’s been on my life’s list for years.

  25. I reunited with my sister for the first time in 17 years and met my niece and nephew for the first time.

  26. Kim and I turned our daily morning ritual of sending each other three good things in our lives into a blank journal you can buy off Amazon.

  27. I completed my second year of doing Sketchbook Project.

  28. Accepted a job offer yesterday! Though I am really sad to leave my current work team, I’m excited to start my year with a new position that will hopefully offer more growth and opportunities.

28 has been sweet to me. Cheers to being 29 now! Thank you much for following along.

Weekend Recap

August 1st, 2011 · · Birthdays, Photographs, VEDA 21 comments - Tags: , ,

I had my birthday celebration with friends over the weekend. We saw Friends with Benefits at the Alamo Drafthouse and then just mingled over drinks. I went to bed incredibly late both Friday and Saturday (think 4-6am). Sunday, Brandi cooked dinner for me and made orange chocolate cupcakes (heavenly!) and we watched Sweet Bird of Youth, another Tennessee Williams movie to close our spree of 4 Tennessee Williams movies.

So ends the month of July and today is the first day of August and VEDA (Vlog Every Day of August). I recorded my video already but experimented with doing it with my new smartphone. I can’t seem to get it uploaded through the networks at work. I’ll figure out the upload later today and embed both today and tomorrow’s on the blog tomorrow. Or you can watch for it today by subscribing to my Youtube channel.


Photos from Birthday Celebration









If I were to describe my weekend in just one word, I’d use “convivial.”


Question: How would you describe your weekend in one word?

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 53)

July 29th, 2011 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays) 26 comments - Tags: , ,


1.

It’s the last week of the month, which means it’s free topic week over at Totes Awesome Channel.


Youtube Link

For those of you who can’t see videos (Best Dudie Friend, I’m looking at you), I just talked about my birthday and how I joined 2007 and finally have a smart phone. I had a good birthday yesterday. Alan treated me to a dinner at Eddie V’s and we went home and watched Jeopardy. Low key and absolutely wonderful. My friends made me feel loved with Facebook, phone, Twitter, and snail letter messages. Tomorrow I celebrate with the amigos with a movie and drinks.


2.

I’ve made my most favorite video this week and did it pretty much in two nights with shoddy outdated editing software. I love it so much I just want to post it again. See previous entry for transcription and credits. I’m just in love with their faces.


Youtube Link


3.


My friend, Naz (first in the video in previous take), did the sweetest thing for me. She was coming into Austin the night I wanted to finish the birthday video. She told me how she had a surprise video clip and I must make room for it. I kept telling her to not worry about it because I had over 28 clips. She was adamant. So I didn’t export my video til she got into Austin. Y’all. She recorded my dad in Houston. MY DAD. He didn’t make it in the video because she kind of took him by surprise showing up at his store. We could not make any sense of what he was rambling. Really. He talked about tying string around my neck, (to tie the things I always lose, like keys and phone) but then he started to expand with multiple strings of multiple lengths. Er?! Anyway, before he gave his advice, his little intro to me makes me melt and miss him intensely. Posting it as my next take.


4.



Youtube link

Isn’t he cute? “Do I look familiar to you?” Dad, you look beautiful to me!


5.

VEDA (Vlog Every Day in August) starts Monday. Already!! Last year we had 20 something people do it. That was barely manageable to keep up with not only vlogging every day, but also watching everyone’s vlogs and commenting. This year we’re at 50 plus people and I’m traveling two weekends in August and moving another. I’m nervous about keeping up but oh so excited! More information about the project can be found at weblogwevlog.com.


6.


Happy Mail from Jennifer, Best Dudie Friend, Sarah, and my sister.



7.

This week’s moments of bliss: ♥ editing clips of my friends and catching birthday greetings directed at me ♥ happy mail ♥ Sunday brunch with Totes Awesome Channel ♥ wine and cheese tasting with Brandi ♥ feeling loved and remembered ♥ Ashley’s recap of the weekend ♥ Ashley D’s recap of the weekend ♥ cute little tribute Abby wrote and vlogged for me on her blog ♥ seeing my dad’s face ♥ one of my dearest friends signing up for VEDA


Question: How did you celebrate your last birthday?

28 Life Lessons from 28 People [Video]

July 28th, 2011 · · Birthdays, Guest Posts, Lists, pursuit of happiness 37 comments - Tags: , ,

I’m 28 years old today.

Last year on my birthday, I shared with you, 27 Life Lessons I Learned by the Age of 27. This year, on my 28th birthday, I present to you, 28 Life Lessons from 28 People. I hope you makes you smile and laugh like it did me.

Many many thanks to my sweet friends who took time out of their schedules to record their tokens of wisdom. I had more than 28 submissions, so thank you to Kym, Davey, Valerie, Will, Rogue, and Thomas for their contributions. They’re not in the video but may have inspired me to make a sequel soon.


Youtube link
 
P.S. Even after Alan and I proofed the video a dozen times, the subtitle for the Chinese at 3:53 was tagged on the wrong person. Deepest apologies for the confusion.

If you cannot view the video, you can find transcription and credits below.

  1. Always have a can of Raid handy. – Naz

  2. My bit of advice: Take care of your feet. – Mef

  3. It’s okay to act like a kid. Wee wee wee! – Alyssa

  4. A healthy person works out 3 times a week. – Tony

  5. Learn to cook or find someone who does. – Suki (Twitter)

  6. So going forward in your life, it’s very crucial that you listen to yourself and don’t give two craps about what other people think about you. Do your thing and do it for why you do it. And enjoy it. – Treavor (Twitter) (Youtube)

  7. You should listen to both sides of a story. – Ali

  8. By Robert Frost: In three words I can sum up life: it goes on. – Abby

  9. You know when you’ve done something excellent. Don’t ever let anybody else take you down a peg and tell you that what you’ve done is substandard. – Nic (Twitter) (Youtube)

  10. To quote Maya Angelou, when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. (Not the 39th time) – Kim

  11. The saying is, “Ignorance is bliss.” I don’t think ignorance is bliss. Holding the truth to make them happy, can only make you unhappy in the end. – Adam (Twitter)

  12. Everything looks and feels better after a good night of sleep. So sleep, dammnit. – Nicole (Twitter)

  13. Never skip out on breakfast. It helps increase your energy level and metabolism. – Alan

  14. Enjoy your day. Take time out and enjoy your day. You’re going to have bad days, don’t get me wrong. I have bad days, I mean, this hair for one. But if you try not to worry about the little things and just go into today and have the BEST day you can possibly have, I think your life is going to ultimately be that much better. – Ian (Youtube)

  15. My momma always says the only thing that matters is people. – Andrew

  16. One life changing lesson I recently learned, is acceptance. When I started to accept that every person, thing, and situation is exactly the way it’s supposed to be at this moment, I was able to let go of my tight grip of the world and become a happier person. – Brandi

  17. If you’re on a flight of stairs, keep your hands out of your pockets. If you’re clumsy like me, you’ll end up in the ER with 6 stitches. – Cindy (Twitter)

  18. Anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly. For example, I can’t sing, but I do it anyway. – Michael

  19. The only thing that you can control is your training; you have no control over your opponent. – Deesh

  20. The one thing my parents have always taught me, was balance. Balance yourself physically, mentally, and spirtually. -Thinh

  21. If you have to take a poo and a shower. Make sure you poo before you shower. – Sae

  22. If I were to give you some advice, I would say that if you ever plan on picking your nose, try not to pick your nose after eating some Flaming Hot Cheetos. – Willis

  23. Never talk while you’re eating because that’s just rude. – Jason

  24. Chocolate is always the answer. – Monica

  25. Don’t be afraid to satisfy your sweet tooth. – Karen

  26. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. – Elisa

  27. (Translated) Learn a foreign language – Bing

  28. The best way to make sure you have a great day is make sure your day has 4 elements: Novelty, Beauty, Growth, and Love. If you get those four things every day, you’ll probably have a good time. – Neville

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 22)

October 8th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), In Passing, Lists, New Thing(s) of the Week, The Grind, the not so single life 7 comments - Tags: , ,


1.


One of my closest friends lost her brother this week. It has me aching for her and her family. She and I lived together for three years, went to high school and college together. Our families ask about each other every time we meet up. My parents think of her as a daughter. He used to visit us in college and take us out for Valentine’s Day. All my memories of him are fond and joyful. Last time I saw him was August 8 and like everyone in his family, he gives great hugs. I wish there was something I can do to alleviate the family’s pain.

Life is fleeting. Live and love hard.


2.

I’m feeling a little tore up. Here’s what my schedule looked like for the past week. It’ll explain why.

Last Friday: Worked 9am – 10pm. We hosted that conference. 5 hours of sleep.

Saturday: Worked/hosted a conference: 7am – 10pm. 4 hours of sleep.

Sunday: Worked /hosted a conference: 7am – 2pm. 5pm-7pm: shopped for Alan’s birthday.

Monday: Worked 9am-5pm.

Tuesday: Worked 9am-5pm. 6pm-8pm: Baked a pretty cake shaped like a big Oreo for birthday boy. 12am: Birthday breakfast/dinner. 5 hours of sleep.

Wednesday: Worked 9am-5pm. 7:30pm: Birthday dinner with Alan and his parents. 10pm: Out for birthday drinks with Alan & his roomies. 1 hour of sleep? If that?

Thursday: Worked 9am-5pm. 8pm: Group birthday dinner for Alan. 10pm-1am out for drinks again.

And here we are. I slept through my alarm but still made it on time for work. I’m feeling tore up.


3.

Some pictures from his birthday:

I must add, I’m so very happy he was born.


4.

Alan’s new place is really close to downtown so we’ve been extra good about taking cabs when we go out instead of recruiting a designated driver. The increase of cab use has widened my experience with cabbies. It used to be just a holiday experience. In the last two months I’ve come across two creepy cabbies. One was a leering creep and the other one was blatantly inappropriate. He went as far as mentioning how women should be so lucky and grateful to sexually service men. In hindsight, we should have grabbed his information but each time we just huffed and puffed (we meaning me and the other girl in both cases) and stormed out.

These newer experiences reminds me of the other pervy creeps running rampant on the dirty side of Sixth St. I don’t frequent the dirty side of Sixth St anymore as it’s a younger crowd and truly just dirty. However, I’ve frequented it often enough to know that when you go out with just girls or if you happen to be separate temporarily, it’s alarming how many gropers will sneak feels and flee.

I’ve newly resolved to throw more scenes and be more vocal and quick to act.


5.

Yesterday, a nice German man thought he could pick me up by telling me he likes Asia and that he knows someone from Bangkok. He was serious, too. And truly, he was a nice guy. Just misguidedly offensive.


6.

I had my first experience with absinthe this week. Tasted like black licorice. It was actually delicious for the first few sips but is too empowering a flavor for me to order regularly. Not that it’s a drink you see on the menu regularly anyhow.


7.

Have you heard about the It Gets Better Campaign? If you haven’t you’re missing out.

Here’s my favorite campaign video.


Question: How do you like to relax?

Aishah’s Cotton Candy Birthday

August 9th, 2010 · · Birthdays, Photographs 2 comments - Tags: , ,

A batch of my friends have been turning 27 this year. Aishah joined the club this weekend. Saturday night, I met her up with her little sister and another high school friend. It’s hard to feel old when you’re eating birthday cotton candy and sipping Prosecco.


Do you see that flute? 5 seconds after this picture I flung it at the poor little sister (whom I see as my little sister too). Which explains the next picture…


I sorry.

Snapshots of my Birthday Dinner

August 2nd, 2010 · · Birthdays, Photographs 8 comments - Tags: , ,

What a full weekend! Friday night (pictured above), I had a birthday get together at a Mediterranean restaurant and then a handful of us hopped over next door to smoke hookah and play chess over some beers. (I stuck to my mint green tea). Saturday, I spent the day in my fat pants with Jon and ate at all the places he missed while living in NYC. Then I gave back by offering my designated driver services and went out downtown Saturday night. Even rubbed elbows with Brittany who joined us. The last time I was downtown with Brittany was about 2 years ago. Finally, Sunday was spent doing chores, cooking, and recovering from a fantastically full weekend. I miss Jon already :(.

Now it’s Monday. I started my day off with breakfast burritos courtesy of a sweet boyfriend and then picking up coffee at a drive-thru, which led to me spilling it all over my white ensemble. Oi. Happy Monday.


Question: What is your favorite weekend day, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Why?

Happy Monday

July 12th, 2010 · · Birthdays, Photographs 6 comments - Tags: , ,

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I had a fantastic weekend and last night slept almost 7 hours which is amazing. Saturday I had lunch with an old friend and spent the rest of the day helping set up a surprise party for my friend Liliana. I’ve known Liliana going on 9 years now and have not once made it to her birthday. This kind of thing happens when you share a birthday with my mom. This year though, mom came up to Austin! Giving me a chance to finally celebrate with Liliana.

Sunday, I spent the day with my parents. We had lunch and Alan finally got a chance to meet them. Then we dillydallied and had dinner. My parents rarely have the time to come up (the last time was 2 years ago!) so it was awesome to have them. Sunday night was spent on the couch w/ zee boy watching True Blood and feeding my crush on Eric.

All in all it was the perfect balance between friends, family, sleep, activity, myself, boyfriend, etc. I’m quite pleased with myself. I close with pictures from the surprise party. Birthday girl claims she was surprised. :) We’ll take that as success.


How did you spend your weekend?

Brittany’s Bingo Birthday Bash

June 22nd, 2010 · · Birthdays, Misadventures, Photographs 4 comments - Tags:

BBBB was the most stressful birthday party I’ve been to. I don’t know how the bingo pros /elderly do it. I had one sheet of 9 cards and that’s pretty relaxing and laid back but when I decided to take one of Brittany’s 9 card sheets to help her out, I felt like I was back in elementary school doing SPEED MATH. Minus the math… At the big bingo hall in Austin, on your birthday you can buy 27 cards and a computer game for one penny. I don’t think Brit’s doing 27 cards again.

How do you make bingo classy?

bingo
You bring your own minature bottles of wine!

We managed to get Alan to come even though he swore after his first time, he’d never go back. This time he learned his lesson and stuck with a relaxing 9 cards. I love how in the following picture he looks like he’s going to stab the shit out of his bingo cards.

bingo

bingo

So you can buy yourself fancy bingo bags on the internet. For instance, this one I found on Amazon.

Or you can make your own!

bingo
The bingo bag we made last night

Time to go to work :) I’m taking half a day today off so I can face one of my biggest fears. Kayaking. Wish me luck.