Tag: Thanksgiving

A Thank You Letter

November 24th, 2011 · · National Blog Posting Month '11 26 comments - Tags: , ,

I’m back from Thanksgiving Break

November 28th, 2010 · · holidays, National Blog Posting Month '10 8 comments - Tags: , ,

And it was wonderful. I’m just barely home. Going to shower and run over to see my dude. See you tomorrow!

100 Things I’m Thankful For – (Part 4: 76-100)

November 25th, 2010 · · holidays, lists, love, National Blog Posting Month '10 9 comments - Tags: ,


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Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not. — Marcus Aurelius

Part 1: 1-25 (people related)
Part 2: 26-50 (things)
Part 3: 51-75 (actions)

  1. mom’s cooking
  2. having events to look forward to
  3. my parents are still together
  4. having gone to college
  5. the college experience – sharing a dorm room, roomies, boys, classes, parties
  6. the all-girl high school experience
  7. the sacrifices my parents made for the above
  8. my wide-eyed wonder of the world, though it’s kind of dorky
  9. cheesy jokes
  10. the cozy feel of scented candles and a blanket
  11. that I get along with my coworkers and boss
  12. sharing such a fun and meaningful New Years tradition with Kim
  13. creative play
  14. health insurance
  15. leaving work at work (such a breath of fresh air in comparison to last year)
  16. my ability to maintain close friendships despite physical distance
  17. my ability to navigate conversations with strangers
  18. my bestie handing down her laptops to me!
  19. resilience
  20. the liberties that come with living alone
  21. make out sessions that are just make out sessions
  22. discovering new music
  23. only 5 more days of National Blog Posting Month
  24. ability to schedule blog posts while I’m in Houston and am without reliable internet connection
  25. 2010 being all in all a great year filled with many lessons


Happy Thanksgiving!! How are you spending today?

What says home to you?

November 24th, 2010 · · holidays, Houston, love, National Blog Posting Month '10 8 comments - Tags: , , ,


Hillary, Alex, and me last Thanksgiving

I’ve been so homesick I could cry. I’ve been craving my friends in Houston. I’ve been wanting to check in my friend who lost her brother last month. I haven’t seen Ms. Kimmy in a while. I can’t wait for our girly date. I can’t wait for tonight, and having a cup of the best hot chocolate of my life (Chocolate Bar in Houston, trust me) with Hillary and Alex. And then again on Friday with Sarah. I can’t wait to see my parents and eat momma food. I’m excited about dim sum with my family on Sunday. I’m looking forward to listening to my dad talk over glasses of Scotch. I’m crawling out of my skin excited!

There’s something magical about picking up where you left things with your oldest friends. Friends who know where you came from and are coming from. We’ve all cultivated separate grown-up lives and reunions kind of bring us back to the roots of ourselves. At least for me they do.

Back in college, my roommate of three years and I had a running inside joke at her expense. She had this cheesy writing class and the last line in one of her essays she wrote, “It says home to me.” And her teacher ate it up despite how cheesy we thought it was. So even now, when something makes us feel so at home and at peace, we’ll half jokingly and half seriously say, “It says home to me.” Then we follow it with giggles, or if it was me who said it, she’ll curse at me for making fun of her. I tell you this because all the things I’m looking forward to about going to Houston, “say home to me.”

Houston, I’ll see you tonight! Insallah. (God willing in Arabic. I say “Insallah” a lot in real life.)


Question: What says home to you?

Ten on Tuesdays (vol 4) The Holidays

November 23rd, 2010 · · holidays, National Blog Posting Month '10, Ten on Tuesday 9 comments - Tags: , , ,

1. What are your plans for the holidays? Do you travel at Thanksgiving? If you celebrate Christmas, do you travel then, too?

For both Thanksgiving and Christmas, I drive 2.5 hours if there’s no traffic from Austin to Houston. My plans during the holidays usually entail waiting around all day and evening on the actual days of Thanksgiving and Christmas til my parents close down their shop. After which, we have a late quiet meal. The days surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas I spend fluttering between friends. I am so happy around this time because of the out of town visitors coming home for the holidays and the Houston friends I do not get to see that often during the year if at all.

2. How do you make the plans for the holidays? If you have a significant other, how do you decide which family to visit?

He goes to his hometown and I go to mine. We exchange gifts before or after.

3. Do you have your Thanksgiving meal at lunch or later in the day?

Late late late. Like 9pm late.

4. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

Our family Thanksgiving traditions are modest. Just a quiet meal late in the night. I have a personal tradition where I send out Thanksgiving cards to my loved ones counting the ways I am thankful for them. This year I’ve only sent one half of them. The other batch needs to be written and get sent out late. Ooops. Story: Once I sent out a Thanksgiving card to Jon in New York around Thanksgiving and somehow he received it in his mailbox in July the next year.

5. After a big meal, do you lounge around or get up and take a walk?

Usually I try to walk it off and rub my tummy, if I can. Sometimes I overdo it so much that all that can be done is to lay down and groan.

6. Do you shop on “Black Friday” or do you avoid it?

I have a couple of years ago to get a camera. Meh :) Black Friday. Meh.

7. When do you usually finish your Christmas shopping?

There’s always that one person I’m stuck on that has me running around up to Christmas Eve. I used to buy year round for the people in my life but then I got paranoid that it was jinxing the relationship. Seriously. I once bought this girl an inflatable cowboy because she was obsessed with cowboys and would have enjoyed it. Then we stopped being friends. Ha. After toting that bad boy around for years waiting for the next person who lovesss cowboys to come into my life, I gave up and gave it a temporary home at Goodwill. Twice, I’ve made photo books and friendships disintegrated while the books were in shipping. My closest friends requested I stop giving photo books.

This year, I’ve started and hope to be done as soon as possible. Any idea what to get a 10 year old niece I really didn’t even know about til this year?

8. Do you and your significant other exchange gifts? If there a budget?

He tends to spend a lot on me generally. Spendy meals often. Holidays and birthdays are the occasions I try to keep up with him and almost almost match him.

9. When do you decorate for the holidays?

I’m not a big fan of Christmas so in my own apartment, I’ll whip out my two holiday snow globes I was gifted, a few stockings and that’s about it. They’re all out already. I usually bring them out when it starts to get cold in November. Though, we’re back to eighty degrees this week.

10. Do you go “all out” with the decor or keep it simple?

I do not go all out. Last year I lived with Brandi and she is a HUGE Christmas fanatic. Our apartment looked like a paper winter wonderland. See below a picture of our fireplace last year.

Also my two holiday snow globes. The full extent of my decorating!

Pick a question, answer a question!

Friday 7 Quick Takes (vol 28)

November 19th, 2010 · · 7 Quick Takes (Fridays), creative play, holidays, lists, National Blog Posting Month '10 6 comments - Tags: , , ,


1.


I’ve been mulling over my funeral lately. I want it pretty much figured out before actually passing. I want to have the money set aside to pay for the service and burial. If I’m going to be cremated, I want that already locked up. (I’m leaning towards burial.) I picked who I want as my executor.

Currently, my savings approximately cancels out my student loans so I’m not too worried about a will yet. I listed my family as the benefactors to my retirement funds. I want my car to go to my next of kin for them to sell. If my parents are still living, I want to let my organs be but if they’re not, I want to donate my organs. I also would like jokes at my funeral. Really.

That’s all I have for now.


2.



Before my dying though, I definitely want to ride a mechanical bull. This has been on my to do list for forever and I totally came across a free ride on a mechanical bull on my way to lunch Wednesday! I was by myself or I totally would have ridden it. I needed a buddy to hold my purse and snap a picture. And yes, a picture is necessary! It was kind of bittersweet, walking away from the bull. Felt compelled to write a missed connection post on Craigslist.

It would go something like:

“You were sitting there waiting for me in the middle of Speedway. I was the Asian girl in the purple blazer. I’ve been dreaming of riding you for years. It breaks my heart I had to walk away from you. Find me again?”

Ha. :)


3.

I got happy mail on Monday. My Sketchbook Project sketchbook arrived!

It remains blank as I am overwhelmed by the blank pages. Clock’s ticking.


4.

I’m baby-stepping towards a healthier lifestyle. I’m very guilty of taking my youth, metabolism, and overall health for granted. I used to work out 2-3 times a week but stopped in October 2009. Since then I’ve maybe worked out 3 times? It’s embarrassing. I also rarely drink anything but coffee and eat a lot of junk and never enough fruits and vegetables. So I’m baby-stepping. Last week a friend from Houston came up and for 3 days, we mall-walked like little old ladies. Wednesday, I had lunch at The Carillon with Selina. Instead of starting with the carbs and ignoring the salad bar, my usual MO at buffets, I made a veggie plate first. See below. Yes, I know there were cheeses and creamy dressing, but it’s a baby-step after all.


5.

That lunch was a lovely lunch. I like having lunch with non-work friends during the week because it makes the work day go by faster. Aside from that though, this lunch was especially perfect because it was a Thanksgiving spread for the faculty and staff of the university. My family alternates between American Thanksgiving food and Vietnamese food. I think this year we’re doing Vietnamese food, so it was lovely to have the typical. Namely, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Mmm. Pumpkin.


6.


Sign that I’m getting older: I’m getting tired more easily! Wednesday was Neville‘s birthday and I came to his bingo shindig for a round of bingo. It was almost 11pm by the time I got home. Still very early by my standards but I was exhausted! I’m encountering these signs that tell me I’m no longer a spring chicken more often and it’s a rude awakening each time.


7.

I started to listen to the archives of The American Life. I sent a lovely quote from Ira Glass to Bestie and she loved it so much she researched Ira Glass and found The American Life. I started listening to it yesterday, and it was riveting! I started with the podcast on “Unconditional Love,” regarding the importance of parental love. I can’t wait to work through the archives for more!

Here’s the quotation I passed on to her:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

Edit: I published this before checking my reader and I saw that Bestie did a blog post about Ira Glass and the quote today.


Question: What’s something you enjoy doing even though you’re bad at it?

100 Things I’m Thankful For – (Part 3: 51-75)

November 18th, 2010 · · holidays, lists, love, National Blog Posting Month '10, pursuit of happiness, quotations 6 comments - Tags: ,


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We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
— Thornton Wilder

Part 1: 1-25 (people related)
Part 2: 26-50 (things)

    I’m thankful for the feelings that these actions evoke:

  1. Confiding
  2. Listening
  3. Cuddling
  4. Kissing
  5. Hugging
  6. Reading
  7. Dancing
  8. Writing
  9. Cooking
  10. Scheming
  11. Learning
  12. Teaching
  13. Playing
  14. Cleaning
  15. Organizing
  16. Laughing
  17. Clicking / Connecting / Visiting
  18. Commiserating
  19. Traveling
  20. Leisure shopping
  21. Winning
  22. Volunteering
  23. Eating a delicious meal
  24. Celebrating
  25. Relaxing


Question: What do you love doing?

100 Things I’m Thankful For – (Part 2: 26-50)

November 11th, 2010 · · lists, National Blog Posting Month '10, pursuit of happiness 5 comments - Tags: ,


Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

– Melody Beattie

If you missed out on numbers 1-25 here’s the link: 100 Things I’m Thankful For (Part 1: 1-25)


100 Things I’m Thankful For – (Part 2: 26-50)

  1. My cell phone
  2. Coffee
  3. Libraries
  4. My apartment
  5. My loot of journals
  6. My car
  7. Facebook for reuniting me with my half sister
  8. Google reader for organizing my blog subscriptions
  9. Google Voice for helping me troubleshoot not having cell phone reception at work
  10. Grooveshark for giving me music during work hours
  11. Mint.com for keeping me financially organized
  12. A job with benefits
  13. My modest personal library
  14. My heavenly mattress
  15. Chocolate
  16. My camera
  17. My webcam
  18. My GPS system ♥♥♥
  19. Photo albums
  20. Colored pens
  21. My jade pendant, gifted from my dad which I wear around my neck pretty much everyday (I even sleep and shower with it).
  22. ATMs
  23. The Internet
  24. Stickers
  25. DVR (While I had it, it was wonderful.)


Question: What are the things that make your life easier?

100 Things I’m Thankful for (Part 1: 1-25)

November 4th, 2010 · · holidays, lists, National Blog Posting Month '10, pursuit of happiness 8 comments - Tags: ,


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
- Marcel Proust

I’ve been planning this series since last year when I did 3 “Ten Things I’m Thankful for” posts during November. This year, I’ll be making 4 lists of 25 things I’m grateful for to post every Thursday this month. I roped my bestie to do the same and she told me her first list of 25 is the “people” edition. So I took a cue from her and did the same. (Thanks, Mef!)

Here are numbers 1-25 of my 100 things I’m Thankful for List.

  1. Good health of my family and friends
  2. Shedding of toxic friendships
  3. Rekindling of previously lost relationships
  4. Best friends and surrogate sisters

  5. Love and support of my parents
  6. Sharing a good laugh with my people
  7. Date nights with my man
  8. Date nights with my friends
  9. Trips back home to Houston
  10. Phone conversations with long-distanced friends
  11. Reunions
  12. My half-sister finding me on Facebook
  13. Watching my little from Big Brothers & Big Sisters grow in the almost three years I’ve known her
  14. Watching the boys I babysit grow from newborns to rambunctious three and seven year old boys
  15. Being up with my dude when it feels like everyone on our side of the world is asleep
  16. Spending Christmas day with my BFF last year and this coming year
  17. People who read my dribble on the blog (Hi!)
  18. People who read and comment on my dribble on the blog (Hi!)
  19. Snail mail – All snail mail but namely regular correspondence with my Sarah (Hi!)

  20. Forgiving and Forgiveness
  21. Role models who inspire me to do better, think better, and be better
  22. Having an extensive archive of all the Gchats my BFF and I have ever had
  23. Google searching our archives to mediate our arguments
  24. Having enough security, trust, and love in relationships that it feels safe to fight and argue
  25. Having enough history and love in relationships that the lines between friends and family start to blur

Basically, I’m thankful for the people in my life.

Part 2: 26-50


Question: Whom are you thankful for?

2009 in Review

December 31st, 2009 · · Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America, Birthdays, holidays, Houston, lists, love, memory, misadventures, music, new thing(s) of the week, Personal Finance, savory, still-frames, the grind, the not so single life 17 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In comparison to 2008, 2009 was awful! The one thing I can think of that 2009 had over 2008 was that I read more than double the books I read in 2008. I’m anticipating the fresh feel of a new year that is 2010. In the meantime, here’s a review of how my year has gone with heavier emphasis on my blessings verses my misfortunes.

Note: All links open in a new window.

January 2009


Celebrating New Year’s with the boyfriend

February 2009


Alan and I at the Killer’s Concert

March 2009


Rodeo, Austin, TX

April 2009


Selina’s Birthday

May


Celebrating Sae’s law school graduation

June 2009


Cindy and me at Grand Lux Cafe in Houston

July


Brandi and me on Fourth of July

August

  • The first two weeks of August, I tried to squeeze in as much time as I can with Alan because he was about to leave for Korea for up to 4.5 months.
  • Starting, August 16, I started counting days Alan was gone.
  • Kim came to visit the weekend of the 22nd and we saw Wicked.
  • I saw 500 Days of Summer three times this month, in theatre, of course. This is the first movie I’ve done that.
  • Jon visited from NYC.
  • I got a part-time, part-time (yes you read that right) job, thanks to Brittany dropping a good word for me.


Alan’s last night out with friends before going to Korea.

September

October

November


Having hot chocolate at Ren Fest.

December


After party in the car.

I’m a blessed girl. Instinctively, I’d tell you my 2009 was pretty awful but when I write it all out like this and focused on the good rather than the bad, I can see now I’m still quite lucky. Farewell, 2009.

Tell me how your year went. Or better yet, if you have a year in review entry, I’d love to read yours.