Since I’ve already committed to posting everything about our trip home totally out of order, I’m having a hard time deciding what to recap first.  Since we flew down for a wedding, I figure I can start with that.

We were super excited about Ryan and Moina’s wedding as soon as Ryan proposed.  Mike met Ryan back when he was interning at Crisp Design Agency, circa 2002ish.  They stayed in touch thanks to a couple of shared passions- they were both designers, obviously, and they were both completely obsessed with fast things- cars, motorcycles, you name it.  Well, when Mike finally got a motorcycle (I stumbled across the finance paperwork in about 2005, so I think he got it then), he started seeing Ryan at track days and I finally got to meet Ryan’s girlfriend Moina.  Whereas I would show up to the occasional track day and knit, occasionally with a bottle of wine to help pass the time while the boys spent ALL FREAKIN’ DAY riding in circles around a track in the desert, Moina was a GOOD girlfriend- she would take pictures, record time splits, prep Ryan’s bike and even change tires.  She basically made me look like a terrible person.  But she was so sweet and nice that I didn’t hate her.  In fact, I quickly decreed that I wanted them to be our “couple friends.”

Well, they finally tied the knot last weekend in a big traditional ceremony.

They are a ridiculously attractive couple.

Between the ceremony and the reception, I remembered that I had left their card behind.  And when I say “left their card behind,” I mean that I never bought one.  Well, we couldn’t very well just drop a check into the card box, so I rounded up Mike and An (who was also at the wedding) and made them head out with me to a card.  Should be easy, right?

After walking for 30 minutes around Burbank in 90 degree heat and too-tall shoes, I was starting to get frustrated.  Evidently cards are not sold in as many places as I had assumed.  We even got desperate and stopped in a gas station to see if THEY had “congratulations on getting married, here’s some cash” cards.

They didn’t.  But they did have Doritos and beef jerky, to the boys’ relief.

These are my people, people.

We eventually found a card (thank god for the one Florist shop that was actually open late on a Saturday afternoon) and made it back in time for the reception.

Awww, they like each other.

That’s me SUBTLY dropping the card in.

This is us with the happy couple.  (Note: I SERIOUSLY hate this picture of me and didn’t want to post it- not only am I sweaty and shiny and it’s the worst angle ever, but my beloved 4″ heels + standing next to a beautiful, PETITE bride makes me look like one of the Gorgs hanging out with the Fraggles.  But a) you can see how beautiful Moina is and b) you can see how awesomely shiny Mike’s silver pants are in this picture.  I love shiny things, so the picture stays.)

Congratulations Moina and Ryan!

So far I’ve been able to knock quite a few items off my list of awesome things to do while in California for the (longish) weekend.  Fortunately, it’s been a pretty entertaining trip.  Unfortunately, you’re getting the news out of order.  Eh, you’ll live.

Anyway, do you remember the high tea I went to last month to celebrate (or mourn) Rita’s escape from Seattle?  There were tiny sandwiches, pastries that looked like things my grandma used to bake, LOTS of contrasting floral wallpaper and a drink menu that featured, well, mostly tea.  Well, I liked that tea experience, so when my bff Mary suggested that we do tea while I was in LA, I jumped at the idea.

This tea, however, promised to be VERY different.

First of all, it wasn’t being held in a traditional tea house manned by middle-aged women with a penchant for collecting stuffed animals.  It took place at the uber-stylish Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.  Instead of crazy mismatched floral prints and fuzzy forest creatures, Bazaar is a professionally lit, super-modern lounge/restaurant/bar/marketplace that looks like it was decorated by Alice in Wonderland’s really hip brother who works as a professional shopper at Bendel’s in Manhattan.

Just like the name implies, everything behind glass is for sale.  And it’s all crazy expensive.  Because naturally, when I go to tea, I often feel like dropping a couple hundred dollars on some weirdly awesome teddy bear that looks like it could kill me.

After some browsing, we settled down for some tea.  But first, we had to wait for our two other guests- Elizabeth and Kim!

They, of course, were both late.  Which was okay because Mary and I were running late anyway.  That is one thing I love about Southern California- punctuality is an added bonus, not a requirement.

Tea service began with tea and scones.

See the scone?  It looked and tasted more like a tiny muffin, but it was delish. You’ll quickly see that “tiny” was a definite theme here.  Partially because tiny generally equals good, and partially because we’re in freaking LA- nobody eats.

Each of us got a different tea, and they all had fabulous names and descriptions.  I opted for the White Darjeeling “Champagne of teas,” Elizabeth chose the “Iron Goddess of Mercy” green blend, Mary picked the “SLS Beverly Hills Blend” black and Kim chose a classic, yet tasteful, Orange Pekoe.  All were as enjoyable to drink as they were to order.

First our savory course came out.  This is where all similarities to a traditional high tea ended.

Top left: Cucumber, yogurt and tomato caviar (delicious), fois gras sandwich on toasted brioche bun (my first time eating fois gras- it was yummy but I haven’t fully embraced that kind of texture yet.  We made the mistake of telling Kim where fois gras comes from and she couldn’t finish hers.)

Middle: a deconstructed bagel and lox- salmon roe, cream cheese in a “bagel skin” nori cone (good, but salty- better to eat all in one bite)

Bottom: beet meringue with goat cheese filling (super delicious but weird- you know what a meringue should feel like in your mouth, and you know that it’s a beet meringue, but you bite into it and you are still amazed that you are eating a meringue that tastes like beets), caviar with steamed bun (basically a tiny, Westernized bau or fluffy steamed bun you see at dim sum- yummy, with a tiny bit of kind of marscapone or something inside)

Honestly, the best part of this whole tea (besides spending time with three of my absolute favorite people in the universe) was the fact that we all felt a little “Top Chef” eating this food.  Some of it was a little intimidating- see Elizabeth’s look of trepidation as she is about to try the bagel and lox:

She puts on a brave face.

There was no trepidation, however, when it came to trying the champagne.  It was pink and bubbly- what’s NOT to love?

A dessert course followed, but by this time my camera had run out of space on the memory card and it took me way too long to figure out how to delete pictures.  So no pictures of that.  Everything was yummy though, except maybe the saffron jelly candy- Kim isn’t down with jiggly food and couldn’t do it.  (In case you haven’t noticed, Kim is the only person in the world who makes me and MY food issues look sane.  She joins me in general abhorrence for all white food but takes it to the next level- the girl is afraid of bananas.  AFRAID.  i LOVE kim.)

By the time we finished eating though, I did manage to clear out a few crap pictures so we could get a group shot outside.  In front of the hotel, we saw a nice couple who offered to take a picture of us- we’re so cute:

Then the male half of said couple decided he wanted to be in the picture with us.

And then, Mr. Man, who, if you couldn’t tell by the sunburn and ruddy face was probably a drunk tourist, tried to kiss me.  That was weird.  Notice how Elizabeth, who could have protected me, obviously failed in her role as my bodyguard.

Thankfully this, and my accompanying look of fear and attempt at fleeing, was not caught on camera.  It was, however, a good example of the fact that LA is filled with crazy, self-entitled people who need to wear more sunscreen.

PS- in case you are worried about the stability of our marriage because some crazy stranger tried to kiss me, don’t.  When I told Mike about it, he laughed.  When I asked him why he reacts so coolly to weird things like this, he compared it to somebody complimenting his car.

Such is my life.

More California recaps to come as I get pictures uploaded.

We just got back from a whirlwind tour of our friends and family back home in Southern California.  It was quick, but it was actually one of the least stressful trips back that I could imagine.  The weather, for the most part, was glorious.  GLORIOUS.  Friday and Saturday were both warm- high seventies to low eighties- and sunny.  After months of living in the arctic tundra up here in Seattle, I cannot tell you how good the warm sun felt on my skin.  And this coming from an honorary albino.  I’m not dumb- I loaded up on sunscreen- but I most certainly appreciated the warmth more than ever.

The first day back basically consisted of me being reminded of how incredibly random our lives our.  For starters, what started out as my typical morning run turned into a dog rescue.

Poor thing!  Just a few blocks from my parents house, I found this pathetic little dog running around in the middle of the street, almost getting run over by multiple cars.  He had a leash but no tags.  I didn’t know what to do really, so I grabbed his leash and rang the doorbells of some houses near me to see if they recognized him.  Sadly, nobody knew who he belonged to, so I took him home and found a no-kill shelter who would come take him.

After that little adventure, my mom took Mike and I down to city hall to take care of some paperwork on our house.  My dad got all excited when he saw Tom Daly, the Couny Recorder, in the office, so he came up with some excuse to go make smalltalk.

Yeah, my dad is a major dork.  Who knows what their county recorder looks like?  Who thinks it’s exciting to talk to them?  Who tells their daughter to post a picture of them talking to the county recorder on their blog?

After the joy that is beaurocracy we went to have lunch with Mike’s mom.  Of course, lunch with Mike’s mom is never your typical lunch.  Mike ended up getting solicitations for business advice regarding her latest idea, which somehow combines a health expo with a bikini contest (don’t ask), while she shared her newest skin cream with me.  Of course, she only told me the secret ingredient AFTER she had me rub it all over my arms and hands.  And the secret ingredient was fish sperm.  Awesome.

After chatting with my old co-workers and saying good-bye to Mike’s mom, Mike and I parted ways so that I could go get my hair done.  A little random, but my old hair girl had an opening and my roots were way out of control.

Hawt.  Too bad I forgot to take an after picture.  But it’s much redder than before.  It’s gloomy in Seattle- I need something bright to combat the grey.

That evening, my parents offered to barbeque for us.  A couple of our friends came over to feast on grilled chicken, carne asada, and lots of sides to make Mike happy.  The ability to cook and eat outside all year is definitely one of SoCal’s greatest virtues.

An recounted stories for us.  Mary was super interested.

Part of the meal included a huge platter of grilled veggies, which prompted Derek to eat zucchini for the first time ever.  After he thought about it for a while, he decided he liked the “burned vegetables.”

There was plenty of delicious food, which the boys dug into.

Mary and I dug into the wine.  (See the red hair?)

As the night wound down, my parents decided to really get the party started and tried to put their karaoke machine to use.  Yeah, my parents have a karaoke machine.  No wonder I married an Asian guy.

Thankfully, they couldn’t get the machine working, so we took the opportunity to take off before any singing started and went to the movies.  We saw I Love You Man.  It was eh.  But Friday was good.

A recap via some of my favorite pictures from the week.

Mary and I get Ce Fiore and aruge about whose yogurt is prettier.

Picking Derrick up on a street corner in the morning…

and then again at night.

The Ritz Carlton robes my dad bribed a maid to steal for him.

The fact that the boys have spent so much time playing Rock Band that they seem to be starting their own band.

The fact that my parents thought it was funny to hang this up in the guest house.

Some Diet Cokes are just TOO big.

Getting in LOTS of bonding time (too much?) with Mr. An Pham.

Thanksgiving meal #1 with Bachs, Trans, Wests and Phams.

In California, this is what happens after you eat turkey in November.

Mike, animated.

He really likes his gravy.

An’s post-turkey coma.

Post Thanksgiving Ping Pong tournament.

The audience.

What happens when you lose.

Visiting Grandma.

The Tran family Thanksgiving spread.  Eggrolls are awesome.

Time to go home.  Exhausted.

Hi Orange County!!

We are here.  We are busy.  We are trying to get in face time with everybody we can.  Call me!

We got in at 6:30 on Saturday and were picked up by my awesome parents.  We ate dinner next to a bunch of cougars at Mahe in Seal Beach where I drowned in grilled halibut and au grautin potatoes.  Yum.  Then I begged them to stop at Pinkberry* where I indulged in yogurt goodness (I am SO happy they got rid of their nasty coffee flavor in favor of delicious Pomegranate.)  I also realized that I AM turning into my mom, as witnessed in this picture:

Pinkberry was just a warmup to the yogurt goodness that is Southern California- Yogurtland is what it’s really all about.  Oh yeah, and friends and family and Thanksgiving are good too.

* Note: I hope you clicked on the Pinkberry hyperlink and now have the “Pink-berry” song stuck in your head too.

Mike and I were talking tonight about how we are both starting to adjust to Seattle.  It’s been almost four months, and we are both getting into the swing of things- embracing public transportation. finding people to hang out with us, walking places even if they are more than 2 blocks from our house, actively recycling- we are slowly starting to appreciate what Seattle has to offer.

That being said, I am super stoked to be going back to Southern California for a week.

Seattle may have great food, interesting people and a ton of culture and interestin things to do, but there is one aspect where Southern California wins every time:

vs.

Anaheim wins!

(This would be a lot more visually interesting if I had clipped these images during the day and there was a big bright picture of a sun instead of a moon, but you get the idea.)

We can’t wait to see everybody at home!  We miss you guys like cray!

Finally, this is the last post recapping our weekend home.  Thankfully, these recaps seem to be getting progressively less wordy, something I’m sure anybody reading will appreciate.

Sunday morning, I met one of my oldest friends, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend, Chris, for brunch at The Filling Station in Old Towne Orange.

Mike didn’t join us because a) he had already planned on meeting another friend for breakfast, and b) he has an unnatural hatred for the word “brunch” and will generally avoid any meal that I call brunch out of spite.  We, on the other hand, had an excellant brunch without him and his negative “brunch” energy.  I got caught up on the goings on in Elizabeth and Chris’ lives, and I filled them in on the latest and greatest schemes in our world.

After brunch, we strolled around Orange Circle a bit and popped into a local bike shop where Chris demonstrated his balancing skills while testing out a novelty low-rider bike:

Around noon, we bid adieu and I met Mike at his mom’s house to get in a little Bach bonding time before we flew out.  My flight was at 4:00 PM out of LAX, and my parents had graciously offered to drive us to the airport, but because my dad is neurotic about being early for flights, he had reccomended that we leave Anaheim at 1:30.  We successfully delayed departure as much as humanly possible, but thanks to my dad’s complusiveness, we were going through security by 2:30 PM.

Since we were once again flying different airlines, we waited seperately in different terminals.  Mike had a direct flight on Virgin where he passed the time working on his computer and watching 4 episodes of Entourage.  I flew on Southwest and had a 2 hour layover in Oakland AND had accidentally packed my laptop’s charging cord and my headphones in Mike’s backpack, so I enjoyed 5 hours with nothing to distract me except my knitting.  You know that lace scarf that I had started a week and a half ago?  It is now 5 1/2 feet long.  I may finish it this weekend.  (You have to find the silver lining somewhere).

And with that, we were back in Seattle, exhausted from the weekend, and ready to sleep.

Ironically, my very busy Saturday began with me flaking out on plans I had made with my friend and business partner, Anne.  We had planned on making an early morning trip to the Huntington Beach Swap Meet, but my late night discovery of Castle Crashers led to me making a groggy phone call at 7:30 AM to tell her that I wouldn’t be making it.  Thankfully, Anne sounded just as sleepy as me due to her (in)famous insomnia.  We made plans to meet up later and I immediately went back to sleep.

Eventually I woke up though and indulged in some retail therapy with my mom.  In a mere 2 hours, we successfully navigated through Nordstroms (yay triple rewards points weekend!) and were able to find a super cute dress for her to wear to a Quinceanera that afternoon.  Awww, look how adorable my mom is:

Ugh, and look how awesome those boots are in the background.  ::sigh::

After my mom found her dress, I scored the world’s greatest cardigan and then made my way to my old workplace, where I showed up just in time to join my two favorite scrub techs for an awesome sushi lunch at Fish in a Bottle in Placentia.

Evidently, everybody wants to be a knitwear model now:

(Sadly, besides demonstrating how well Kris can pose for the camera, this photo also captures some of Warren’s last minutes with his iPhone.  On the way to the restaurant, Warren left his phone on top of his car and drove off.  Needless to say, the iPhone didn’t survive the accident.  I am trying to convince him that it’s a sign that he should become an early adopter of the new Android phone.)

Even though he was sad about his phone, Warren still entertained me during lunch:

After lunch, we said good-bye and took self portraits:

Best way to top off a good meal.

After leaving POMC, I met Mike at the frat house, where Ben and An were engaged in a serious game

An, in his signature shirtless modus operandi…

Ben, wearing the best shirt ever (it reads “McCain is Insane”).

After all that excercise, Ben proceded to eat more cake than I’ve ever seen anybody eat all at once, ever:

Just before I left, Jimmy came home, and I made him model the hat that I knit for Tony.  Seriously, I am so lucky to have such a wealth of professional models:

Isn’t my baby brother in law adorable?

After spending most of the day with boys, I needed some estrogen, so I met up with Anne and another knitting friend, Kim, for a 100% vegetarian dinner at Happy Veggie Garden in Rowland Heights.  Dinner was good, but dessert was even better- crepes at Genki Living!

Anne and Kim seemed a little overwhelmed when it came to deciding what to put in their crepes:

I immediately went for Nutella, ice cream, strawberries and Japanese cheesecake (which, I found out, is way better than regular cheesecake.  I am tempted to try and make one of these at home).

A good end to a good day.

Sunday summary coming tomorrow.  I promise it won’t be as long.

(Disclaimer: I hate picture-less posts, but this is one.  I suck.)

This weekend was quickly devoured by a last-minute trip to Orange County.  It was a bit hectic, but even a hectic trip that involves seeing some of my favorite people in the world is one of my favorite ways to spend a weekend.

Since everything was so last minute, there were a couple things that I didn’t end up accomplishing.  I had planned on spending most of Friday baking some goodies for a bake sale organized by the Capitol Hill Knitting Group here in Seattle to benefit the Obama Campaign, but packing and cleaning devoured my day and I ended up just donating napkins and trashbags.  Definately not as delicious, but useful nonetheless.  (For those wondering, the bake sale was a success!  The group raised over $400!)

The trip didn’t start off great.  We had different flights on different airlines: Mike was flying on Virgin America while I was on Southwest.  Needless to say, I was jealous.  It turned out that I didn’t need to be though, because his flight ended up getting delayed over an hour AND the RED system crashed as soon as the plane took off, so he didn’t even get to take advantage of the free TV, movies and games.  Boo.

Eventually, he landed, we met up, and our friend Justin was kind enough to pick us up, even though we had flown into LAX at 11:30 PM.  Thank you Justin!  We can’t wait til you come up to visit in a few weeks!

Even though we were tired, we decided to stop by our old house to say hi to our friends/best tenants ever, Derek, Ben and Jimmy, who share the house along with Justin.  Seriously, our house could not be left in better hands.  What was supposed to be a quick hello turned into us staying til 1:30 AM playing Castle Crashers with Ben.  If you have XBox Live, you should download this immediately.  Pure cartoon-y princess-saving bliss.

Eventually though, we were completely exhausted, so we headed to my parents’ house, where we stayed for the weekend, and passed out immediately.  It was a tiring but entertaining start to an equally exhausting but good-to-be-home trip.  I’ll continue with more entertaining recaps of Saturday and Sunday tomorrow, when I’m a bit more well-rested.

Hi kids!

I just found out that we’re making a surprise trip to SoCal (not aocal like I typed on facebook earlier today.  ugh.)  Mike has some work stuff to do in Orange County, and my AWESOME father gifted me with some of his 10 billion frequent flier miles so that I could come down too.  So if you are my friend, call me and let’s play!

Yay!  It’s starting to get cloudy and gray here anyways.  Sunshine is good.  Seeing friends and family is good.  You know what else is good?

I really like the new Microsoft ads.  Not just because I’m suddenly “rah rah MS” thanks to Mike’s new job, but because I think that they are smart and refreshing.  MUCH better than the last try.  What do you think?  Comment below, because Mike has to discuss with some folks about perception in the “blogosphere” with the marketing forks. He likes input.

Til then, see you in SoCal (hopefully)!  We fly out tomorrow evening, so I get to spend all day tomorrow packing, cleaning the house, and baking 6 dozen cookies that I promised to donate to a “Knitters for Obama” Bake Sale here in Seattle on Saturday!  (God, I sound so domestic).