Browse Category: family

Married!! Woo!

Married!

Brother got married today and I gained a little sister.  At 8:45 am there was a light sprinkle and then the sun peeked out at 8:55.  We got the ceremony started and the ceremony was over by 9:05.  It was short but very sweet.  It was also one of the most intimate weddings I’ve ever attended (almost 40 guests) and it was perfect.  Joy looked stunning and Brother was a ball of excitement.  In fact, he couldn’t sleep very well the night before and decided to start his day at 4:30 am.

Group

Jump

We spent 9:05-10:00 am taking photos with the sun shining bright.  Then, at exactly 10:00 am, it began to rain and it was just in time for Brunch to begin.  Nice timing!  My mom said she prayed for some sun until 10 and she got it!

Brunch

Brunch was inside The Veranda, overlooking the ocean, and was complete with mimosas, eggs benedict, and just about every breakfast item you could imagine.  I gave a stirring speech that managed to get Brother teary-eyed along with my cousins sitting in the corner of the room.

Family

This is certainly a happy day for us Chimmys and Chammys.  🙂 Yay!

Ah…

lava flow

Above: My lava flow; Below: Jes checking out the view

Waikiki

Crackberry camera did a pretty good job!

Aloha from Waikiki!  Jes and I arrived at noon today and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on a nice refreshing beverage.  The weather is very pleasant today with a nice tradewind, less humidity, gentle sun, and occasional sprinkles for a nice cooling effect.  We did a little shopping for stuff to wear for tomorrow’s wedding and met up with the family for a bit.  Jes is taking a nap, Brother is relaxing in the courtyard with Joy, and I’m just watching the sunset from our balcony.

dusk

Yoon was kinda enough to pick us up from the airport and helped check us in to the hotel at a special Kama’aina rate.  On top of that, with Jes’ SPG membership, they upgraded us from a city view room to a partial ocean view room.  Score!  Anyway, it’s nice to finally be on vacation and in the presence of family that I don’t get to see very often.  Let the festivities begin!

38 Days to Go!

Brother and Joy are getting married in just over a month. Things are getting finalized and we’re all excited about going to Hawaii as one big happy family. Here’s their wedding blog: thaiddown.com. Get it?! Ha!

My Family!!!

cousins_02

Cousin Nida (aka “Ja”) who lives in Thailand.

This morning I got a facebook friend request from my cousin in Thailand!  Then, I got another request from my cousin in North Carolina!  Then, I found her brother in her friend list and we added each other.  Yay!

cousins_01

Cousins Amy and Andrew (from North Carolina) and John (Nida’s brother) in Europe together.

On my mom’s side, there are 10 cousins (including me and Brother).  I haven’t seen these cousins in many many years and only remember them as little kids.  Now they’re all growns up and I can see what they’ve been up to through this crazy crazy place called facebook.  There are lots of people who say it’s trouble to put yourself out there but this is one of the reasons I appreciate the social networking site…I get to reconnect with old friends AND family!!

Christmas Roundup

With only 2 full days left of my vacation in Southern CA, it was pretty crazy trying to squeeze in some quality time with my loved ones.  It was fun but felt more like a buffet where I got a taste of everything but nothing was totally satisfying and made me want to have more of the real deal.  In other words, I’m already trying to figure out how and when I’ll be able to make another trip down to LA to hang out with the locals and make a trip to the east coast to visit the out-of-towners for some REAL quality time.

Here’s what went down…

**FRIDAY**

I felt ill that morning and had a really hard time getting up.  The body aches and chills were so bad that I ended up canceling Koa’s vet appointment that morning.  Dog totally lucked out.  For lunch, we had Jes’ favorite ramen at Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa.  Afterward, we headed over to the BMW dealership and purchased a little somethin’ for the ride back to SF.  More details about the car later.

In the afternoon, I met up with my old PTN Pals at the Starbucks next to our Irvine house.

For dinner, we had Chinese food with the old gang.  Aw…I love group photos.

After dinner, the Agustins met up with us for drinks and a truly unique Cerritos experience.

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**SATURDAY**

I woke up feeling a little better and headed up to Beverly Hills to meet up with my UCLA girls for brunch at Campanile. Catching up is so much fun but makes me miss them even more when it’s over.

In the afternoon, I went to hang out with the parents and it’s always nice to be home. It’s just too bad that it only lasted a couple hours. I had to head back to BP to get the CR-V tidied up and deliver it to it’s final destination.

For dinner, I met up with my Whitney girls at Cafe Hiro.  It’s a cute Japanese/Italian place in the middle of suburbia.  We got to chat over tuna tataki and risotto.  I had so much fun, girls! I miss our monthly dinners!

The final stop for the night was my auntie and uncle’s house in Cerritos where Marie and the gang were waiting for me.  The boys are getting so big and I miss them so much.  Unfortunately, by the end of the night, I had lost my voice and went straight to bed.

On Sunday morning, we went to church, said our goodbyes to Jes’ parents, aunt, uncle, and family friends.  We swung by my parents’ house to pick up Koa and said our goodbyes to them too.  In what felt like a flash, we were back on the road for another 7-hour car ride.  Phew.

Here are photos of my entire Christmas season.  Enjoy!