Browse Category: holidays

Turkey Aftermath

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving dinner was another tummy-stuffin’ affair.

Koa and the turkey

Koa also benefited from the holiday and got a bunch of turkey and ham scraps.  Unfortunately and as usual, we all paid for it for the next two days with his squishy poos and 4 am emergency walks.  Oh well, I guess it’s like his version of being hung over.

Korean hot pot

On Saturday night we drove down to Santa Clara to meet up with some friends for Korean food.  They specialize in a hot pot that comes piled on with veggies and underneath are pieces of udon noodles, hot dog, spam, and other tasty meats.  They also have the fried chicken that we’ve been longing for ever since KoKo House was shut down several years ago.  We also met a couple who were Korean by blood but grew up in China.  What a crazy combination!  They both spoke Korean and Chinese and I was trippin’ out the whole time.  I wonder what it’s like to identify with both cultures.  Traditionally they don’t particularly like each other so are you in constant conflict with yourself?

Thank you, Mr. Turkey.

Thanksgiving Menu

It’s Thanksgiving, my 2nd most favorite holiday of the year!!!

Things I’m thankful for:

  • my health – no H1N1 yet!!
  • my job – hooray for regular paychecks in a down economy!
  • my family’s health – parents are thriving, husband is exercising again, and brother/joy are super happy and in love
  • plenty of friends around me at home and at work – they keep me sane
  • my dog – keeps me entertained and gets me out the door at least twice per day

The turkey is in the oven and all the ingredients for the sides are waiting their turn for a trip to the stove.  We’re making dinner for the Masayas and Yuans this year and the menu is complete with all the regular fixings.

Just in case you can’t read the chef’s writing, the menu is as follows:

Roasted Turkey

Shiitake Mushroom Gravy

Haricot Verts

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Spinach Salad

Cranberry Compote

Baked Ham

Creamed Corn

Crescent Rolls

Stuffing

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Candy Cane Sighting

lights

On Friday night, Teresa and Steph joined me in the city for dinner and holiday festivities.  Two years ago when I first moved to SF, I went to Chevy’s for happy hour with the girls from work and we watched the lighting of the Embarcadero Center and the Hyatt Regency Atrium.  Since then, I’ve made a point to see the lighting each year.  Unfortunately, Ranee isn’t here this year but we went anyway to continue the tradition.

tree

Dinner was at Market Bar and we had a window seat that was perfect for seeing the lights on the buildings and the fireworks above.  Steph’s husband and Teresa’s guy joined us a little later and we were having such a good time that we opted out of the hotel lighting.

Fortunately for us, I took a video of the first lighting I attended so I can still experience it.  On our way to the BART station, we stopped at the hotel and managed to take a photo with the tree.

candy cane

On my way home, I spotted a candy cane on the floor and it was like a sign that the holidays were really here.  Hopefully Jes will return from New York in time to help me with Thanksgiving dinner.  He’s flying back on Wednesday, which is the busiest travel day of the year so I’ll have to cross my fingers.  Let the holidays begin!!!  I love this time of year!!!

Belated Birthday Pictures

Jes' birthday

Back in September we all went out for Jes’ 34th birthday.  We celebrated it in Italy on our own but I thought I would be fun to have our friends together a week later.  We all met up at Hi-Dive for some burgers and beer.

Ta Da!

Gerard also did his bottle-stacking trick for us and although it could have been a really bad scene if they came crashing down, it didn’t.  Pretty impressive.

I’m not sure how these photos slipped out of the rotation but I JUST went through them this weekend.  Here are the rest of the photos.

Michelle’s Bday

Michelle's Bday

Tonight we had dinner at Ironside to celebrate Michelle’s 33rd birthday.  The usual crowd was there and it was fun catching up and enjoying some tasty roasted corn and butternut squash soup. Happy Birthday, Michelle!!

Here are the rest of the photos.

7 and 14 years later

barrels

Today marks our 7th Wedding Anniversary.  I also figured out that we’ve been “together” for 14!  Whut?!  Crazy.  It’s been a blast so far and we went to Napa for the weekend to celebrate.  Koa came along and he was surprisingly well-behaved.  We took him to Fleury, a very small winery that accepts dogs inside their tasting/barrel room.

Westin

We also stayed at the brand-new Westin that also allows dogs to stay without an additional fee! For dinner we went to La Toque and had a fantastic one-Michelin-star meal complete with wine pairings.

Bouchon

On Sunday morning we also had brunch at Bouchon.  I finally got to have their famous salmon rillette and it was just as tasty as I had hoped.  On our way back to SF, we stopped at the outlets and did a little shopping to round out the trip.

Tonight we had a quiet Monday evening with some homemade lasagna that I prepared while Jes was finishing up his last meeting at work.  Happy Anniversary to my bestest friend in the whole wide world!!