I got an iStockphoto email today from the designer for Mammoth Sierra Magazine. She purchased my photo for a whoppin’ 96 cents and used it in their January/February Issue. I was asked for my full name for the photo credit (check out the left side of the photo in the article) and she sent me a copy of the article. The funny thing I noticed is that they smudged Johnny out of the photo. Haha.
So, that makes it two whole photos that I have published! Yay me!
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The best part of the holidays is seeing all your friends and family. That is certainly what I did this long weekend. I had just about every meal planned and it was awesome.
On Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving Feast in Buena Park. Johnny and Joy joined us but my parents couldn’t come because my mom was sick in bed with a really bad case of the flu. Poor Mommy. The turkey was super moist and everyone, including Jes’ dad, played Wii.
On Friday morning, I slept in and then had lunch with the Suminos. We had sushi, which was something I had been craving since moving to SF. Brother and Joy also met up with us. In the afternoon, Jes took a super-long nap while I went to visit Patty and Johnny. I got to finally meet their little girl, Zoe, who is just a happy little doll. For dinner, I went out for Korean food with Patty, Holly, and Patti. That really hit the spot since it was another something that I was craving for a while. Afterwards, Jes and I met up with Huy and Jimmy for drinks. Jimmy and I also planned our Saturday morning, which will involve playing a round of 9-hole golf. Woot!
On Saturday morning, Jimmy picked me up and we played 9 holes at IronWood. It was Jimmy’s very first golf game and I hadn’t picked up a golf club in about 2-3 years. We had a great time and lucked out with no one paired up with us and no one waiting behind us. Jimmy did great and I think I got him hooked on the game. He was a little worried since we didn’t have time to warm-up at the range first but he jumped right in a made a beautiful shot from the tee, over the lake, and onto the green at the 9th hole. Nice! For lunch, I met up with my old co-workers/friends and was happy to hear that Anahita is now 5 months pregnant! Wow!!
Saturday’s dinner was the best part of my weekend. My mom was feeling much better and prepared her famous Thai BBQ chicken, Korean Kalbi, and peanut sauce. She taught me how to make sticky rice and I got the secret mango/sticky rice recipe from her. Yes!! It was great to be back in the Magical House with my family. The old peanut jokes came back out and seriously, it never gets old. After dinner, we went to the Cerritos Mall to walk off dinner. I ended up getting a pair of shoes and tried my first Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. Yum! Cerritos Mall still has the same vibe with a few upgrades in their decor and stores. This truly was a homecoming weekend for me.
On Sunday morning, I woke at 4 am and we left the house by 5 am. The drive was smooth with absolutely no traffic. Koa did a great job just chillin’ in the backseat and we were home by 10:30 am.
What a great weekend. Here are just a few of the photos I took.
It’s Michelle’s birthday today and we went over to their place this evening for some birthday cake. Ryan made Michelle’s cake into two boobs since that’s been the center of her life these past few days. We also shared the flan (actually creme caramels) that Jes made for them yesterday. Despite having given birth just 4 days ago, it’s nice to see that Michelle can still have a good ol’ fashioned birthday cake party with friends.
Here are photos from the celebration.
We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this weekend by going to Monterey. We planned to stay overnight so the big question was “What will we do with Koa?” Well, Susie was nice enough to check on him so we actually got to leave him at home alone for a little over a day.
In Monterey, we got a package that included a 2-day pass to the aquarium. So, when we arrived in the afternoon, we went to the aquarium for about an hour before close and then back again on Saturday morning. The crowds are smaller at closing time and in the morning so it worked out great! I also got the chance to take some practice photos, check them on my laptop over the evening, and go back and re-take anything that didn’t quite work. Another cool thing that I discovered on my new camera was the “underwater” setting, which takes out that funny blue tint to aquarium photos. Excellent.
We had dinner at Passionfish, which was as good as I remembered it to be. I really enjoyed the crab salad and my scallops main course. The next morning, we had breakfast at Duck Club, which was a real treat. I got to watch the otters roll around in the kelp as I ate my eggs benedict. We also splurged on a room with a view and balcony, which came with binoculars for watching the otters play just outside my window/balcony. How fun!
We got back on Saturday afternoon and the house was in one piece. Nice job, dog! Thanks for taking care of Koa, Susie!!
Here are the photos.
On Thursday morning at about 4:45 am, I got a text message from Ryan. It said that Michelle went into labor and that the baby would arrive by noon. He was right and I got a second message at lunchtime announcing the arrival of little Jack at 11:53 am weighing in at 7 lbs, 8 oz and 20 inches. That afternoon, Vyl got off work early, picked me up from work, and drove us to the hospital to meet the newest member of the Sokol-Jun family. Mom and Dad are doing well and it sounded like the entire process went smoothly. Congrats, guys!
Here are photos that Ryan and Michelle sent to us.
Here are some of the photos I’ve taken.
We had another fun afternoon at Fort Funston with the Lams again with plenty of sunshine this time around. With the sun peeking out through the scattered clouds and low tide, the light was great for taking photos and the dogs had a blast running on the sand. Koa had napped ALL DAY LONG so he had plenty of energy to run after Kona as she chased her ball down the coast. Here are some photos from this afternoon.
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