I'm so excited---I just got off the phone with Anna, my college roommate, who was recently engaged to her high school sweetheart, Frank---she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids for her wedding!!! Yay! I'm so honored, elated, excited and happy that she asked me! This will be my first wedding as a bridesmaid---wasn't sure if I'd ever be one...and I am just absolutely honored that she asked me. This really means so much as, despite the many miles that separate us, she will always be one of my dearest friends. She was by my side during some of the most important years of my life and I have so many amazing memories with her. I can't wait for her wedding.



Hi Barbara!

I just had probably the most amazing dinner I've ever had in Lawrence, Kansas (isn't that a bold statement?). Tonight, my parents drove all the way out to 10th & Delaware---our town was clever enough to name the streets by state names in order of when they joined the Union from East to West. So when I say "all the way out on Delaware St.", that means pretty far into East Lawrence. I have no clue where California St. or Washington St. are. Anyway, we walked into this gorgeous private home where Robert Krause Catering & Dining serve their meals. The owners, Robert & Molly, open up their home to guests for an all-out prix fixe meal. Guests literally sit in their living room as they prepare the food in the restaurant-quality kitchen. Apparently, it's currently a word-of-mouth sort of marketing and you have to call ahead to make reservations for the only 30-40 person capacity evenings (and to HAVE to make a reservation in Lawrence is saying something). We have 6 courses in total--let me see if I can remember them (and I'm sure I'm bastardizing the description):

Sea Bass from New Zealand with some blend of lobster or crab and something

Duck Confit and Breast of Duck served on top of a carrot and curry sauce

Tenderloin of Beef alongside something whose name I can't remember with a whipped goat cheese, in addition to 3 delicious sauces

Roquefort cheese souffle with a ladle of pear-walnut cream sauce, served with 3 cheeses: St. Andres Triple Creme Brie, Cave Aged Gruyere and some sort of cheddar on top of a fruit compote

an Espresso dessert of some sort with biscotti

some chocolate dessert with all sorts of sauces to sample with

an assortment of small bites, including homemade chocolate covered marshmallow and candied pomegranate

My descriptions of the food really don't give it any justice. I'm still in awe of the roquefort cheese souffle and am going to email Robert for the recipe (how nice--he's totally willing to give it to me to experiment with!). Anyway, this is by far one of the best meals I've ever had. If you ever swing through Lawrence, KS--this is a 'must-try' culinary experience.



Time at home has been great and peaceful. Been working more than I had planned but that's okay--only bummed that I think my project might be sliding. Hung out last night with some old high school friends: Jed, Matt, Matt and all their current friends. They're all doing well and it was awesome hanging out with them. Will post pictures soon. Otherwise, have been indulging in shopping with the parents and spending lots of time with them. I leave tomorrow and am packing my stuff right now. Was hoping to meet up with my friend, Sara, whom I haven't seen in, oh, 3 years? I fear we may've missed each other. Oh well. My father wants to wake me up early tomorrow and take me to the Lawrence Country Club before we head to the airport---fancy fancy. It cracks me up how much my dad has turned into a golf nut.

Holiday traveling always sucks. Took off at 1am last night from Sea-Tac airport en route to minneapolis in the worst possible seat: 48B---the last row on a fully booked flight, middle seat. Yeah, the seats that don't recline? That seat. ugh. Suffice it to say, I didn't get much sleep. Arrived in minneapolis at 6am CST and wandered around for a bit. Forgot how many retail shops are in that airport. Really wanted an eggnog latte but the line for starbucks was horrendous at that hour. Attempted to check into work, but the WiFi at the airport costs $6.95 for a session. Forget that. Finally boarded my flight to Kansas City which was great--Seat 7A. Slept the entire way and woke up 5 minutes before landing and looked out at my window to see a completely white Kansas landscape. What a shocker--there wasn't even snow in Minnesota. Turned out that 8 inches of snow had fallen overnight and the airport had temporarily closed in the morning. I fortunately was arriving after they had time to clear the runway.



Now I'm in Lawrence--slept all day to make up for lost sleep, did some work and then headed out to Longhorn Steakhouse with my parents and the Wongs. My house is so different than the last time I was here. My room has been remodeled, the kitchen looks completely different, it's just strange. Time to watch a movie! It's good to be home.



Betina posted a number of things she's thankful for this year. I'd like to do the same:

+ I'd like to give thanks for my brother's success---I've always known him to be an amazing artist and he got into a wonderful grad school this year.

+ I'd like to give thanks for my parent's happiness--they were able to finally retire this year and I've seen them happier than ever. This year, they were able to celebrate their wedding anniversary together by going to Mexico--this was the first time they've been able to take a trip on their anniversary in more than 20 years.

+ I'd like to give thanks for my friends in Seattle--I've grown closer to a lot of people and have also fallen into a very comfortable set of friends. Each day, I meet more people and am thankful to have them in my life.

+ I'd like to give thanks for all the weddings--I've had a lot of friends get married this year and I couldn't be more happy for them. It was an incredible experience to share--I'm elated that such dear friends have found tender love.

+ I'd like to give thanks for home--I'm in a condo of my dreams and feel incredibly blessed to have this be my home.

+ I'd like to give thanks for Misha, my cat. It's the best feeling in the world to come home to someone that's been waiting all day for you to return.

+ I'd like to give thanks for my health, which has been much better this year. I feel more alive.

+ Lastly, I'd like to give thanks for having a special someone enter my life recently, one that I hope sticks around for a long time :-)



Happy Turkey Day everyone!

this is really cool---the 2.5 gigapixel photo. Zoom in on it, it's amazing.

Weekend started off with a bang. One of my oldest friends in Seattle, Gary (we studied abroad in Spain together in college), invited me to the Seattle Works Emerald City Swank Friday night. It was my first time to any sort of swanky fundraiser like this--there was a silent and live auction, followed by dinner and dancing. Lots of fun as it was geared towards people in their 20s and 30s and 400-500 people filled the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. I even won a silent auction! I got VIP passes for 5 people to check out TheatreSports. Hmmm...who to invite along with me....





After the Swank, I went over to Vidya's for her housewarming anniversary party and caught up with the crew. Saturday, attended Minal & Amarpal's Housewarming out in Issaquah after spending the afternoon with Eric shopping (and dropping way more $$ than I had planned, getting a new Salamander TV Stand). Later in the evening, had an amazing evening hanging out with someone I haven't seen in years, Matt, eating dinner at Rosebud and watching I Heart Huckabees. Sunday, I went to Nadine & Chip's baby shower, which was lots of fun. Whew. Busy weekend!



I can't believe how time is flying. Next week, I'll be flying back to Kansas for Thanksgiving. Trippy. Anyway, I'm beat for the evening after another grueling workout at the XGym, work and then bellydancing. Gonna take a shower and sleep early tonight. I need it.

Oh man. What a day. I'm so beat. Today was my first real full day working. (Friday didn't count since I pretty much just had to pack up my office for a move) I started off this morning at the XGym, working on a new protocol: ratchets. Ugh. I also had to do new workouts--the adductor, a pushup, leg extension, chin ups: all things that I basically suck at. These next 7 weeks are going to suck at the gym, I can tell. I was coughing throughout my workout (I still have a slight cough that developed near the end of my sickness) and looked like I was going to keel over. Then I headed to work and had a pretty full day, rushing home, made some scallops for dinner and headed off to bellydancing class. We spent the first 15 minutes or so working solely on belly rolls. Oh man, those scallops didn't feel very good after awhile. I was really working that stomach. So so sore. I think a nice, bubble bath this evening will hit just the spot.



God, I hate being sick. I've been pretty healthy all year. Then bam, the fall starts and I get the cold. Just like that. No fun at all. I'm hoping it won't be as bad as last year and I'm working on some more preventative things that I didn't as much last year: not stressing out as much at work, taking a multi-vitamin daily, drinking more water, working out more, dancing more. Let's hope it works.



Hey all you Smithies--just found out: Katie Ho is engaged! Congrats Katie--I'm very happy for you and Kit! I can't wait for the KitKat wedding next year. Now I've got 3 weddings planned next summer on the East Coast---all Smithie friends: Anna, Li Mei and Katie. Wonder if next summer will top the number of weddings I was invited to this year.

www.marryanamerican.ca

Seattle peeps--it's 25 for $25 this month, yum yum!

What a depressing day. 4 more years of Bush. Kerry concedes. 11 states ban gay marriage. I'm still horribly sick. I attempted to go back to work today. Stepped into the elevator and saw the words "I'm moving back to Canada!" scribbled all over the whiteboards inside our elevators. Spent an hour in a meeting about my new organization. Head was swelling. Dizziness overtook me. My ears felt like they were in a tunnel. What was I thinking? I had lunch with Katie, with it being her last day. We caught up, bitched, laughed and had a good hour with each other. I hugged her goodbye and bid her farewell on her new journey outside Amazon. Called up the business owner for my current project and apologized for the poor timing of my bad health. Spent a good 45 minutes trying to schedule a regular war team meeting for the next 3 weeks...and then left. I'm back home again. When will this cold go away? The good thing is that I can tell it's getting better. Blegh. I hate being sick.

Oh, the tension of Election Night. It's so frustrating flipping channels and going from news station to news station and seeing how their electoral vote count completely varies. I mean, seriously--where are they all getting their sources? As of right now, it's:



CNN: Kerry - 188 Bush - 197

ABC: Kerry - 188 Bush - 237

NBC: Kerry - 206 Bush - 207

FOX: Kerry - 144 Bush - 210

CBS: Kerry - 200 Bush - 246



ACK.



I'm still sick. Just sitting at home, by myself, missing out on a bunch of, I'm sure, fun election night outings and parties. I do feel better today than I did yesterday..but still very sick. I really really hope I can make it to work tomorrow.

My Halloween party, Moohaha Brewhaha, was a total success. Lots and lots of people showed up (I counted around 80) and the majority of them in very entertaining costumes: cowboy, 70's pimp, Alex from Clockwork Orange, Verizon guy with his cellphone, Wonder Woman, Jack Skellington, Flavor Fav, bruised hockey player....I could go on and on. Thanks to everyone who came! It wouldn't have been as fun if it weren't for all of you! It was awesome spooking everyone out with my crazy eyes...



The mess afterwards wasn't too bad for the most part. The only icky part are my floors--they're just absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately, I'm totally sick right now and have been too tired to really do much about those floors. I caught a cold late Friday and felt pretty crappy all day on Saturday. Amazingly, when the party started, the adrenaline kicked in and I felt like I was perfectly healthy throughout the whole party. Sunday and today, however, my body's been in extreme sick mode. I ended up staying home, trying to ward off this sickness. Ack, what terrible timing as I just took over another project beginning today. I hope I can make it to work tomorrow...although, honestly, my body is telling me otherwise.