Merry Christmas!

First Christmas away from family. First Christmas with my new family; John, Holly, and Baxter. I thought I would be depressed and sad wishing I were at home with all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins. I definitely wanted to be home, but I wasn't depressed. John wanted to decorate the house to make sure I was in the holiday spirit. Poor guy was afraid I would be grumpy and moping this Christmas. I was afraid of that too. But I wasn't. The sad thing about this is that I never felt the holiday spirit this year. Christmas seemed like just another day off. There wasn't anything to really looked forward to. I tried listening to Christmas music in the car to get me into the spirit. Yes, that is disappointing. Is it because I'm getting older? No way am I a grumpy old holiday hating lady, but this year, I wasn't excited about Christmas. I hope the rest of my family had a wonderful time. I will make sure it make it to the next Christmas. It' s been too long since I've seen the Clans

Food is fun

I've been watching a lot of Travel Channel and Food Network to see where all the hotspot eateries are. Surprisingly there are quite a few featured places that are here in Oklahoma. Eating is something I love. Eating at a famous place that was featured on TV, now that I love even more! My plan is to go to as many of these places as I can. So far I've been to Big Truck Taco. A little taco shack that's packed during lunch hour. It's a bright yellow concrete block that's located in Oklahoma City's "ghetto". Ghetto in parenthesis because this isn't Baltimore City. You know what real ghetto is if you've ever known parts of Baltimore city (or Hyattsville). They have the bestest, greasiest, yummiest soft shell tacos. My favorite was the brisket taco. Now if you've ever had bbq brisket you know how good this stuff is. Imagine that piled high on a tortilla with so much grease it drips down your wrists leaving globs of orange fat stains. Haven't been there in a while since I don't work downtown anymore. But will probably have to make a visit when the cousins come ;)

Next stop: Ingrid's Kitchen. Driving through most of Oklahoma City you start to notice some food trends; Mexican, Tex-mex, bbq, sonic, bbq, tex-mex, more sonic, more bbq, etc. So I was excited to find that there was an authentic German restaurant in town. Being adventurous one Sunday, I convinced John to leave the couch and drive a few minutes up north to try the German Breakfast Buffet. (okay, so not very adventurous, but for me and John, any new place, no matter how close or common, is an adventure. hmm, actually more so true for John than me!). We walked into the cafeteria-like restaurant. Nothing fancy. There was a huge buffet station set out with the usual breakfast food and some lunch items. The only "German" thing on the menu were bratwursts and sauerkraut. Disappointing. I wanted to try some schnitzel and schinkenwurst, and knackwursts. Whatever those are. John loved the food. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy that eats Totino's pizza 6 days out of the week. Don't know if we'd come back to this place for the breakfast, but I would like to try a schnitzel.

A few weekends ago I once again convinced John to drive out even further than before for another Travel Channel driven food adventure. I' ve actually been wanting to try this place for a long time. Get ready for it.... fried chicken and waffles! and soul food! Real soul food that was made by some lady called Mama E! Prior to our trip I had been craving fried chicken like no other. So I was super excited. John, oh John, had total reservations as soon as we spotted the yellow shack, yes another yellow shack, although this one much more ghetto-er than Big Truck Taco. He later told his coworker where he had gone and she asked us what the hell we were doing in that part of town. More ghettoness. If it wasn't for the Travel Channel, I would have never ever thought about eating at this shady place. But hey, good food is good food and I wasn't bothered by the appearance of the place. It kind of reminds me of the tiny food shops at Eden. Steaming silver trays of hot food held behind a glass and the lady behind it scoops up your order into styrofoam plates. I got the wings and waffles with a side of collard greens. All of the food looked and smelled so good. Mac and cheese, roasted chicken, stuffing, neck bones, meatloaf, gravy, catfish. This stuff was no doubt made from scratch by someone who knew what he/she was doing. And for a dollar you get unlimited Koolaid. John was more excited about the Koolaid than anything else. We ate our food in a small dining area with black writing scribbled all over the walls and tables. There was a big old TV that played Rush Hour at the end where the food was being made. My chicken and waffles were good. Nice combo of sweet and salty. But it wasn't as exciting as I thought. John's soul food however was delicious. I don't know of any other place near here that has that type of home-cooked food. I will definitely come back to try more. Almost forgot! There was also free dessert! I had no idea what is was and still have no idea. But it was good. See photo below.

Next stop is a fried chicken place called Eichens. My coworkers have been raving about this place. So we'll be taking a work trip this Saturday. Yay!


Mama E's we're here!

This was where you ordered the food


John. So happy to eat at Mama E's.



"Dessert" I ate it.


Hope this provided you with a nice break from your studying/working/procrastinating :)

Dad's new retirement plan

Being in San Diego by the water, the piers and the fishermen makse me miss my dad. So I gave him a call today just to say hi. He sounded unusually excited to talk to me about my current trip to San Diego. Apparently now he wants to retire here because "I can go fishing on the pier. Bring my radio and an dau phong. Or I don't need to fish, I can be there and enjoy the nature." My job while I'm still here in San Diego is to do some research for him. He wants me to find out how much it would cost for a 2 bedroom townhouse."Nothing big. One room for me and mommy and one room for you, Nancy, and Sandy when you visit". I told him when he decides to move out there, I'll move too. How great would it be to have my family all together in a beautiful city such as San Diego....(hint hint Nancy, Sandy)

Fashion update

So I have been stalking fashion blogs for the past few weeks now. I was never in to fashion. Of course I wanted to look good, but comfort and convenience took priority. Make up and jewelry and cute shoes were all extras. I never understood why people would spend so much money on all these extra things. My wardrobe consisted of mostly blue scrubs for the past few years. And dark dreary colors (as my mom called them). Blues, creams, blacks, and grey. Oh grey, I think you are my new favorite color. Mom says I dress like ba gia. Thanks, mom. But those colors, in solid patterns, were the easiest to wear. NOW, however, I am breaking my boring fashion habits! Why now you ask? Well, 1. I don't have to wear blue scrubs anymore. 2. I've actually got some extra dough to spend on the things I always thought were extras. 3. My coworker always looks so darn cute, like she stepped out of a J Crew catalog. 4. I definitely look more 'grown up'. (it sucks when you walk in to see your patient and they give you this "you must be the assistant, you look like you're in college, you can't know what you're doing, what the hell, I want to see the doctor") 5. I want to be able to flaunt it while I still got it ; )

That all being said, I have gone on a mini shopping spree. I have rediscovered J crew. They actually have really nice stuff. And Ann Taylor, too. Gonna attempt to wear heels to work one day. Small, sturdy, strong heals, but heals none the less. Bye Bye Nikes. Next step is to go to Target or Forever 21 to find some cheapie jewelry to spice things up. I'm kind of excited about this! New looks for the coming new year! Let's see how long this fashion momentum lasts.... here's a look at what I got from www.jcrew.com, on sale of course:


sparkly belt. Definitely something new to me.


Wasn't sure about this one, but got it in a olive green color.

The orange cardigan. I got one in light blue too!
Still sticking to more neutral colors. hopefully these all look good, if not, returns!

Fall?

Fall already? aw man. I'm enjoying this weather but whenever summer ends, I always feel sad. Now that I'm out of school there shouldn't be much difference which season is which. Fall doesn't mean the start of school, and summer doesn't mean the end of classes. Still, summer equals beach, and crabs, cookouts and reunions, watermelon, and longer days. I love it, love it! Dear Summer, I miss you.

Wedded Bliss

It's been over a week since the whirlwind of wedding fun happened. how did the time fly by so quickly? John and I spent a year and a half planning in anticipation for this day. We had an idea of how the day would turn out. I had a pretty clear image of how I wanted things. Visiting wedding blogs, browsing through bridal magazines, and watching Platinum Weddings became a regular activity. Earlier during the planning phase we wished that the day would come sooner, but as the date came closer, I started to wish time would slow down. Of course I wanted to marry John, but I also knew that this once in a lifetime event would be over in 24 hours and will never happen again. Anticipation gave me something to look forward too. It made the planning process fun. In reality, I'm still visiting wedding blogs and watching to WE wedding TV shows :) It's become routine! I wish we could relive that day:

Woke up at 7:30. Lucky for me I got to sleep on the bed downstairs since Lynn slept over. I would have been too chicken to sleep in the basement by myself if it weren't for Lynn, instead I would have slept in my usual spot, the living room floor. My mom was already up making xoi. A few of the bridesmaids slept over that night. I wished we could have all gotten ready together, but with 8 girls, time was an issue! Did my routine morning thingamagigs, tried to get something to eat, gathered my dress and shoes and went to the salon for a makeup session. The salon agreed to open early for me which was very nice since it was just me there. Oh, and the weather! I can remember clearly how beautiful that morning was. Some brides may have wanted to be surrounded by bridesmaids/parents/friends/photographers/hair stylists/makeup artists early in the morning, and yes, I did want that, I would have loved to have that, but I was happy to be able to have a few moments to myself. I enjoyed the drive to the salon. I must have passed through Patapsco State Park thousands of times before, but on that quiet Saturday morning, I noticed how wonderful that little road was. The sunlight mingled with the trees to create patches of bright and shade. It was cool enough to have the windows down. My little 3 minutes of wonderful alone time to let things sink in :)

After makeup was done, I headed back down route 40 to Vi/Tien's house. Everyone was up, they had their hair nicely done, and Uncle Peter was at the stove cooking bacon and eggs! I am so grateful to have such a talented aunt. I previously gave her a vague idea of how I wanted my hair, and she was able to complete that look in less than an hour. The amazing thing was, even with my abnormally thick and coarse hair, she was able to whip out her magic (and large can of hairspray) and made the style stay in place the entire day and night! No touch up needed. We put the veil on at that point since I didn't even know how to put one on correctly and wasn't sure if any of my girls knew how either. So there I was, makeup, hair, veil, in Vi's kitchen eating a banana and 1/4 of a bagel wearing a turquoise hoodie and skirt. I was ready!

Got to the church and was greeted by my photographers! I was the only other person there. After dropping my things off in the music room, I went to the room where the ceremony would be held and just stood at the beginning of the aisle taking it all in. No one was there, just me. In 30 minutes this room will be full of people and I will walk down this very aisle to my future husband. After that, I waited in the dressing room until I was given the ok to come out. Traditionally, no one see the bride until she's walking down the alter, but I was so excited to see family that I was walking around mingling with everyone. Screw tradition! Also, John and I did a 'first look' where the bride and groom see each other prior to the ceremony. John's seen me in this dress before (yeah yeah) but I was so excited for him to see me with the makeup, hair, and veil. I remember the look on his face when he saw me. He had a calm, loving smile as he held my arms out and took it all in. We were ready. Once the bridal party was lined up and the music started, I got really excited. We had one good looking bridal party! I took both my parents' arms and remember standing at the end of the aisle, trying to make sense of everything before me. Thinking back on it, the thing I remember most, and I think this is kinda weird, is the blueness of all the bridesmaids dresses and how it brightened up the room! Knowing me, I thought I was going to be sobbing down the aisle. But I didn't. Then I thought I would be sobbing as my parents handed me to John, but I didn't. I didn't cry when we said our vows, I didn't cry when we were announced husband and wife. I was cheesin the whole time! how embarrassing! This came to my attention through all the wedding photos. In reality, I just could not stop smiling. And that smiling must have prevented the tears to come. One of my favorite parts of the day was right after the ceremony when I was able to meet with the family/friends. There should have been 2 hours dedicated to that :( wished I had more time.

Tea ceremony. Neither I nor John planned on having a tea ceremony. For me, it was one more thing to add on to our already extensive to do list. Choosing to wear ao dai was a last minute decision of mine. We basically did the ceremony to make his mom happy. My parents would have preferred we did the tea ceremony, but she said it wasn't necessary. I have to say, I am glad we did it. Because we are Viet and I am proud to be Viet!!! Rebel.

Fast forward to the reception ...

The rest of the day was nonstop go go go! There should have been time for me to relax for at least an hour, but between the tea ceremony running late and driving between John's house to mines, it left me with zero extra time. As soon as I got home, I rushed and packed the car with decorations and sped to the mansion. How embarrassed was I to come there and find 2 of my guests already there. nothing was set up yet. So, I put those two guests to work! They insisted. My dream was to have the mansion immaculately decorated once guests arrived. They would walk into this beautiful space filled with soft light and music and be served cocktails and food. Nope. We were running around placing flowers on the tables, setting up tea lights, organizing table numbers, boxes on the floor. The reception started without any official announcement. I don't remember too much during the start of it. All I remember was running up stairs to put my gown on, running back down stairs to make sure I had my car keys and the extra boxes were cleared, and taking a bazillion pictures. hopefully the guests were enjoying themselves inside while John and I were out on the lawn. Once photos were done, we went inside to find a room full of people all trying to talk to us. It was quite overwhelming. John and I grabbed our plate of hordevours and went up to the bridal suite. At that moment I was able to slow down, take a breather and just be with my new husband. Through out the day we were surrounded by people. And knowing me, I love being in the crowd amongst family I haven't seen in a long time. I wanted to spend all my time with them. But it wasn't until we were alone in the suite did I realize how much I needed to get away from all the craziness for a moment. Of course, we didn't spend much time up there. We were ready to get the party started! I barely ate that night. It also felt like I barely spent time with anyone, when I hope in actuality I did, although probably too brief. The night really was a blur for me. It was like I dabbled a little bit here and there, spent some time in the tent, spent some time at guests tables, spent a little time at the bar, a little more time in the cake room, danced a bit, took a couple photos. There was so much I wanted to do and not enough time to do it all!

(side note, I started writing this blog very shortly after I got back to OK, saved it and am returning to it now... so some of the excitement and things I have wanted to say are forgotten, and I got lazy)

In the end everything was wonderful. Yes, it may sound cheesy, but I felt nothing but love that night. Everyone that was there sacrificed time and money to be there that night. Through out the reception, I had guests come up to me and tell me how much fun they're having. Best comment of the night came from my little cousin, Khoa "This is the best time ever!" with his both hands in the air! It really was the best night ever.

Post wedding, my mom called to tell me she received several compliments from my aunts/uncles/cousins. They enjoyed the food, the cake, and overall had a really good time. This meant soooo much to me. Prior to the wedding my mom and some of our older family members were judging American style weddings. "too expensive, the food is bad, they don't give you enough food and you have to go to Burger King after (specifically quoted from my dad). But HAH! in your face! YOU HAD FUN! :) honestly, this wedding was for me and John, but really I saw it as a humongous reunion of two families and friends. It didn't matter how much work we put in to it, we wanted to make sure our guests had a good time. I'm still calling my mom up to see if she's gotten any more comments about the wedding :) Sometimes I can't believe John and I pulled it off. We totally winged it.

I want to get married all over again!