Morning mist at Mandarin Skies

Here's a gorgeous view from the deck Sunday morning. Sienna was up and crowing every morning along with all the forest critters... We napped intermittently throughout the day to catch up from lack of sleep... but it was worth it to connect them back to nature. 

Beach Bum

Spock-like beach bum in her elements. 

Meeza's birthday weekend

Last weekend AG and I and 5 other couples rented a beautiful cabin/guest house near the Russian River up north of SF for Meeza's birthday. Friday night it was stormy with huge fat raindrops on the skylights. We slept in the office nook which had a round hobbit window and skylights above.

It was a food orgy - usually is when we are with Brimeeza's clan. Those guys can eat. We finished off 9 bottles of wine on Friday with 17 more bottles to go. Saturday afternoon we went for a 4 hour beach excursion and Sienna's true colors came out. She's not a city dog, she's a huge dog in a little body and she's country all the way. Lila would have preferred to be carried and not soaked by the waves. Being drenched only invigorated Miss Sienna. Here's AG with his little princess. 

Russian River - Mandarin Skies

AG and I are heading north to Russina River with the girls right after work for a weekend getaway with 6 couples and 4 dogs. It's Meeza's birthday weekend - there will be lots of amazing food (the Saha boys, Bri and Muhommad will not fail us), hot tubbing (I think I will get teased again for wearing my swimsuit and not showing skin), puppy loving (Habib - poodle and Troops - an interesting mixe of daschund/chihaua - meeting our hot little girls), magical retreat for the oh so weary. http://www.rrgetaways.com/mandarins_1.htm. This house is on 4 acres of fairy magic woodlands - perfect for hunting wild mushrooms and fairy wings ;). 

Preparation for TET 2006

As I age (gracefully - hehe), learning about my culture is a lot of fun. TET is the most important holiday for the Vietnamese and has a lot of meaning. Now that I have a home, I'm planning a large TET celebration this year. A lot of this is cultural, a lot of it is superstition, but there's nothing wrong with supersition in my book if it doesn't harm anyone. It's funny to have gone through all the motions of TET growing up with my parents, and not knowing the actual meaning behind all the activities. Here's a site I found which provides some background information on TET http://www.nonsong.org/archive/dsx96/meangtet.html.

Interesting things I've learned and will incorporate this year:

Taboos: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/taboos.html
In summary don't clean your house for 3 days. I consulted with my friends and I can't even throw out the garbage from my house party until the 4th day.
Wear something new and Red... to symbolize good luck and prosperity. Pay all debts and forgive.

Set up an alter to include the following items:
1. Mango - to symbolize the ability to spend (of which I'd like to do more of)
2. Papaya - to symbolize plentiness/bountiful
3. Coconut - to symbolize perfection
4. Oranges/tangerines - to symbolize good luck
5. Pineapple - to symbolize goodness
6. Cookies/sweets - to entice your ancestors and good spirits to stay
7. Banh Tet - to symbolize longevity
8. 3 cups of water/wine/alcohol - again to keep the good spirits and your ancestors happily drunk and at your house
9. Burn 3 incense in a rice cup on the alter for your house (I've just learned that by lighting incense you are opening the doorway to the spirit world.. hrm, how intriguing...and here I've been lighting them to mask bad house odors!)
10. 1 incense at the front door to light the way for the good spirits/ancestors
11. 1 incense at your car (????) so the good spirits will keep your travel activities safe

I must burn the same amount of incense every day for at least 3 days... but better for 7... and the food that have been on the alter, will be considered eaten by your ancestors and spirits - and technically blessed...

The Vietnamese celebrate TET technically for 7 days (but 3 is fine too):
1. New Year's Eve - the devout (which is not me usually, but I am heading to the temple in the afternoon) to be blessed, give money to the monks who will pray for my family, and get my fortune read. At midnight, firecrackers and banging of pots and pans to scare away all the evil wicked spirits (I think there are some at my house :)...)

The first person to enter your house is very important - and are usually either prominent family members with good luck (I think they mean your wealthy in-laws) or someone prestigious...

2. Day 1 (New Year's Day) - for immediate family (however, I'm having a huge party - oh well)

3. Day 2 - for close friends

4. Day 3 - for business associates and so on and so forth....

I'm not planning on doing everything they tell me to.. Maybe someday, but heck a lot of this is all new to me.

Reuniting with an old friend

JC and I reconnected yesterday after 8 years. He was the first person I knew in SF. It was interesting to listen to him tell me his "Saturn Return" stories (here's a link i found for some fundamental overview http://www.newage-directory.com/saturn.html) . Since we are the same age, we went through this event at the same time. I was a little sad thinking that our falling out was caused by something that could have been so easily remedied had I the communication skills and understanding that I have gained now. We were really good friends then. I was also sad to think that he almost didn't email me when he found me online, because I was so obnoxious and rude, and full of myself back then and he wasn't sure whether I would have responded nicely. Ugh, I am coming to terms with my past - it isn't fun but it's healing and I'm happy to know that I've changed so much, hopefully for the better.

It'll take some time to get reacquainted since both of us have changed so much. But I like what I heard, how he dealt with the blows he was given. He's also a top notch trainer - if anyone is interested at www.twistedtwilight.com.

MadHatter's Crew

Brian gets an A for some originality. Having the ability to eat your hat is a rocking idea. He included lots of late night, 7-eleven snacks... you know, snacks that are ransacked at convenient stores when you've been partying all night and nothing-else-is- open-and-you're-starving. What he was missing though were Sno-Balls. 

SHE-LAINE

Now aren't they a cute couple? For Sion's birthday, Elaine bought him leather gold pants. I wished now that I had captured that on film. Sion in leather gold pants!

Anyone who knows Sion knows that he is a "Coral Life" t-shirt and shorts type of guy. If he could, he'd wear that outfit all the time. He owns hundreds of these t-shirts. But fortunately for all of us, Elaine has a killer fashion sense and an even stronger will. Not that Sion can't hold his own when he wants something, but he knows who butters his bread - now that is a smart man! 

MadHatters #7

These aren't the craziest hats, but we weren't as prepared this year for Madhats so I grabbed one of the few hats lying around and not in the BM bin. It's a neat event and I rant into a bunch of old friends whom I hadn't seen in years - genearally the jew crew. 

Natural Bonzai?

I was working on the garden a couple of weeks ago and repotted this plant which I bought two years ago with Smessica. She suggested I purchase succulants because I'm terrible at keeping plants alive. She said there would be no way I could kill them.

She was right. I left this poor guy outside on the deck of my De Haro household for 2 years without watering it at all. At one point I thought it died since it was so brown. When I repotted it, I realized you were supposed to take the brown dried parts off the plant.

It's like a snake, shedding it's greens and then growing and extending itself out longer. Now I think it's so unique and gorgeous, I love this plant. Looks like I tried to bonzai it ;). 

Nap time

Ok, one more... they were being too cute. 

Tuesday lounging session

working at home with the girls....Sienna has a new favorite spot on top the window ledge watching mission traffic.... 

Brimeeza's birthday

Then we headed to Brimeeza's place to celebrate with the Numinosum girls. AG and I are getting old... we tried to sneak out before midnight but got caught and ended up lounging on brimeeza's bed with 4 beautiful girls and habib.... 

Leland Tea House

Saturday KC and Noi invited a few of us to her friend's monthly Puerto Rican dinner at the Leland Tea House located on Bush between Van Ness and Polk. 

Aliya and Ants and how they reflect on my happiness

It's Friday and I didn't have much sleep last night but I'm still deliriously happy. AG and I went to our first 2006 Warriors game. We started off eating well, I packed us a home cooked meal so we wouldn't gorge on jambalaya and nasty/overpriced burgers/hot dogs. But we decided to splurge on garlic fries smothered with jalapenos peppers chased down with 2 large sierra nevada's. Paying for it this morning since my ulcer can't take a basket of jalapenos as easily as it used to.

But I'm super happy you know? I'm sitting here in my cubicle and I'm deliriously happy.

Hey, it ain't just any cube, it's next to a window that allows an amazing amount of sunshine in, and today the sun is shining brightly. And the ants that are swarming all over my cube, a reaction to the heavy torrential rains we've had, hasn't doused that joy. And then, I get an awesome email and picture from Helsley, of Aliya... Life is good. Work is easy, boss loves me, I work from home twice a week, I'm healthy and so are my family and all those I love... man, everything else I want is just gravy on top.

WEDDINGS: I'm also pleased to announce that we'll be attending 3 weddings this year - all very good friends of ours: (1) KT and Merhdad - in June; (2) AG's best friend - Ven/Jen in July (in Jersey); (3) ilya/sasha (who just got engaged on New Year's).

BABIES: And not to mention friends who are expecting... (1) Ann/Dale (April), (2) Dav/Mie (July), and (3) Katia/Pete (April).

Goddamn! Joyous news to announce....... 

New Year's Eve 2005-2006

And the grand finale - dinner at our place before everyone went their merry way to celebrate however they chose. 

Seattlelites unite

From left to right: Ashley, Noy, Me, Krissy and Donna.

Dinner at Krissy and Chen's house in South Seattle with a spectactular view. 

Lila and Sienna reunite with their siblings

George and Daisy performing for treats as Ganema, Lila, Sienna and Gabriel watch on. 

Xmas morning

 

Lila's ruby red diaper

 

Xmas 2005 in Portland - and Seattle

Left Wednesday evening at around 8pm. AG spent all day moving stuff out of the loft in preparation for handing the keys over. He finished at 3pm, just in time for a 45 minute rest and then to Big-O-Tires to find chains just in case we run into snow and sleet. Got home and began the arduous task of final packing hell.

But we got out. I drove most of the way and the pups were so great. They whined a bit when we stopped for gas but like AG, slept the entire time. If it wasn't for the hydroplaning which required astute attention span and rigid hands on the wheel, which locked up some muscle tension in my back... I could have driven the entire way. But as it was, by 5am, my body couldn't take it anymore and AG took over for the last 30 minutes of the trip. His parents were up by the time we got there at 6am. I could barely keep my eyes open - took a shower when I got there, to give me enough energy to have a 15 minute conversation with the parents before I passed out.

Slept a lot Thursday, we were both tired and a little bit grumpy with the pups.. who were excited about new smells and such and wanted to go outside to play. Spent much of Thursday and Friday catching up on sleep, hanging out with folks, and making rounds to the nearest mall in preparation for Xmas. By Saturday we started to feel normal again. AG's mom flew in then and helped out with the pups. I think both Sienna and Lila really like being outdoor dogs in the Northwest - not in the city. They loved their daily walks with Grandma - it was nice watching them all fight over walking duties, of which I was more than happy to relinquish....heehee, I'm such a good mom.

We left Monday morning and headed to Seattle. Met up with Krissy & Chen, Noy and Ashley. Brought me back to high school days and I went back into character; boisterous, loud, demanding bully. Well sort of. I've changed quite a bit since then, but somehow when you are back with the people you grew up with, it brings back certain behaviors and habits. Was interesting to see that about myself.

Stopped over in Mt. Lake Terrace to drop off the little ones at Vannessa's. What a crazy household. George (aka Monster) is still huge (if not even bigger) and quite lovable. Daisy (aka Lucy), the middle child, is such a sweetheart. And then there is princess Ganema (sp?) - Vannessa's favored child. It was a frantic household with everyone trying to smell Sienna and Lila, particularly Gabrielle. After an hour of relentless barking, butt smelling, tail-wagging and frantic weiner bodies running all over the place - everyone started to settle a little bit. AG and I snuck out.

Dinner at our household was much different than at the Gluck's. Where soft voices and respectful requests were in stark contrast to high pitched demands and noisy confusion and chatter. All the kids were at home with their significant others, excluding Hung. It was entertaining that my mom noted how sweet her daughter's partners were and how sorry for them she felt meeting us girls. As if she didn't have a hand in the development of our personalities; and that her relationship with Mr. T mirrors all of ours. Blind blind blind.

I don't have a problem with that. We're strong women, we grew up with an even stronger presence. I love that about my mom. My strength is my own, as I believe that each person's character is more nature than nurture - but her influence is powerful. Kinda reminds me of our puppies' characters. George, Ganema and Daisy are all hearty - each with their own strengths. But Vannessa's approach to raising them as unpampered pets has made my two dogs look like wimps. Being with their siblings will toughen them a bit and they are already showing blossoming signs innate toughness that's been dormant. Scares me a little. I don't want pampered children - how to find that balance of giving them roots as well as wings, harumph!

Tonight we'll meet up with Sashily for dinner and drinks and tomorrow night to see Krissy & Chen's new home. And then Thursday morning, back to Portland to spend one last evening with the Glucks before we make our way home.

Prepping for Xmas-Trip 2005

It's 12:49am and we're packing for our big family xmas trip. Tentative plans are to shianghai the puppies and hijack outta here by 9pm and drive through sleet, rain, and snow to Portland and sleep for a day. Grandma Gluck is going to be very happy to see her little darlings; who are both ladies now. I'm happy not to be working or even thinking of working for 10 days. AG is happy that the sale of his loft is going through by Friday. They are scheduled to meet the title company tomorrow to sign paperwork. It's nice to have his previous life-things tied up nicely before the new year.

Feels so weird how normal it is to pack up to drive and see the family. Wasn't too long ago when I was only day dreaming about such things. I have a feeling this is going to be a nice holiday. Packed full of course, never a dull moment with my party planning. Many people to see. It's pretty cool that I like his family.

Got Milk?

This is one of Lila's common faces - not sure what it means. Maybe it's her "what are you doing?" look. Sometimes they just sit and stare intensly at me until I allow them to sleep on my lap while watching TV. It's a little unnerving and difficult to ignore. 

Chef AG - Tante Marie's Cooking School

This is the first (and probably the only time) I'll get to see him in an apron. I was hoping he'd have such a great time, he'd want to do it more often.... sigh... there is always hope. 

Favorite state of being

Many of my friends know that the harder I rage the closer to the ground I get...um, makes it easier to connect to the eart ;). 

Dildo Fairy and Qwazy Russian

Had to include the other half - she's quite an important part of the formula. Hate the program on this which only allows one to blog one picture at a time.. perhaps it is time to move to another platform...

hrm....

stay posted.... 

Halloween 2005

Hamming it up with the cwazy Russian. Sashilya said something awesome to me that night. When they were in Vietnam, they had missed their train and ended up going to Halong Bay on a different schedule than planned. At first she was bummed out about it, and couldn't figure out why she was staying. Then after we met, Michelle told her..."you were meant to stay..." There are some things in life that happens so you can meet the people who are supposed to change the course of your life. These guys have totally changed ours. We'll be visiting them soon... watch out Seattle. 

Tante Marie's Cooking School

Last night we attended a Qwest holiday event at Tante Marie's house, owner of Tante Marie's cooking school http://www.tantemarie.com/. What a beautiful victorian house, an inspiration. I love my condo - it's practical - spacious and modern. But if I had money to restore one of these beautiful victorians..... Of course the kitchen was fantastic (pictures will be posted). The upper kitchen had a long butcher block island with a stove inserted (see picture in the website, that's her kitchen). Great area for cutting and dicing. Right behind was another stove.

The lower kitchen was smaller and for baking. Of course, it's about the normal size of most SF kitchens... Mine's a little larger, but only a smidgeon. 34 people present, most of them either Qwest executives or their premiere customers. I probably made it on the list because of a $1.4M overcharge and because Qwest is intent on soliciting more deals. We sat next to the CEO of Cadence - nice guy, but he was dropping names like we were execs ourselves. I find that funny. Bragging is a characteristic I identify with insecurity.

Faye and I chose to make chocolate cake with raspberry and medallion chocolates. I'm not much of a baker, mostly because I don't enjoy cakes and find them over-indulgent - but I enjoy the creativity of it. AG went to make potatoe gratin. I think he had a great time chatting with Qwest's marketing director who organized the event. While we were chatting, drinking wine, and making food, the groups that finished began serving their creations. Appetizers included artichoke and fresh crab (I have a new appreciation for artichokes) and also some divine mushroom h'orsdoevers. The main course consisted of a beautiful salmon and caviar salad, seared sirloin medallion steaks and potatoe gratin. And of course dessert - chocolate cake with raspberries, freshed whipped cream and a sprig of mint. We served the chocolate medallions with coffee. As a parting gift, I received a bottle of Cakebread (oh my, one of my favorites), and a box of See's candy.

This has to be one of my favorite vendor events. It was creative, interactive and really fun. On top of the wonderful food and fun conversations, all the proceeds of the event went towards Tante's nonprofit - to provide food to the hungry. She hosts approximately 35 of these events at her home annually to fund her nonprofit.

I did get liquored up nicely - and left just in time, before I got sloppy or passed out. Poor AG - I woke up this morning not remembering how I got into bed. Of course I passed out wearing my party attire.

Saha's 2nd anniversay and a Numinosum reunion

Sapna and I attended Saha's 2nd anniversay this evening at 1075 Sutter, a quaint and adorable little middle eastern restaurant in Hotel Carleton in the tenderloin. AG and I camped with the owner, Muhammod, with our Numinosum camp. Best food at BM ever. Not that I want ramble on and on again about how wonderful our camp was, but it sure has opened up some new doors for us. Scrumptious appetizers (stuffed mushrooms, sauteed mushrooms and tofu, braised chicken wings with spicy sauces), belly dancers, great live music. And best of all, some of our Numinosum buddies were there.

Finally caught up with Salim, Thomas, and Brimeeza. It would be nice to connect the russians with Salim and Nyphesa. Adorable couple. I think even Sapna had a good time for once. The music was fantastic, I almost couldn't leave....but there were little ones waiting for me at home, and with a present too. Oh well... life of a parent.

Liya Lobster?

Hrm... ?