Thanksgiving, the American Chinese Way

I just wanted to share a picture of all of the food (minus my pumpkin cheesecake pie) we had for Thanksgiving.  We had all of the normal "traditional" Thanksgiving foods plus what my family considers is necessary at family gatherings...

Yep, we had turkey (super juicy), stuffing (with venison sausage!), cranberry sauce (not from a can this year!), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (with soup from a can), sweet potatoes, potato salad, tater tot casserole (in honor of Opie's BBQ and the craving Stasia's wedding created), stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, rolls, fruit salad, pumpkin cheesecake pie...

Then we also had sweet & sour chicken, pork loin, a noodle side dish whose name I only know in Chinese, and rice.  

Side note: My family believes rice should be eaten with practically every single meal.  Noodle dishes (like Italian) or pizza are pretty much the only exception.  Seriously, they eat cheese hamburgers without a bun and with a side of rice instead.  My plate and my cousin's wife's plate would be the ones without rice.  We allotted no room for a filler like rice! 

Gotta love Thanksgiving done my family's way!  It makes eating the leftovers a lot less boring, that's for sure!

An Intimate Vineyard Wedding

The last time I was in Austin, Brittany and Korey got married.  Fast forward seven months, and this past weekend I went to see Anastasia and Justin get married at Spicewood Vineyards.  It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding.  An intimate affair arranged beautifully with decorations made by Brittany and Stasia.

The lovely bridesmaids (Maggie, Caroline, Brittany).

The Bride and Groom - Look at how happy they look!  

At one point, Justin shed tears.  It was moving.

The ceremony was different in that it didn't have religion overtones, Bible verses, or traditional vows.  But I really liked it.  The officiant was serious but not boring and spoke from the heart about love and marriage.  I don't remember the actual vows but one funny part stuck out.  Justin appeared to stumble (possibly out of embarrassment?) when asked to repeat "lover" while Stasia appeared to yell/emphasis it.    

Mr. and Mrs. Teague!

I found it amusing that the officiant wore his sunglasses the entire ceremony.

I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures - I had too much fun just enjoying myself!  It was great to see everyone, drink some good wine, eat some delicious food (Opie's BBQ - I'm determined to recreate their tater tot casserole and Britt's working on their spicy corn and then we'll share!), and be a part of their special day!

A yummy and pretty cake from Lux Bakery!

They had a fantastic guestbook.  It was a time capsule and guests were asked to pick one or more dates (1, 5, 10, or 25 years from now) and write a message or prediction to the couple.  It could be anything we wanted and they provided examples like "where will they be living" and the more random one "how many robots will be living in their home."  It was a SUPER cute and fun idea.  I already told Stasia I'm definitely stealing that one from her!  (She did take my red color so we're even, right?!)

All in all, a fun weekend trip to Austin and a beautiful wedding!  I'm so grateful I was able to share in Stasia's special day and see her marry the man she loves.  Congrats Stasia and Justin!

Opera, Shopping, Netflix, Birthday Party = Great Weekend

I love the weekend.  They tend to be jam-packed and super busy but that suits my personality.  This weekend was full of activities but also balanced with a good amount of staying in bed watching TV time.  *BLISS*

Friday night started off with Brother's first trip to the new Winspear Opera House to see Don Giovanni.  It was FANTASTIC (even though we sat SO high we couldn't see the top of the talking statue during one of the scenes LOL.)  I definitely liked it better than last week's Anna Bolena (although that one was still good and the seats were front and center orchestra instead of in the rafters.)  The lead men singing in Italian was enough to dazzle anyone.  Add in amazing sets that constantly changed and included smoke and lights, comedy, drama, action, sword fights, and music by my favorite classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart... yep, I definitely was happy.

Saturday was a day of errands/shopping and even though I didn't much, just the act of shopping brings me joy.  Food for the house, Halloween items on major markdown, and Bed Bath & Beyond for all my friends' upcoming weddings.  For dinner, Josh picked up my favorite pizza (Papa Murphy's) and we watched UT football on the Xbox.  Let's not concentrate on how bad the Longhorns are this year but instead on how cool it is that ESPN now streams live on the Xbox.  We also watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Josh and his sister grew up watching this all the time and LOVED it.  I'm amazed they're not scarred HAHA.

Thanks to Daylight Savings time, today I got extra sleep and enjoyed just staying in bed watching Netflix until it was time to go to my cousin's 2nd birthday party.  I'm not used to the hyperness of children... let me tell you, I'm TIRED.  (Could also be due to Daylight Savings Time but I'll stick to blaming the children.)

They were cute kids and fun to watch/play with.  And now... the following picture makes me simultaneously feel super bad for my cousin and laugh...

He was doing perfectly fine the entire party and happy as can be... until everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to him.  Then his face went from happy to hesitant to scared to full WAILING.  Poor baby but he got over it fast, no worries.

On to the presents... he's on his way to being a little rock star one day.

He REALLY loves guitars.  This would be his 3rd now and he jams along.  It's cute to watch him dancing along to the music.  He also got the drum which contained symbols, maracas, the little finger symbols, and a trumpet.  My cousins can say goodbye to sleeping in!

And now, time for some more Netflix before saying goodbye to another lovely weekend.

World Series Game 5: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants

I've been a Texas Rangers baseball fan for literally my entire life.  Not that I remember this, but supposedly as a baby I "watched" the games with my dad.  Quality bonding time on the couch.  :o)

I'm proud to say I'm not a bandwagon fan or a fair weather fan.  I've gone to games every year, win or lose, regardless of how terrible we were... and trust me, we've been terrible.  So... when this year we made it into the playoffs, I was super excited but wouldn't get my hopes up since well, we've never advanced past the first round of playoffs.  And then we beat the Tampa Bay Rays!  So it was on to the New York Yankees which we'd never before been able to beat in the playoffs.  I was WORRIED.  And then we beat them to become the American League Champions!  The Rangers were on their way to their very first World Series in franchise history!  I couldn't be more excited!

Gary and I decided we deserved to go to a World Series game no matter the cost.  It would be wrong to go without also taking Dad so we split the cost of his ticket.  It was a major splurge but definitely worth it to be there!  Jeff came with us too and helped memorialize the occasion with awesome photos.  (All photos were taken by me unless otherwise noted.)

Photo by Jeff

We chose Game 5 because we had a feeling it would be the final game of the World Series and then we'd be there for the Rangers' win and how historic would that be!  Alas, our prediction of the Rangers winning was wrong... but we were correct in that Game 5 ended the World Series and it was still pretty cool to be there.  We got to see the very best of both teams' pitchers play and they truly were fantastic to watch.  They each had such different and distinctive styles.

Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum

Neftali Feliz vs. Brian Wilson

    

The Giants played a really great game and they ultimately deserved to win so I'm ok with the outcome.

Photo by Brother

And now for some random World Series photos... former President George and Laura Bush were in attendance.  (We were sitting absolutely no where near them.  Josh's zoom lens is just that good that I could snap this picture.)

I happened to be snapping a picture right at this moment too... the blurry thing in the upper left hand corner would be Josh Hamilton's bat flying out of his hands and into the stands.

And I'll end with this super cute picture.  I did a double take the first time I saw her.  At first I thought it was just a panda stuffed animal but then I realized it was her baby.  Aside from the fact that it's WAY too expensive to buy a ticket to the World Series to bring along a baby... I'd totally dress up my kid like that LOL.

Photo by Jeff

Now let's hope it doesn't take another 39 years to get to another World Series...

  

Happy Halloween from Zoey!

Last weekend, the Velvet Snout hosted a customer appreciation celebration which included a dog costume contest.  If you know me at all, you know I couldn't resist the opportunity to dress up Zoey!

We went as matching witches.  Me, a Candy Corn Witch.  Zoey, a Super Cute Dog Witch.  (If you're one of those who doesn't believe in dressing up dogs and thinks dogs hate it... look at Zoey's happy little smile and then try to tell me she doesn't love it.)

For actual Halloween, we dressed up again.  This time Zoey was my pumpkin to go along with my witch outfit.  (Last year after Halloween, Target had their dog costumes for $2.50 each.  It was such a great deal I bought 4.  Yes... seriously... 4.  So this year to justify last year's purchase, I had to make sure to use more than one.)

We sat on the porch and handed out candy to the trick or treaters.  There weren't that many which was disappointing but it was still fun.

One Year Older, Hopefully One Year Wiser

I love birthdays.  Not just my birthday (although of course I do love mine!) but all birthdays.  It has nothing to do with the gifts or the birthday cake or the good wishes.  I like that it's a day of celebration that's just for that one special person.  It's like random holidays sprinkled throughout the year.

This year I had a birthday week celebration.  Family dinner (with Grandpa in attendance this year!), coworker lunch, dinner with friends, and Anna Bolena (opera) with Josh!

It meant a lot to me that my friends were able to find time in their busy schedules for my birthday dinner.  And Ashley drove all the way from Mansfield!  It's moments like these that remind me just how loved and truly blessed I am.

Josh and I shared a delicious dessert - pumpkin cheesecake!  (I am a sucker for pumpkin.  It makes my world go round.  YUM.)  And look at Josh's baby face!  Bye bye beard, hello 10 years younger!

I have no pictures of the opera - they weren't allowed.  In short, we almost didn't make it and we were SEVERLY under dressed... BUT! it was fun and I really enjoyed it.  Thank you Brother for the front and center orchestra seats!

Here's to 26!  Hopefully I'm a little bit wiser... but if nothing else, I'm sure it'll be a better year than 25 and that's enough for me!

State Fair of Texas 2010 - Dog Shows

Every year I attend the dog shows.  However, the last several years have been the same 2 shows (at least it seems to have been) so I wasn't really all that excited this year.  In essence, I was going to attend the shows more out of habit than anything.

But!  They updated the shows this year!  The "dancing dogs" show (which was cute but more silly than talented) was replaced by an "Amazing Dobermans" show.  It was FANTASTIC!  I'm talking people who don't even like dogs leave this show happy and impressed and cheering.  Yes, it was that good.

And to prove it - here's some video.

A little over 2 years ago, I enticed a big group of friends to go to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo with me.  We didn't really care about the rodeo (it was a first for most of us and ended up being pretty fun I must admit)... We were mainly going to see Whiplash, the Cowboy Monkey (who rides a dog.)  

I thought nothing would top that.  Until I saw this.

A little itty bitty dog (Chihuahua?) riding a Doberman dressed up like a horse.  PRECIOUS.  And no offense Whiplash, (I still love you I promise), you have arms and fingers in which to hold on.  That little dog had nothing.  Pure balance.  LOVE it.

I fell in love with this little dog.  Check out her balance.

I'm pretty sure Zoey was jealous when I got home.  She knew I had loved another from afar.  And while I know this show is called "Amazing Dobermans," the little dog steals the show.  Makes you want to steal her and hide her in your purse.

Jump! Ultimate Dog Show was also updated this year.  They still have the distance dive into a pool part but they replaced the weaving between poles part with a Jack Russell Terrier hurdle race.  I now have a mental image of what dog racing must be like.

State Fair of Texas 2010 (aka Fried Food Capital of Texas)

Nothing says "Fall" like the State Fair of Texas.  I've been going for as long as I can remember plus a couple years I was too young to remember.  Since college, it's become a tradition to go for the TX/OU football game.  It's also become a tradition to go try all the crazy new fried creations the Fair concessionaires (did you know that was a word?) come up with.  So eat we did.

There were eight finalists this year - Fernie's Fried Club Salad, Deep Fried S'mores Pop-Tart, Fried Lemonade, Texas Fried Caviar, Texas Fried Frito Pie, Deep Fried Frozen Margarita, Fried Beer, and Fried Chocolate.

I love fried food but I can only eat so much and some didn't sound appetizing to me so I narrowed down the choices and then off I went.

First up, Fried Beer which won "Most Creative."

Josh was really excited about this one.  It did sound interesting... but it turned out to be a flop.  The beer (which I successfully identified as Guinness!) was lukewarm, the pretzel dough never got crispy and just tasted undercooked, and then adding a cheese sauce just didn't make sense to me.

Second up, Deep Fried S'mores Pop-Tart.

This was delicious.  DELICIOUS.  It's a pop tart, battered in Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate cereal, fried, and then topped with cream, chocolate syrup, and chocolate sprinkles.  Mmm... DELICIOUS.

Next, Texas Fried Frito Pie which won for "Best Taste."

This did taste good but it wasn't all that creative or difficult in my opinion.  It's beef and cheese chili battered with corn chips.  Exactly what a Frito pie is but now a finger food - yum!

And lastly, Fried Chocolate.

I went into this one with no expectations.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The chocolate remains a smooth texture - not liquid nor solid - and has little chocolate chips mixed in with a cherry in the middle.  Nothing fancy or crazy but the familiar is tasty.

In addition to these fried foods, add in 3 cooking demonstrations worth of food, free samples of quesadillas, a Fletcher's corn dog, strawberry milk, strawberry iced tea, and a strawberry chill.  Thankfully this was split between 2 separate trips to the fair but still... I've been eating a ton of vegetables this week to make up for this!

Dog Day at the Grand Prairie AirHogs Baseball Game

My family is a baseball family.  Yes, games can get boring sometimes.  Yes, it's ridiculously hot in Texas and sitting outside in the sun can get miserable.  But, we still go to the games and we enjoy ourselves.  This summer we've tried out every "big" team in the Dallas/Fort Worth area - Texas Rangers, Frisco RoughRiders, and now the Grand Prairie AirHogs!

I was easily won over because it was DOG DAY!  There's nothing better than getting to bring Zoey with me!

Isn't that a beautiful smile?

I was so proud of Zoey - minimal barking at the other dogs!  She just sat on my lap or sat/laid on the floor.

It was super hot but I'm positive Zoey was happier to be in the heat with the family than sleeping alone in the house.  She was definitely hot and exhausted by the end of it though.

The stadium is small but in an intimate way.  For only $9 you can sit right behind home plate!  (We used a Groupon so it was only $3 - even better!)

This stadium also has a pool in the outfield that you can rent just like the Frisco RoughRiders.

It was also $1 hot dog and $1 soda day.

Did Zoey eat her very own hot dog?  Of course not!  How dare you insinuate that!

Oh wait, sorry.  I mean yes.  Duh.  This dog is SPOILED.

And to further prove that point...

It was just the ice after my dad drank his lemonade.  But still.

And then I couldn't resist this photo op.

I'd be a little freaked out if I ever met a baseball player who had a dog face and a strange arm/leg/paw growing out of his neck.

Note: I tried to take a better picture but Zoey didn't really like the cardboard cutout.  She started pushing at it to get away.  We apologized with a hot dog.

All in all, it was a great game.  They won!

Grand Prairie AirHogs 11 - El Paso Diablos 9

And everyone left happy.

Junior Players

Last night we went to see Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet performed by Junior Players (a children's theater program in collaboration with Shakespeare Dallas.)  It was really enjoyable.  In fact, it was probably better to see children/teenagers acting out Romeo and Juliet since they are more age appropriate.  Shakespeare's Juliet was only 13!  How different life used to be when at age 13 women were getting married!

Note: These kids are NOT the actors.  They kick off the show asking for donations.  (Shows are free but they suggest a $10 donation.)

It was a beautiful evening at Samuell Grand Park.  Rain the last few days really brought the temperature down.  It didn't feel like a Texas summer day at all (which was FANTASTIC.) 

Photography (without flash) was allowed but I took less pictures so that I could just enjoy the show.  I did snap this picture though just because the sky in the background looked cool.  (I'm a fan of pink, not going to lie.)

The best part of Junior Players (and the adult/more widely known about version Shakespeare in the Park) is you're allowed to bring in any food or drink you'd like.  And we did just that.

And since the same group that went camping went to this and because we never did get to enjoy s'mores on that camping trip (since we had a ridiculous amount of other food already), I brought this to share.

S'mores (Pie) Bars

They were delicious.  A little messy but aren't s'mores supposed to be?  Recipe can be found on my cooking blog here.

Houston

Trip to Houston number I've lost count...

It's always good for drinks with friends at chill places.  We tried out a new place - Yard House in the new CityCentre.

I liked it.  I enjoyed a couple good beers.

You can barely see them in the picture but at the very top are giant pipes and that's how they get the beer from the kegs in the other room to the bar.  Yes, I'm a dork and find things like that cool.

It's also always good for food with friends at yummy places.  We had dim sum at Fung's Kitchen.   Houston tends to have better dim sum than Dallas although this trip to Fung's Kitchen wasn't a good one.  The carts rarely came by, the selection was slim, and we found a hair in one of our items.  I'll forgive them this time since I've had much better experiences in the past but yeah, enough on that.

And then on the drive back home we passed this

and yes, it WAS necessary to take a picture.

Lady Gaga Concert

I *LOVE* Lady Gaga.  I remember taking a girls' trip to Miami with Ginger and Kristy in October 2008 and we heard "Just Dance" at our hotel and it was love at first sound.

So I came home after the trip and told everyone I knew about her to a fantastic response of... meh.  But then "Poker Face" started playing on the radio and all of a sudden everyone was saying that they loved her and she was going to be HUGE, etc.  While I'm definitely not saying I'm her longest standing fan or that I knew about her back when she just played in random small gay bars supporting the equality movement, I would like to clarify that I definitely loved her before she went super mainstream.  And I'm proud of that.  So there.  :o)

When her US tour dates were finally announced and Dallas was one of them, I knew I had to go.  Face value of $200 a ticket wasn't cheap but it was WELL WORTH IT.

Josh, Gary, Eddi and I went

Yes, I am wearing Lady Gaga's lipstick (Viva Glam Gaga) by M.A.C Cosmetics.  It's pink and tastes like vanilla and even though I RARELY wear any makeup, I had to own it and I wear it whenever I do remember to wear makeup.

The show was fantastic for people watching and costumes.

And Lady Gaga had some awesome costumes (as expected!)

Her concert is 1 part music + 1 part story + 1 part fun craziness.

It's all about getting us all to the Monster Ball where we are accepted for who we are and loved no matter what we believe in, who we love, or what we are.

We first try the car...

but it breaks down.  (Oh-well, "Just Dance"!!)

And Gaga pops open the hood to investigate only to find a piano under the hood and then she starts jamming.

And then somehow transforms into this crazy costume.  (Obviously I wasn't taking notes during the concert.)

 

So we then try the trusty NYC subway...

And Gaga uses her gigantic flashflight to help guide the way too.  

(It resembled a giant rock candy sugar stick.)

There was a lot of dancing,

and a lot of Gaga playing the piano in all shapes and sizes

And then came my all-time favorite costume.  EVER.  As in, if I could somehow wear this to ANY occasion, I would.  Halloween here I come!  And she wore it while singing "So Happy I Could Die" and it was fitting.  Seriously, LOVE this costume.

Ice queen

Meets fairy

Meets fiber optics crown that moved on its own!

LOVE.

Josh once talked about how his "dream" wedding would be a Halloween costume party on Halloween.  I would SO be ok with that ONLY if Lady Gaga's costume were my wedding dress.  Fairy wings and moving crown and all.  LOVE.

Ok, I promise I'll move on now.

The next costume I have no idea what it's supposed to be.  It was so bizarre I had to take a picture of it.  I think it's Lady Gaga meets Chewbacca.

Some more dancing.

And then Gaga is bleeding.  I have no idea how the story got here.  Not due to memory loss either.  I wasn't really following it during the concert.  But it was still cool.  And what's a concert about monsters without blood.

And then we arrive at the Monster Ball.  And all of Gaga's friends run away scared because apparently we're not in NYC (*ahem* Kansas) anymore...

And then a concert is not complete without firework lingerie.  Literally.

Madonna would be proud.

Finale - Gaga in the Monster Ball.

singing Bad Romance.

FANTASTIC CONCERT.

Super fun date with Josh.

I just wanted you to see my cute shirt again.  And my lipstick.  Ok, I'm done.  LOVE!