Happy (2 weeks after) New Year!

Well, it's 2 weeks into the New Year and I've pretty much missed my chance to wish everyone a happy new year.  But, since it's my blog, I can do whatever I want right? So happy new year anyway!

I ended up having a bunch of friends over to ring in the new year.  I made Hainanese Chicken Rice, which really made me miss Singapore.  We had a fun time hanging out, sharing embarrassing stories, and eating good food.  However, I came away with a few realizations on aging.

You know you're getting older when:

1.  You'd rather stay at home than go out for New Year's Eve


2.  You end up toasting the New Year with mugs of tea

In Aslik's defense, he was the most festive out of us by toasting with his glass of sparkling apple juice.

3.  Your New Year's Dance party is powered by Just Dance 4
(I will not post any embarrassing photos of that)

4.  You try and replicate your parent's old pictures and do the serious Asian mafia pose.

It took us a couple of tries to master the serious pose.

Even then, it was too hard not to smile for some of us :-)

A more natural pic

I'm really excited for this new year.  I'm continually grateful for the friends I have here in Houston.  It's just really special to me to have childhood friends nearby.  It's also wonderful to make new friends even if my time here in Houston is limited.  Most of all, I'm hoping this is the year we'll be able to grow our family with a baby.  With adoption, it's hard to really predict when we will be matched with a baby.  Odds are that it will be this year, but you never really know.  I'm sure alot of you are wondering about how it all works, but I'll save that for another post.

As much as I loved living abroad, I'm so glad that Aslik and I get to spend most of this next year living in the states.  I think life is just so much more comfortable and easy here in the US.

So, I hope you all had a great time celebrating the new year and have gotten off to a fantastic start!  I know I have :-)

Nothing like friends from Jersey

A couple of weeks ago, some friends stopped by H-town for a visit.  They're both fourth year med-students and were doing interviews all around the great state of Texas.  They were able to squeeze in a day in H-town so I got to take them around and show them this great city.  I love when my friends from Jersey come visit!  We have so many shared childhood memories and there is just a level of ease with each other that can't be replicated elsewhere.

Since they were really only spending one full day in town, we decided to do an "eating tour of Houston".  Our goal was to squeeze in as many places as we could, but just to share one or two plates of the best dishes that establishment to offer.  This way we wouldn't overstuff ourselves and would be able to taste a little of everything.  First, for breakfast, we had breakfast burrito's in jslik's kitchen.  Then, we headed out to Rice U, the Med Center, and then hit our first stop on the eating tour.

First stop:

Goode company for BBQ of course!  Who visit Houston and doesn't eat BBQ?  That's unheard of.

If you're at Goode Company BBQ, you might as well take a pic with the armadillo at the Palace next door...

After a plate of BBQ and a huge slice of pecan pie, we were off to the Galleria to walk it off, but stopped first at the waterwall:

The Waterwall

  

Of course, I had to take them in the Galleria so they could see the ice skating rink


After a bit of watching the skaters, it was time for our next food stop:

Cafe Pita for their awesome cabbage rolls and hummus.
The waiter looked at us funny when we only ordered one plate for 3 people....

After that, it was off to Chinatown for some shopping, and then a Cantonese feast at House of Bowls with some more of our Jersey-turned-Houstonian friends:

We were going to get shaved ice after, but it was getting late and these crazy kids were making a drive up to Dallas at 2 a.m. later that night (or morning I should say).  It was a short visit, but still wonderful.  I'm so glad they came to visit!!

48 hours in Houston

It's been a fun event filled couple of weeks here.  Besides being busy with some orders, I had a very special visitor come stay with me....my best friend!  She came for some much needed R&R time - she's got 4 kiddos at home that keep her on her feet 24/7.  So, she was more than happy to come see me (sans-kids), have some girl time, eat a ton of food, and sleep in.  Unfortunately, she could only get away for a couple days, so I tried to pack in as much as I could in 48 hours without tiring her out.  This trip was supposed to be for R&R after all!

One of the reasons why we are best friends is that we both LOVE to eat and are not afraid to put it down.  So of course, during my her first solo trip (and first visit to Houston), I took her out to some of the best Houston has to offer.  We had BBQ at Goode Company, Mexican at El Tiempo, Bosnian at Cafe Pita, and Indian at Himalaya.

First stop - Goode Company!

Indian at Himalaya - YUM!

We did some shopping and hit up some antique stores in The Heights area of Houston.  While there, my friend picked some goodies for her husband and kids.  We also stumbled upon a Dia de los Muertos celebration.

  

There were some Aztec tribal dancers on the scene and I couldn't resist taking advantage of a photo op!

I had such a great time with my best friend and I'm sure she thoroughly enjoyed this time to herself.  She could shower, poop, eat, and sleep in peace.  I wish we lived closer!

Friends and weddings

Ok, so I have to back track a bit....things have been a little busy around here and I haven't had a chance to blog in almost a month! Whoops.

A few weeks ago, we took a trip up north to Dallas for a college friend's wedding.  The best part of going to college friends' weddings is that they usually turn out to be a bit of a reunion, not matter how small.  We got to see some of our good college buddies (and their significant others).

Congrats to the newlyweds!