I got my camera back, so here are some pictures from Xmas & the last several days. Click image for a larger view.

+ Yesterday was Max’s first day of class. He’s so funny. At first he was a little scared & apprehensive walking in the hallway to his classroom, and wanted me to carry him. But once we got into the room, and he saw all the toys and the play kitchen, he practically leaped from my arms. We tried to get him to hang up his coat & backpack, but he was gone. There was nothing I could say or do to get him to listen to me. I stayed for about 5 minutes, and then said goodbye to him. Thought he would at least be worried that I was leaving, but nope, he was fine. I came back about an hour later, and Max & his teacher were waiting for me at the front door. When Max saw me, he gave me a small smile & a big kiss & hug. His teacher said he was really good, no tears & even spoke a little bit. So, it was a good first day for Max. I’m so glad we decided to do this because he really needs to be socializing with other kiddies his age & be in a different environment.

+ Happy Birthday Maysee! We met up with Maysee & her hubby Jerry at Wolfgang Puck’s 20.21 for dinner last night. Mike’s parents helped watch Max while we were out. Thanks again! 20.21 was a bit of a disappointment. We had spring rolls, lettuce cups, Korean short ribs, roast duck, NY sirloin strip, and deep fried red snapper. A few of the dishes were decent, like the duck & short ribs , but our steak was a bit overcooked & the snapper was a little dry. The spring rolls, which were actually just regular eggrolls, weren’t great at all. The flavor combinations just were not good. We mentioned to our waitress that our steak was a little overcooked & she said, “Oh, I’m sorry about that. Is there something I do to fix that?” We just stared at her & didn’t really answer her because she shouldn’t even need to ask. Dining at a restaurant of that caliber, I expected her to say, “We’ll get you out another steak that’s cooked correctly, right away.” Overall, I would not go back to this place because it’s overpriced. Their eggrolls were definitely not worth $11, that’s for sure. One thing though, we did get a big window table (I specifically asked for this when I made reservations), so the view was nice. Anyway, I had fun though & wished we could have hung out a little longer.

+ School starts next week. My first day will be on Friday, the 18th. Only taking one class again this semester. An English class to help with my essays. As much as I hate writing essays, I need to take this class to improve my writing skills. Not looking forward to it, but I have to suck it up & just deal with it.

+ Did anyone notice my favicon? I finally decided to make one when I was bored the other day. I think it’s kind of cute.

Weekend Recap:

Saturday: Sara & her husband Sia, and their adorable baby, Cameron along with Debra & her little girl Sienna, who had the cutest little outfit on, and also Sandy & her little girl Tiffany came over on Saturday to hang out. We’ve been planning this get together since forever. We always had scheduling conflicts, so it’s nice to finally be able to find a day that worked for all of us. Sara wanted to learn how to make stuffed chicken wings, so I made that. I think I am done for the year with those stuffed wings. They are so yummy, but so time consuming. I swear, I think it took me about 3 hours just to make 12 wings.Thanks again for coming over gals, and bringing good food too. We had so much fun & lots of laughs, and hope we can do it again soon.

Later that night, my sister May & I went to our friend Amy’s annual Holiday party. I didn’t have time to make anything, so stopped by Kowalski’s & picked up a strawberry chocolate ganache torte. So good. Amy lives in the next town from us, so she & her husband might stop by for dinner sometime soon. They are such a cute couple, and expecting their first baby.

Sunday: We slept in, and ate a lunch of leftovers. Then Mike’s brother Adam came over to take Max sledding. Max was so excited & had lots of fun. Went downtown to return my bag, and wait for LV to call me when they get more bags. I also bought twelve ornaments for $40, but saved $80. Had dinner at Blue Sky Creamery.

+ I know I promised pictures, but I just realized last night that I didn’t know where my camera was. After several phone calls, and worrying & fretting, I figured out where I left it. So no pictures for a couple more days until my sister drops off my camera. Whew… Was dreading the thought of having to buy a new camera, let alone the pictures that will be lost.

+ We saw Atonement last week, and I must say I was a bit disappointed. It got such good reviews, but I just found it a little slow & the story really didn’t get to me. It was beautifully shot though.

+ The hubby is so sweet, he let me pick out a late Xmas gift & our anniversary gift (edit: which actually isn’t til the end of the month). I got a pair of bead earrings from Tiffany’s, and a new bag, which I’m going to go back to exchange because I’m a bit picky if the pattern isn’t symmetrical. A lot of people have the Speedy 30, but I’ve always wanted one, plus it’s a perfect size to hold my stuff in addition to Max’s diapers, wipes, toys & blankie.

+ Ok, I was supposed to start the New Year on a diet with Maysee, but I kind of forgot about it & already ate unhealthy stuff. I’m so bad. Sorry Maysee. I’m really going to try again. Really…

+ I’m a little late on posting reviews on restaurants we’ve been to recently, so here goes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Highlights of 2007

+ I became closer to my family, especially my Mom. Since becoming a mother myself, we have grown closer & understand each other better. I feel more inclined to confide in her than I did previously. I always wanted a relationship like that with my Mom, but it never happened until recently.

+ A long time friend & I reestablished our relationship after some misunderstandings, so it’s nice to have her back in my life. It’s not easy to find friends like her. We have a long history together, and have always been close even though we lived far away from each other for several years.

+ Max started speech therapy in the summer, and is progressing nicely. He is speaking a lot more, and really making an effort. He will be starting the new year with a weekly toddler speech therapy class, so it will be interesting to see how he does in this new adventure. Max really makes me happy & proud to be his mommy. Each day with him is a treat, and I cherish all the time I get to spend with him.

+ I went back to school after a 9 year hiatus. It was a little intimidating at first, but overall, I think it went well (I got an A), and I am planning on attending Spring semester.

+ The hubby got a really nice raise. It was a long time coming, and he really deserves it because he works super hard & is really good at what he does. (The last part is what he told me. Hehe.)

There were some events that occurred in 2007 that impacted my loved ones in a negative way. I am saddened by this change & wish it were like it used to be, but I am learning to just accept life as it comes. This person may never come through, but I will always hold on to the hope that one day she will.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year from all of us. Happy 2008!

Our living room is such a mess. There are wrapping paper, empty shirt boxes & ribbon on the floor. Also some of Max’s presents sitting around. He’s currently taking turns with each gift. Half of his gifts are stored away. He got a good load of toys, so thanks everyone for the gifts. I bought Mike a pair of Prada sneakers (like these, only with blue stripes), but when I brought them home, one of the shoes wasn’t even the correct size, but they don’t have anymore in stock, so we returned them today. Mike bought me a cashmere Burberry sweater, which I really liked, but it’s a bit tight on me, so I returned it too. How embarrassing that even though he bought the largest size, it still didn’t fit. : P I think we’re just going to end up buying a flat screen tv for our bedroom instead. I’ve never been much of a electronic gadget person, but over the past few years, the hubby’s influence has been rubbing off on me.

This year, Max understands what presents are & how to open them, so it was really fun watching him open his gifts. He’ll get all excited & once he sees what it is, he’ll “ooh” & “aah” over it. A couple of the gifts we bought him, we let him have awhile ago. Just couldn’t resist giving them to him early. We bought a new Max & Ruby dvd, and a dvd set of Harold & the Purple Crayon.

This past Saturday, we had our annual holiday party, but this year, we invited more people. We had so much fun. Been a long time since I laughed that much & not because I had a little to drink. Thanks to everyone who made it. Played lots of fun games, and ate good food, with exception to my dish. I made stuffed mushrooms, but they weren’t all that even though 700+ people rated it 5 stars on allrecipes.com. Oh well. Maybe I didn’t read the directions correctly, but it’s not a hard recipe to mess up since there was less than 6 ingredients. Maybe I’m the stupid one. Btw, Happy Birthday to Miss Shanna!

On a different subject, this is for my Hmong readers, and/or those who are familiar with Hmong history: do you agree that Hmong people never had our own original style of dancing? And that as far as we know, Hmong dancing has always been influenced by another culture? For example, what most people know as Hmong dancing today, is strongly influenced by Lao & Thai style of dancing. The reason I ask is because I’ve been having arguments with people on Youtube about my videos that I posted last year. I posted some dance routines from the New Year of those girl groups who do all those flips & acrobatic tumbling to Chinese music. Many viewers are saying that since we are Hmong, we should only dance Hmong. I say that Hmong people do not have their own style of dancing, and that we’ve always adapted to whatever culture we’re exposed to. I mean, what is Hmong dancing to a lot of people? Right now, it’s “la vong” set to Hmong music right? What about 50 years from now? It might be something else. It’s really frustrating & kind of sad that these people do not take the time to learn about their history. I mean, all they have to do is ask their parents. Anyway, just wondering what some of you guys think. Please correct me if I am misinformed.
I might put up some pictures tomorrow, so be back later.

Updates on Max:

+ Is still crazy in love with Max & Ruby.. Everything is referenced to M&R. Also still really into trains, cars, helicopters & robots. Oh, a new thing is Harold & the Purple Crayon show. Only on HBO though.
+ Doesn’t watch the Cars movie as much, but still loves to play with actual cars he has. He’s got most of the main characters except for the Sheriff. The hubby & Max love to rennact scenes from the movie with the cars. It’s so funny & cute.
+ We recently found out that Max has been counting in Spanish & we didn’t even know it! He learned it from Diego. Right now, he can count in 3 languages. Hubby’s trying to teach him Korean now.
+ Doing really well in his therapy session and talking a lot. Considering putting him in a group class next month.
+ Knows all the basic colors: red, blue, green, white, orange, yellow, pink, purple, green, brown, black, gray, and even aqua green.
+ Loves to say, “Delicious!” when he’s eating something he really likes.
+ Is still picky with food. Loves breads, noodles & rice. Won’t eat ground meats (like his Dad). Will hardly eat any veggies except for cucumbers. I still have to sneak them in. One thing I’ve been sneaking in is spinach (I read that it’s in the top five most nutritious veggies). I buy the prewashed baby spinach bags in the salad section, and steam it, chop it finely, then stir in it mac & cheese or eggs or noodles. Max LOVES watermelon. Could probably eat one by himself if we let him. If I draw a picture of a watermelon, he always smiles.

I bought one of those gingerbread house kit, so Max & I decorated it today. He was so excited & loved it. We also got some xmas shopping done too. Btw, I got an A on my final project. Whew! I really thought I was going to get a C. I got a good feeling that my final grade will be an A. Anyhoo, here are some pictures from this month.

* December 2007 Photos *

+ Yaaay! I’m pretty much done for the semester. Just have the final exam next Monday, but I’m not too worried about it. Turned in my final project today. I really didn’t like doing it at all, but I am just glad that it’s over.

+ Sunday–Mitsy,her daughter & boyfriend came over for some lunch & sledding. It was so nice to have them over. I made stuffed chicken wings (thanks again Meetas for helping me debone them), and Mitsy brought over a yummy dish too. We had a lot of fun. Max & Olivia went sledding together, and Max really enjoyed it. He loved going down the big hill. Got a couple of pictures of that. After sledding, I made some hot chocolate. I usually just buy a powder mix, but I decided to make it the real way. It turned out pretty good. The recipe is 4 cups of milk & 10oz of milk chocolate (I used Ghirardelli). Just heat the milk until it starts steaming, then add the chocolate. Whisk until everything is incorporated. Top with lots of marshmallows or whipped cream & shaved chocolate. Serves 4.

+ Going to the hubby’s work holiday dinner on Thursday. When we went last year, it was an interesting experience. One of his coworkers sang a song he wrote–accapella. The song was about hard drive & megabytes… Um, yeah. Nerdy stuff.

+ We did a little bit of holiday shopping today, but we still have a ways to go. Hoping to get more done by this weekend.

Happy Birthday to my Dad.
Lovely weekend.
Brunch at Campiello with an old friend. It was so good to see you again, Mits.
Went to the mall & got Max the same boots like last year’s.
I love my little boy so much. He is such an amazing person.

I’m out.

+ Above are some of my favorite ornaments from our tree. I’ve got about 90 ornaments on our tree, but I think I’m going to buy more. Just waiting for another sale. If you live by a Macy’s, you have to check out their decorated trees. Stunning. I wish I had taken advantage of their 50% off sale on their ornaments during Black Friday.

+ The hubby wanted to buy more tracks for Max’s train set today, so we spent the afternoon in Saint Paul. First, we had lunch at Cafe Latte. With exception to their desserts, I personally think the rest of their food is overrated. We spent $25 for mediocre sandwiches & soups/salads & water; not really worth it. I think next time I go there, it will be only for the desserts. After lunch, we headed over to Pottery Barn to get fabric swatches. I am thinking about buying this sofa instead of the one I previously mentioned. Which one do you guys like better? Afterwards, we went to Choo Choo Bob’s. Max had a ball playing with all their train sets. If you have a kid that loves trains, this place is a must. Not only is it a charming store, but they seem to be one of only places that still sell Brio products.

+ Football season will be over soon. Can’t wait!

+ Since SJP was on Project Runway, I had to check out her clothes online. Pretty cute. I love the concept. Does anyone have any of her clothes? If so, what’s your opinion? I have to stop by a S&B to see them in person. I didn’t know S&B was selling other things besides college sportswear. I just get that impression from when I used to live Madison.

+ Ok, seriously, I will not be posting much after this post. I’m just stalling on my final project. We have to pick 8 pieces of artwork, and half of them need to have some sort of personal meaning to us. We have to compare the personal art to another art piece that’s found in a museum or gallery in a 2000 word essay. We also have to present one of the selections in front of class & talk about all the visual elements portrayed, yada yada yada… Not really looking forward to that.