Thanksgiving 2007

We started thanksgiving feasting with yummylicious seafood alfredo dinner with Emil on Wednesday night. We went all out with oysters, crab meat, clams, baby shrimp, salmon and 2 kinds of sausages. We paired it with sauteed red peppers and asparagus and opened a bottle of wine. Hmm...but no matter how western the meal is, we eat it with chopsticks! Strange eh?!

 
 
 
 

 
 

On Thursday night, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Nancy, Terry and their 2 adorable cuties Ting Ting and Pang Pang (literally "fat fat" in Chinese though TJ has lost all his baby fat now). We had hotpot and watched "Babe" and "Happy Feet" while playing with the kids. It was a very nice and homey Thanksgiving night :)

Friday, Saturday and Sunday went by in a blur of shopping, (merchandise) returns, TV watching, sleeping, eating, Church, more shopping and returns. In short, it was quite a regular weekend but a nice long break from work.

Thanksgiving marks the official start of the holiday season. The malls have all their Christmas goods out, houses and stores are adorned with twinkling lights and you see Christmas trees strapped atop cars and SUVs on the roads everywhere. There is even a radio station playing Christmas music 24/7! It has been really cold outside as well, hovering just above freezing at night. Check out the frost on our front lawn! Maybe we'll have a white Christmas this year?

 
 

Happy Birthday Giles!

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

The Happy Couple

Dinner with our friends Nicole and Giles who got engaged recently. Check out her gorgeous rock! They plan to wed in Spain next summer. How cool is that!

Dinner party at Antje & Mas'

We were over at Antje & Mas' for a yummilicious steak dinner prepared by Mas followed by desert made from scratch by Antje! It was a lovely evening but we failed to capture a photo of our hosts. Oops. They were too busy hosting. But we do have a picture of their dog Renzo and the desert! Don't they look good?!

So you are a.....?

I started out really *grateful* that kids actually came to our door that Halloween night and was dishing out piles of candy to each. Then...as the night wore on and the bell kept ringing....I started rationing...."um...pick 5 pleeease"....."just pick 3 ok?!"...."now, pick you most FAVORITE one". Luckily we didn't have to turn anyone away or start giving out quarters. We had 16 pieces of candy left.

It was a happy birthday!

We had planned to go to Paris but ended up in Portland and the Pacific coast instead. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend and a fabulous way to celebrate our 30th/35th birthday!

Emil started our birthday celebration with a treat to our fav Japanese restaurant on Friday night. Thanks Emil!

After a 3 hr drive, we landed in Portland, Oregon. Saturday morning, we visited Portland's farmer's market - great food, arts & crafts - check out the butcher knife through that man's head! Ouch!

After we got a massage in the afternoon, we visted The Grotto - a beautiful 62 acre botanical garden and shrine dedicated to Mother Mary

We were lucky to get in for dinner at Toro Bravo, a great little Tapas place recently named one of the top 10 restaurants in Portland.

After dinner, we did a little shopping (no sales tax! yoohoo!) before heading back to our hotel to enjoy a complimentary movie. We watched "Rush Hour 3" - it was as expected, worse than 2 which was nowhere as good as 1. Good thing it was free!

Sunday brunch and shopping in the cutest neighborhood called Nob Hill. Check out our most noteworthy purchase at a store having a Post-Halloween-Sale! 75% off!! Wicked!!!

 

Later in the afternoon, we drove 2 hours west, straight for the Pacific Ocean and checked into an adorable little inn right on the beach. We made a late night run to the store to fulfill Will's last wish on his birthday - mint choc chip ice cream!

We woke up to quite a view from our room! Cars were actually allowed right on the beach! Very cool.

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Guess what Will spotted when we were out driving and exploring the area..a baby bear!


Stopped for lunch then took a leisurely drive home along the pacific coast. It is more beautiful than we imagined. We are really glad we took the trip.