camping in the snow

This past weekend, I went camping upstate with some friends in honor of Heather's going-away and Amanda's birthday. The temperatures dipped below freezing at night, so it was cold! But nothing about eight layers of clothing and spiked apple cider couldn't chase away. We spent most of the weekend hiking and sitting around the campfire playing games. I love my friends.

home sweet home

Since the wedding, I've had an out-of-town trip nearly every week. So it was really nice to have a quiet few days at home. After flying back on Saturday afternoon, we decided to stroll around Soho and do some shopping. We finished off the night with Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, and it was so good, we couldn't stop freaking out. I love New York City! On Sunday, I did a bunch of errands, cooked, and went on a quick run; my foot finally feels a bit better (ack, fingers crossed!). Then we binge-watched Homeland, which is the first show that Erik and I have gotten hooked on. I have one last trip this weekend, and then I'm home for nearly all of November...so excited!

guiding light

Yesterday, I switched off the outside house light, so I was surprised to see it still on this morning. "Hey, how did that happen?" I asked my mom. "I turn it on every night," explained mom. "For Babi. So he can find his way home at night. It's so dark." Cue: My heart swelling. Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of my dad's death, and he's still front and center in all of our hearts. Isn't that the mark of a wonderful life?

mom time

Okay, I've said it before, but how adorable is my mom? She makes getting up at 5 a.m. to catch a flight after staying up all night to make a deadline totally worth it. After picking me up this morning, we've been on a mission. First, we put flowers on my dad's grave. It's become such a special ritual: I clean off his headstone while my mom tells him everything that's happened recently, from my getting married to the status of the lawn. Today, mom said (in Chinese), "you must be comfortable." Which, at first I thought was a funny thing to say, but then I realized that she was spot-on. My dad would be so content and happy to know that his family is thriving. Then we hit up Grand Asia, where mom bought lunch and a year's supply of rice. Still on the to-do list: sorting through some paperwork, going to the doctor's, and a few around-the-house projects.

banged up

Although I've never broken a bone or gotten stitches (knock on wood), I do have a propensity for getting myself into bangs and scrapes. Like, oh, the times I hit my face with my surfboard (pictured above), ran into cactus, got stung by jellyfish all over, or had my face explode into a crazy rash (on our honeymoon!). So I guess it's inevitable that I'm a little worse for the wear from my super-sporadic marathon training plan. My foot has been aching since my 21-miler on Saturday. Ugh!! I'm nervous it's plantar fascitis, but hoping that's mild inflammation. Fingers crossed that it heals up before the marathon...Otherwise Erik says that I'll limp all 26.2 miles because I never freaking give up. Too true.

another year wiser!

Today I'm 35...whee! Last night Erik and I celebrated by going to the movies and eating the most delicious dinner at Traif, a restaurant in our neighborhood. See that scrumptiousness above? Oh, it's just bacon doughnuts with dolce de leche and coffee ice cream. Yum. I'm sad to say good-bye to 34, because it was one of my favorite years to date. I did a lot of traveling (Japan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Vermont, Jamaica, Arizona); spent quality time with mom and Tim; and got engaged and married. But I'm looking forward to 35, too. There are some exciting and slightly scary changes brewing, so I know there will be plenty of new adventures ahead!

reminder to self

Lately, I've been thinking about how an action that seems tiny to me might have a bigger impact on someone else. Since my cup is pretty full these days, I've been trying to pay it forward with small acts of kindness and little donations to worthy causes. Sometimes, when I'm feeling busy or lazy, I'll think "meh, what does it really matter?" and want to go on with my day without deviating from the path. To remain in my cozy cocoon of a life and not want to make an effort, which, let's be honest, is how I feel much of the time. But this post is a reminder to myself that the extra step is always worth it, and that karma will boomerang back.

Prime example: Monkey. I rescued that cat from a shelter, and she was the lemon of the group because she wasn't friendly at all. In the beginning, when she scratched me like crazy, I doubted my decision. But now she makes me laugh every day, and has given me so much joy! I mean, look at her using my neck pillow as a bean bag chair...what a character!

birthday week!

It's that time again...birthday week. Today is Erik's big day, and Sunday is mine. Given all of the wedding and honeymoon excitement, we're keeping things pretty low-key this year. I have to do a long marathon training run, and then we'll do dinner and a movie (date night!). But, YOU GUYS, I'm turning 35!!! With each passing day, I'll be closer to 40 than 30. I'm pretty excited about it. My 20s were all about proving myself. I put in long hours in the office to establish my career; made silly mistakes and learned from them; and dated the wrong guys to find the perfect one. Now that I'm nearing my late 30s, I'm confident in myself and happy with my life. I'm ready to handle whatever life has store for me next!

wedding recap: best day ever

Looking back, I realized that I haven't written about my experience as a bride! Here's a recap for posterity's sake:


As I mentioned before, the week leading up to our wedding was hectic. Mom and Tim got into town on Monday to spend some quality time. We ate delicious food, saw the Lion King on Broadway, walked the High Line, and went on a cruise around Manhattan. My mom was happy having our little family together, and seeing her smile made all the running around (I had to sneak in errands and work at night) worth it! Poor Tim got sick, and there was a string of unfortunate events -- but it all turned out fine in the end. At our pre-wedding dinner at M Shanghai, surrounded by our families and out-of-town friends, it hit me: This is happening. Chalk it up to seven years together, but we didn't feel nervous...just excited!


On the morning of the big day, we slept in. Heaven! We lingered in bed, chatted about our excitement, and laughed with Monkey. Around noon, Sarah and Heather picked me up to cart over stuff, and we grabbed burgers for lunch. Because Heather worked her incredible pro set-up magic, all I had to do was get ready with my mom, aunt, and friends. Pre-wedding, we drove around Greenpoint with Mous and Sara to take pictures; it felt so calm and joyful. I chuckled at the people slyly taking pictures of us on their iPhones as we posed in front of the Manhattan skyline; it was payback for all the times I've done that.

The ceremony itself was one of the best experiences of my entire life. It's surreal to see all of your loved ones smiling at you; I kept thinking, "hey, what are they doing here?" Mous did a beautiful job officiating. Since Erik and I wrote the script, we knew what he was going to say -- so I found myself laughing before the words came out of his mouth. My favorite parts were remembering my sweet dad and exchanging looks with Erik. At one point, my cheeks ached from grinning so much. As we walked down the aisle to our friends spinning their hand drums, I felt pure happiness, untouched by any other emotion.

We took the elevator straight up to the reception and kicked off the party. It's true what they say: It goes by in a flash. I loaded up on delicious drinks, apps, tacos, and ice cream sandwiches (I definitely wasn't one of those brides that forgets to eat!), jumped in the photo booth, and laughed with my dear friends. At one point, I remember looking around the rooftop and seeing so many happy faces, and just feeling...proud. Above all, Erik and I's main goal was to make sure that everyone had a fun time (haven't we all been to a boring wedding?!), and I think we managed to pull it off! It was truly one of the best days of my life, and I'm so incredibly grateful to have such the most amazing partner, family, and friends.

back on track!

After three weeks of travel, I knocked out a 20-miler this morning. I felt surprisingly good (maybe it was an extra-long taper?), although I'm sure I'll be hobbling tomorrow. Only a few more weeks till marathon day...and of course I'll be out of town two more times!

wedding recap: our vendors

Now that I'm back from all my travels, I finally have a moment to blog about our wedding! Since I Googled the heavens out of "budget Brooklyn wedding" and "should I have a wedding?", I thought I'd write up a few posts for my fellow level-headed, non-wedding-obsessed brides out there. First piece of advice: Don't freak out! You can have a lovely wedding without going insane, sacrificing your social life, or going into debt. For my first entry, here's a round-up of the vendors that we used:

1. Venue: King & Grove Hotel, Williamsburg: Much to our surprise, this swanky-ish hotel was one of our most affordable options. Even piecing together a budget soup-to-nuts wedding (think: barebones venue, barbecue catering) was pricier! That's because we kept our guest list low (64 people). It worked out beautifully: I had plenty time to chat with everyone at the reception; the food was insanely delicious (sliders, croquettes, tacos and ice cream sandwiches!!!); and the drinks were amazing. And who needs decor when you have lush greenery and the NYC skyline? Plus, everything was taken care of, from catering to our hotel room, which made planning an absolute dream. One-stop shop!

2. Photo booth: Podpix. I was obsessed with photo booths long before the wedding craze, and really wanted one, but didn't think we could afford it. Luckily enough, I got roped into going to a wedding fair early on, got on PodPix's email list, and jumped at the opportunity when they sent out a sale blast. Erik and I didn't have anything traditional (speeches, etc.) planned for the reception. We figured a photobooth would give our guests something fun to do -- and we were so glad we splurged! It was such a blast, and I adore all of the keepsake photo strips.

3. Photographer: Sara Luckey. Full disclosure: Sara is one of my friends, but her incredible work speaks for itself! She was clutch in making the wedding day run smoothly and kept us on timeline. She's also a miracle worker in getting people in the right place and making them smile. Erik is a tough one to crack -- he always opts for cool instead of mushy in front of the camera -- but Sara somehow got him to let down his guard!

4. Wedding coordinator and florist: Heather Lee. Heather is another dear homie and a genius to boot. My bouquet was perfection, and she ran everything behind the scenes so I could just enjoy the getting-ready process.

5. Make-up artist: Jennifer Nam. This was another case where I was really glad that I didn't cheap out. Originally, I was thinking of just going to Drybar, but opted to go with Jen so I could stay in Brooklyn. Because we've worked together before on TV segments, I skipped the trials, which cut down the cost. She's amazing, and I couldn't be happier with how my hair and makeup turned out. I didn't even need to do any touchups, because she worked her magic and everything stayed put until 3 a.m.

...And that's it! Because our poor deejay got in an accident, we did our music ourselves through an iPod. That turned out to be fun, because we played songs from both of our cultures, like cumbia and Chinese jams. Our friend Mous married us, which was so dear and personal, and he doubled as our driver during the picture session. Oh, and Osa designed my engagement set and wedding bands. He's a genius! (Come to think of it, we have some talented friends.)

I highly, highly recommend all of of these vendors! My wedding day was a true dream, and I can't think of anything I would have done differently.

seeing the southwest

Generally I'm not the biggest fan of press trips: At the end of the day, I'd much rather be home with my fella and cat. But I made an exception for a trip to Miraval -- I really wanted to meet the experts, see the southwest, and get a little pampering. I had the loveliest time! Besides learning a bunch, I took a hike in the desert, got a hot-stone massage, and went swimming surrounded by the mountains. My room was also insane! It had an outdoor shower (is there any better way to shower?), the softest bed, and a ginormous soaking tub. As amazing as it all was, I can't wait to get home to my two favorite creatures.