three-two

Holy macaroni. Today is my birthday, which means I've been on this earth exactly 32 years. Whoa! But, as Aaliyah once sang, age ain't nothing but a number. I have to agree; I'm finding that life gets more fun with each passing year. And, so far, my birthday has been happy indeed. I rang it in last night at the top of the very fancy Standard Hotel (even their stairwells are stylish!). Erik and Kenshin are featured in the latest issue of Day Trip magazine, so we headed to the release party and soaked up the beautiful view and fun tunes with friends. Since I have the day off of work today, I've spent the morning doing my absolute favorite things: sleeping in, eating, giggling with Erik, snuggling with my cat, running, and chatting to friends and family on the phone. I'm realizing that all of the old adages are, in fact, true: Material things matter less and less as you age; the most important gift of all is time.

6 things...

...I did this week.

1. Go to Grand Asia Market in Cary, NC, with my adorable parents.
2. Attended a four-course "scent" tasting dinner at Tom Colicchio's new restaurant, Riverpark. Did you know that 95 percent of your taste is based on smell?
3. Received a heavenly massage at Great Jones Spa and ate burgers and profiteroles at DGBG in honor of our birthdays.
4. Hung with MaryBeth and Kelly. I've known those girls since I was 12.
5. Went to yoga twice and ran a total of 23 miles. (Half-marathon, here I come!)
6. Made roasted tomato soup and whole-wheat rolls from scratch.

neighborhood walk

Today Erik and I took a long stroll around our neighborhood. We browsed stores, took pictures, and people-watched. We also snacked on tacos and a scuttlebutt sandwich from Saltie. Delicious! It made me feel so lucky to be alive.

cccaa

When I was 13 or 14, my friends and I formed a club called CCCAA. The name comes from a long, silly story, but membership pretty much included giggling at swim meets and practices. Most of us parted ways at college with lots of fun memories. And as we grew up and found our places in the world, our lives headed in the most separate ways possible. MaryBeth is a mom of two in Cary; Kelly is moving to Texas; Meg is a Phish follower in Colorado; Jenny is a world-ranked Ironman triathlete; and Eva is a corporate lawyer in NC. And I'm here in NYC. But we're still all dear friends and CCCAA members at heart.

top chef

I don't watch much television. But the one show that I follow is Top Chef and, of all the contestants, Fabio (from season five), is my favorite. So I was pretty psyched to meet him at a press event this morning. He radiated charisma and charm, and had all of us editors swooning and starry-eyed at his stories of Grandma in Italy. His delicious eggplant carbonara and sirloin steak with tomato confit was the icing on the cake. It was a fun way to spend my morning. Also, I Googled him when I got to my desk and found out we're the same age. Hellooo?! That blows my mind.

roots

This is the wallpaper in my parents' kitchen. They built that house in 1978, and have not redecorated since. Seriously. There's a rotary telephone in one of the rooms. But that's all part of the charm! In that house, I took my first steps, called my first boyfriend, and packed/unpacked for college, D.C., and NYC. It's where my memories live. I love that place.

family tree

I was in North Carolina visiting my parents over the weekend when I happened upon this amazing photo of my mom when she was young. (She's on the far right.) My grandparents look so dashing, don't they? My poupou (grandmother) was a piano teacher, and my gonggong (grandfather) was some bigwig in the Taiwanese navy. It's pretty boggling to think about what a different world they lived in. I remember my dad once telling me a story about how, during the war, the ship my granddad was on sank, so he swam really far to get to shore. That didn't mesh with the granddad I knew, the tall, funny golfer who would slip out his dentures and wink at me. (Since he didn't speak much English, and I didn't speak much Chinese, that was his way of communicating with me.) Even that young, I could feel how in love they were. My granddad would shake his head and say "nag-ing" when my grandmom fussed at him, with a teasing look in his eye. And she would bat her lashes back. What a lovely memory.