Aloha from Honolulu

Finally, I found an internet cafe! My husband Joe left to head back home yesterday night. He slept all the way home and then proceeded to hit the Home Depot shortly after landing. Hey, I have my blog, he has Home Depot! Anyway, here are a few highlights from our trip so far.

• Enjoyed "Sunset on the Beach" or, what I like to call "put your toes in the sand, enjoy the sunset and then watch a movie on a huge screen." Last night's feature was Shark Tale, perfect for Leah.
• Joe and I hiked up to the top of Diamond Head and enjoyed the beautiful view of the ocean and downtown Honolulu.
• Had a blast at the pool almost every day and just pretty much relaxed.
• Finished "The Kite Runner." RUN to your nearest bookstore and buy this book. It was one of those rare books that you just don't want to end. The kind of book you want to buy for all your friends. It was that wonderful.

Pictures to follow once we are back in New Jersey.

Cool new blog!

Yep, haven't left for Hawaii yet, but we will be very soon.

Anyway, just wanted to tell you about this cool new recipe blog. It's like a big blogging recipe exchange. If you are interested in my flank steak with lime marinade recipe that I mentioned in my Mother's Day post, you can now find it at the recipe blog. I will also be e-mailing her my strawberry salad recipe, to be posted soon. Enjoy!

We're going on a jet plane.

Kudos to Lisa, Kristin and Shelley, who all successfully guessed that we are heading to Hawaii!! My sister lives on Oahu (her husband is in the Army and they are currently stationed there). My parents are already vacationing there, so it is going to be like a mini-family reunion. We will be staying at this lovely place. Leah and I will be staying a full 10 days, with my husband leaving a few days before us so he can come back to work (lucky him)!

I will be leaving all the packing to my hubby (because, to be quite honest, he can fit WAY more stuff in our suitcases than I can). So what does that leave me to do?

Well, really two things:

• CLEAN THE HOUSE - I hate the idea of coming home to a mess, so I have been working hard to clean, do laundry, change bedsheets and get everything nice and neat for my return. I'm not too obsessive compulsive, am I?
  
  
• PICK OUT BOOKS - Probably even more important is the task of picking out the right reading material for my vacation. I have about eight books sitting on my bedside table, all calling out to me "take me, oh please take me!" I took a peek at one of my old posts, in which I asked for great book recommendations, I have narrowed it down to these few:
  
  The Kite Runner - Set partly in Afghanistan, the novel follows the relationship of two childhood friends through political turmoil and hardship. Greatly recommended by Lisa, Tammy, and the woman I sat next to at a recent wedding, who also just happens to be a freelance writer and book reviewer for Publishers Weekly. Hey, how could I go wrong!
  
  The Undomestic Goddess - Hey, a girl has to have some super juicy, easy reading while sitting on a white sandy beach, right? Written by the chick lit author Sophie Kinsella, it is a story of Samantha, a high powered lawyer who makes some "big" mistake in her office, and in a daze hops on a train out of the city. She ends up in the countryside where she is mistaken to be the new housekeeper. I don't know if Kim has read this one, but she did recommend the author.
  
  And here is where it gets tricky. I have two more books in the running for a spot in my carry-on:
  
  Ursula, Under - I had picked up this book at the bookstore months ago, because the premise sounds so interesting. Then, I read this post on Pomegranate, where not one but two commenters wrote about how much they loved it. The child in the story, Ursula Wong, has fallen down a well. In the story of her rescue, the tales of her ancestors (including a Chinese alchemist, a Finnish peasant, a priest and a queen to name just a few) are interwoven into the main plot.
  
  One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd - I received this book from my girlfriend Ariel quite a while ago. A neighbor of mine is a die hard fan of the book. The story is about the fictional peace treaty between Ulysses S. Grant and the chief of the Cheyenne nation, and the 1,000 white women who were given to the Cheynne tribe for wives.

So, which one should I bring? Of course, do I really have that much time to read all these books with a four year old running around? Probably not, but I like to be hopeful!

Anyway, see you guys when I get back (or if I check my bloglines from my sister's computer). ALOHA!

Beautiful Wedding

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing one of my dear friends, Leah's Godmother Chau, get married. Here are a few pictures of the wedding:

Chau, her sister and Maid of Honor Linda, and my daughter Leah, who was one of two flower girls:



Chau and Leah:



Mackenzie and Leah (the shorter of the two):



One of my favorite pictures from yesterday, right after Chau and her new husband Chris came out of the church:



Cool way to greet guests and give them their table assignments - the little umbrellas were planted in grass and had tags with the table numbers on them:



Chau and Chris enjoy their first dance together:



The lace jacket Chau wore during the wedding ceremony has now been taken off and replaced with a beautiful sash and broach:



As is part of Vietnamese tradition, Chau changed into a beautiful Vietnamese outfit for the cake cutting:



It was a really beautiful day and fun wedding to attend. Leah and Mackie were great flower girls and danced the night away.

Chau and Chris looked so happy together. I am just thrilled for them both.

The Twilight Zone

After being a stay-at-home mother for the last four years, I agreed to help an old friend out and return to work temporarily. I began working for Bruce in 1998, and after taking maternity leave in 2002 I have kept in close contact with him. Turns out his employee up and quit on him at the beginning of the week, leaving him in a bind.

So, this morning I got up early, took a shower, skipped over the jeans and put on my best "corporate clothes" (of which I may have all of three outfits), put make-up on, got my daughter up early, fed her, packed her lunch for pre-school and dropped her off at my neighbors house. This is all before 8 a.m. I then drove to work, walked through the front door and felt like I had entered the "Twilight Zone." Same office, some of the same people. Truly bizarre. I will be working for part of next week also.

Today has been a learning experience for me. When the going gets tough at home (and it does get tough with an opinionated and energetic four year old), I sometimes contemplate what it would be like to go back to work. All I know now is that I am tired, cranky and just can't wait to crawl into bed. Looks like staying at home is what I do best.

New Look!

Just felt like changing a few things around my blog a bit. Hope you like the new look. It must be the Graphic Designer in me...

My Little Monster

DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE FACE OF A MONSTER?

Yeah, I don't think so either. Leah is really a pretty great kid. She loves to play, laugh, learn and explore. Yet, on the occasion when she gets a little bit overtired, she can turn that sweet face into a scowl.

This evening Leah has been in her bed since 7 o'clock. Her normal bed time is 8:30, but due to the fact that she slammed the door in Joe's face and said some not very nice things to the both of us, she has been sent to bed early. She cried, she screamed, she even gave me a little smack. She told me that she would apologize, but only so she could get back out of bed. When I told her that she could say she was sorry but that she still had to stay in bed she then did something that surprised Joe and I both. She asked us into her room and then apologized with the most sincerity that a four year old can muster up. She hugged and kissed us, told us both how sorry she was and said that she loves us. She has since settled down in her bed. I hope she will be asleep soon.

During those times when children are on your last nerve, they go and do something that just blows you away. I just knew there was a good girl inside that little monster of mine.

Cup of Joe

OK, I'll admit it - I am a total sucker for free stuff. So, I signed up at bloggersfuel.com to review the Boca Java line of coffees for bloggers. I got the coffee review kit, hat and mug that says "Always Blog on a full tank." How could I pass it up!

Following is my review of two of their specialty coffees:

Blogger's Boot Up Blend - It is a medium blend of African, Central and South American coffees. They suggest it as a good breakfast blend. Joe and I both enjoyed the taste, although in comparing it to the coffee we usually drink I didn't think it was extraordinary.

Bloggers Pajama Passion - This one, that has flavors of vanilla, kahlua and caramel, faired much better in our taste test. I served it after lunch on Mother's Day. My Mom, who is the ultimate coffee drinker, gave her thumbs up approval and then promptly took the rest of the bag home with her. It was smooth, not to strong and very tasty.

Mother's Day and other ramblings...

Today I had my parents over for lunch to celebrate Mother's Day. Here is a picture of my Mom, Leah and I. On the menu was Flank Steak which was marinated in lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, scallions and red pepper flakes, then grilled by Joe to perfection.

We also enjoyed this yummy salad!
Made with strawberries, mushrooms, sliced red onion, spinach, poppyseed dressing and home-made candied pecans, this is a huge hit whenever I make it (just ask Nicole or Tracy - one of our playgroup Moms, who has since moved to Ohio, shared this recipe with us).

On another note, Joe and I have been busy with lots of "around the house" work. We have taken down some of the wallpaper in the upstairs hallway, cleaned out our entire office, installed a new slide and swings on Leah's swingset, painted, and THIS:


We had this patio installed last fall and so now is the time to try to grow some grass around it. After almost a full day of loosening the soil, carrying 16 bags of topsoil, planting grass seed, putting down fertilizer and starter mulch, we were exhausted (and Joe's allergies were out of control). Wish us grass growing luck!

Normally, I am far from the productive. It must be the fact that we are going away on vacation in the next few weeks. There will be plenty of time for relaxing on the beach! Anyone want to take a guess at where we are flying off to?

Finally!

Good news!

Today, May 9th, we finally moved from the "paperchase phase" to being DTC! DTC means that our dossier is enroute to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs. Now we just have to wait for our LID (which is the date that the Chinese office logs you into their system). The official wait is currently 12 months from LID - YIKES - but we are keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed for an expedited referral due to Joe's Chinese heritage. We just now have to wait and see.

Stephanie

Need a new bumper?

Did your bumper just happen to fall of your car today in the middle of traffic? If so, just do what this guy did:





Joe and I took this picture at the last exit in New Jersey before you get to the Lincoln Tunnel. Wonder what he would have done had he not had a sunroof!

Children's book author

A few years ago, I took Leah to our local library and picked up a book called "Henry's First Moon Birthday" by Lenore Look. The book is a sweet story of a big sister who helps prepare for her brothers first birthday. I am always looking for books about Chinese American families to read to Leah and this one was nicely written and beautifully illustrated. Joe and I were surprised to find out, when reading the sleeve of the book, that Lenore lives in the same town as we do. Today we had the pleasure of meeting Lenore at a book signing for the release of her newest children's picture book "Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding" and her second chapter book "Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything."

She spoke about the publishing industry, writing Children's books and a little bit about her childhood. She then read from her "Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding" book and answered questions. She was very down to earth and a real pleasure to listen too. She signed both chapter books to Leah, and the picture book to Leah and her baby sister (see pictures below).

If you are interested, you can buy her books from Amazon.com. Just click below.
Henry's First Moon Birthday
Ruby Lu, Brave and True - 1st chapter book
Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything - 2nd chapter book
Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding

I plan on reading the two chapter books myself before reading it to Leah. I am looking for some light reading anyway since my last book was First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. This memoir chronicles the extreme hardship and heartache five year old Ung faced when Cambodia was taken over by Pol Pot and the Khemar Rouge. It is just amazing that this women lived through her harrowing ordeal and has since written about it. It was shocking and terribly sad, but also left you with a feeling of hope that she was able to survive. I have purchased her second book, Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind about which she chronicles her new life in Vermont while some of her siblings stay back in war torn Cambodia.

Anniversary

My parents celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary yesterday. Leah and I took them to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch. It is also an award winning brew pub, so we ordered up their brew sampler to try all of the different beer. Luckily it was a beautiful day out so we were able to dine outside. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!

Unavailable

I will be unavailable between the hours of 8pm & 10 pm the next two nights while I watch the PBS series Texas Ranch House. This six hour series (which began last night) follows a group of people as they go back in time (1867 to be exact) and live like real cowboys for a few months. You can find out more here.

I first fell in love with this series when PBS showed the fabulous Frontier House a few years back. During that series three families lived the difficult life on the frontier. It was riveting TV and I was glued to the screen. I believe you can rent Frontier House from the video store and if you have the time I would highly suggest it. Since then they had Colonial House, but I felt that the people picked for that series just weren't that interesting. Texas Ranch House started off pretty well last night, so I am definitely ready to break out the popcorn tonight!

Wild kingdom in the backyard

This morning, a deer gave birth to three fawns in my parents wooded backyard.

The following photos were taken by my father.

Postcards from New Jersey - CLINTON

Today, while walking around one of the many picturesque towns in New Jersey, I thought about how my home state has such a bad reputation. Most recently, we were named to have "The most dangerous city in the U.S." We also have one of the most corrupt state governments, and of course, are home to lots of mobsters (ala The Sopranos).

What you might not know about New Jersey, if you have never visited here before, are the many beautiful and wonderful things about my home state. Here are a few facts about "The Garden State:"

• On the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the scenic Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area offers nature lovers 70,000 acres and 37 riverfront miles to explore. Created by the Delaware River, the Delaware Water Gap channel cuts through the Kittatinny Mountains - nearly 1,400 feet deep and 900 feet wide at water level.
• Island Beach State has more than 3,000 acres of pristine beaches, sand dunes, marshes, bogs, and nature trails, you can swim, picnic, hike, fish, or bird-watch to your heart's content.
• Attend the Cranberry Festival in one of the country's cranberry capitals - Chatsworth in Burlington County. You'll gain a whole new appreciation for passing the cranberries at Thanksgiving!
• Here's another reason why they call New Jersey "The Garden State"! Go to Leaming's Run Gardens & Colonial Farm in Swainton and see the largest annual garden in the nation. This is a beautiful 30-acre palette of flowers in every color of the rainbow. The garden is really humming in August as hummingbirds flock to the 25 gardens to sip nectar. For more relaxation, walk among the native plants, trees, and flowers at the Old Hickory Arboretum & Display Gardens.
• In the late 18th century, an "Underground Railroad" network of safe havens was established to help African-Americans travel north to find freedom from slavery in the southern states. One of the "stops" on this "railroad" was a town in Camden County called Lawnside, the first African-American community to be incorporated as a municipality.

So, once in a while I will be giving you a glimpse of New Jersey through my "Postcards from New Jersey" posts. This morning, Leah, my parents and I visited the town of Clinton, on the Raritan River. Clinton is home to the historic Red Mill, which is one of the most photographed buildings in New Jersey.





For more information on the history of Clinton, you can check it out here!

I'm in love

Had fun today taking lots of digital photos with my new Canon PowerShot SD600 (thanks again Mom & Dad). The camera has many different settings and functions so I had a great time trying them all out. Thanks Mary-Mia for the camera tips - the vivid color setting is very cool. Did I mention that I LLLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE this camera?

Ain't it purrrrty...

Here is my new digital camera. My parents were nice enough to purchase it as an early birthday present since I LOST my other digital camera nearly a month ago. This is the reason why you haven't seen any new "Corners of My Home" postings lately. Once I figure out how to use this darn thing I will be a picture posting maniac!

Three Movies Reviews (sort of)

We did get to sit down to watch Memoirs of a Geisha last night. I loved the book when I read it a few years ago, and was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed the movie (usually I hate the movie rendition of a favorite novel). As Julie said, it was beautifully filmed and I enjoyed the acting as well. Is it just me, or could Michelle Yeoh be any more stunning?

For her birthday, Leah received a Japanese animation movie called My Neighbor Totoro. It had been dubbed in English with Dakota Fannings voice for the lead character.



Even though I felt the movie was a bit odd, she really loved. So I picked up another Japanese movie by the same director, Hayao Miyazaki, called Howl's Moving Castle. This one I enjoyed a lot more (hmm, could it be that the lead character was kind of cute**). I don't know if this is the most appropriate movie for a four year old since part of the movie plot had to do with war, but again she loved it!




**how sad is it that I think the lead ANIMATED character is hot. Must have been Christian Bale's voice dubbing. XXOO

Parenthood and Geisha girls

This is really what parenthood is really like. You rent two movies (one for mini me, another for yourself and hubby). We have already watched the kids film twice. We haven't even cracked open the DVD case of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Wednesday night, too tired.

Thursday night, husband out AND daughter pees her bed.

Friday night, guest coming over.

Maybe tomorrow night? We shall see...