Winter Wish List

I honestly believe living in Minnesota cultivates one’s appreciation for changing seasons. Despite grumpy words on weather falling out of our mouths, I really believe that if our weather remained unchanged throughout the year, and consequently, throughout our lives, that we would not be who we are today. You know how much I love celebrating seasons, and winter is no different. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, my birthday, almost all of my family’s birthdays, my boyfran anniversary and Valentine’s Day only add to the joy of winter!

So here is my winter wish list:

Ice skate at Landmark Center

Go to a craft fair

Swap gifts with a bloggy friend

See Elf the Musical

Snowshoe through a park

Make a wreath

Bake holiday goodies

Watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Watch a holiday movie I have not seen before

Actively participate in #ShareAdvent

Upon review, it seems my list is not far off from last year's. What can I say? I like tradition.

Happy Independence Day!

Oops. I was having too much fun on the 4th of July to remember to post this. Anyway, here:

I hope it was a good one!

Happy Weekend!!

Happy Friday! I am so incredibly excited for this weekend!! 

This is why:

Today: I have a half day at work, then it's time for primping and off to Stillwater to my boyfriend's brother's wedding. After the ceremony, we're headed out for dinner and a good time.

Tomorrow: Quick morning recovery from the wedding shenanigans will probably be in order and then I'm off to a 2nd birthday fiesta! Syrup and green grapes for everyone. (This is what my nephew requested for his birthday gifts and by golly, I shall oblige).

Sunday: Easter! I don't really celebrate, but the boyfriend's mother insists I do, and I love it. Pastels? Egg hunt? Chocolate? Brunch? Check, check, check, check!!

I'll be sure to recap here once the weekend is over and I have some photographic proof of what an excellent time I had. Yes, I'm planning for the future, but so what!

Have a great weekend people!! Use some exclamation points!!

The weekend, in le nutshell

Ah, we meet again! The weekend was much too short but filled with lots of happiness and celebration!

On Friday I celebrated my friend's birthday by going to Comedy Sportz and then to William's Peanut Bar. We had a lot of fun playing skee ball and eating peanuts.

Saturday, I stopped in the middle of the road for two wild turkeys and after driving for a bit, decided I needed to turn around and follow them. They waddled pretty slowly to Party City and I snapped some photos of them and watched as people came out of the stores and realized there were two turkeys on the sidewalk. Hehe.

I spent St. Patrick's Day first at Stella's eating oysters and fish tacos, then hopped on my first-ever party bus, aptly named the Busweiser. We drove all around town and I had somuchfun with friends.

{Creative way to litter}

I

{The boyfriend and his best friend}

{Some of my bestest in the Midwestest}

We all donned our green in some shape or form. Mine was on the bottom, so it's hard to tell in photos.

{Most of the kids}

I guess some of you might know that I like to creAture watch. This means I make fun of people who wear, do or say things in public that they shouldn't. I know this is mean, but, honestly:

{Her shirt was slashed horizontally all down the chest}

{The end}

And one more thing before I go...

{Same same but different}

Happy Birthday to Mr. Nathan!

Nathan is my brother-in-law whom I have known since I was in elementary school. We share a love for baseball, brew, espresso (although mine is heavily sugared), sarcasm, travel, TV shows, and music. Many years ago, I was in a really low place in my life and ended up basically living at Nancy and Nathan's house. It took a lot for me to get out of bed and finally, Nathan had had enough of my self-pity and made me go to yoga with him. Yoga healed me mentally and emotionally and I am a completely different person because of it. And it all started with Nathan (and that wife of his). Happy Birthday Mr. Nathan!

Be Mine, Valentine

A lot of people think of Valentine's Day as an overrated holiday that retailers gussied up and devalued its meaning. It's not just about chocolates and roses and cliches. It's about recognizing people you love. I like it more than I like a lot of other holidays. The color scheme definitely gives it points and I'm not into the whole gaining a ton of weight on a holiday just because it's a holiday (like Thanksgiving). Not to say this doesn't happen. It does. Sigh.

Anyway, back to the point. The origins of Valentine's Day come from a bunch of saints named Valentine who were martyred on February 14. Then came Chaucer, who connected the day with love by writing a poem for a marriage ceremony. Then came hand-written cards in the 18th century, then came printed cards and now it is what it is.

What do you think? Will you be celebrating? I've been celebrating all month, so you know my answer. 

Here's a bit of a forward my coworker sent to me. Normally forwards are meant to be deleted, but this one was pretty cute. This is what some little kids think about love:

'When my grandmother got arthritis , she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.. So my grandfather does it for her all the time , even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you , the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5


'If you want to learn to love better , you should start with a friend who you hate , '
Nikka - age 6 


'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it , you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

The best one was a four-year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry , the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard , climbed onto his lap , and just sat there.  When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor , the little boy said , 'Nothing , I just helped him cry' 

Oh! That last part just makes me tear up. And for my last trick, these are the other ways I've been being festive in the spirit of St. Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Lunar New Year!

I had the best weekend ever full of family, friends, and many of my favorite things. I always get the Sunday blues when it comes time to shift into the daily grind, but this week, the party continued with Lunar New Year falling on Monday. This holiday is mainly celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese and since I consider myself both, I can't just refer to it as Chinese New Year or Tết. Hence, Lunar New Year.

Anyway, LNY is a celebration of family and tradition. There are several traditions that go along with the new year like offering food and incense to pay respect to our ancestors, cleaning the house and settling debts before the new year to start it off right and get rid of bad luck, and giving/receiving red envelopes filled with "lucky money," or as they call it in Mandarin Chinese, hóngbāo. There's also the tradition that you aren't supposed to wash your hair on LNY, as it will rinse away your good luck. So yeah, I have bed head and it's extra fancy and nice.

 {Lucky luck}

LNY is a day when I think about what it means to be Chinese or Vietnamese. I consider myself lucky to be both. My paternal grandparents left China for Vietnam out of starvation and my maternal grandfather left China for Vietnam because of communism...my maternal grandmother was born in Vietnam after the huge movement of Chinese people to Vietnam. (She's considerably younger than the rest of my grandparents and in turn, my only living blood-related grandparent). All that aside, this is why I am both Chinese and Vietnamese. Then comes the part where my parents left Vietnam (Communism strikes again) for the United States. And that is why I am Chinese-Vietnamese-American. So now you know "what kind of Asian" I am.

My parents speak English, Vietnamese, and a multitude of Chinese dialects. I took a few years of Mandarin Chinese and a semester of Vietnamese in college to start to make up for the fact that I can't speak my "homeland tongue." It's a little bit embarassing and a little bit heart breaking, which is why I need to work on it more this year. (Who wants to get Rosetta Stoned with me??)

To me, being Chinese means that you honor your ancestors and respect your parents and elders. Family is always first. You call every friend of your parents "auntie" or "uncle." You know how to eat with chopsticks. Your stove has been covered with aluminum foil at one point or another and your furniture with clear vinyl. You use the dishwasher as a drying rack. You know the smell of mothballs all too well. You will never let someone pay for the dinner bill without a fight. You eat rice every day. 

Being Vietnamese means that phở is a food group. You put soy sauce or nước mắm on everything. You know a different story about the Vietnam War. You're not afraid of 100 mopeds coming at you. Paris By Night. Seafood buffets. You greet everyone by a combination of their gender, their relation to you, and their age in comparison to your parents. (And you're still confused about how to do this). You have a 55-lb bag of rice in your pantry and no milk in your fridge. You eat fruit for dessert. 

Those are very short (and not totally serious) versions of what being Chinese and Vietnamese means to me. At any rate, I'm glad to have each of those fibers woven through me, in addition to all of my American attributes and practices you're probably very aware of. (Sadly, knowing only one language fluently is one of those...)

{Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, 2008}

I hope this gave you a little peek at something unfamiliar. Happy New Year!

I Too, Have a Dream

I am overwhelmed by the respect I have for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who fought so hard for freedom through nonviolence. A man who had the belief and the drive and the heart to lead our country and inspire others to insist on their personal freedom. A man who risked his own life for the good of everyone else. 

For these reasons, I make it a point every year to watch the "I Have a Dream" speech. Not only is Dr. MLK Jr. a powerful orator, but his speech at Lincoln Memorial serves as a sharp reminder of what has been and what can still be. This year, thanks to Jessica, I've added the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to this tradition.

I have never personally experienced such severe discrimination and injustice; it pains me to know that people did and still do. I've had my fair share of racist remarks, but never violence and never the absence of freedom.

If you don't recall the injustices from the tumultuous 1960s, here is an excerpt from the "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" that explains why we cannot wait to forge change:

"Perhaps it is easy for those have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policement curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of the affluent society; when you suddently find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people, when you have to conduct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your las name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait."

We have made great strides in this country, but there is no way we are close to being finished.

I have a dream, that one day, everyone will have the right to be married, based on their love for another person, not on their sexual orientation. I have a dream that no one will be driven to suicide by the hatred and ridicule of others. I have a dream that racial profiling and hate crimes will cease to exist. I have a dream, that one day no one will have to worry about whether or not they get to eat. I have a dream that no person will be sexually trafficked and forced to live a dark life against their will. I have a dream that the words rape, school shooting, war and terrorist will be obsolete from our vocabularies. I too, have a dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr. died for what he believed in and thought you weren't living if you weren't willing to die for anything. His son explains that if he was alive today, he would have fought for the rights of women, gay people, immigrants, trade unions and anyone who was oppressed. I have thought, "If I was alive then, I would have marched on Washington with them." But I'm alive today, so I need to do something, or my complacency will be worse than someone who is outright against equality. What are you willing to die for? How will you change the course of our history?

I Was Dreaming of a White Christmas

Blink. The holidays are gone and as a result, I am Jennifer McMopester. This year was much different than before, as I spent the holiday up North with my boyfran’s family instead of my own. There were a few issues with this: not being with my family on a holiday I’ve never spent away from them, not being there for the baby nephew’s first Christmas, and not being in my own house for the holiday. But the family was divided this year and the boyfran’s family had big plans for up North and so kindly invited me, so I took the leap and agreed. It was one of the most magical Christmases ever because it felt oh-so-Minnesotan and I got to do so many fun things!

{The hunchback of Rush City}

Last Thursday, most of the group was already up North but I had a nice dinner with my family before the boyfran and I went to a little Ugly Christmas Sweater shindig at Bulldog St. Paul. It was pretty fun and afterwards I headed home to stay up until 3am packing. Three hours later, the boyfran and I were out the door and on the road to watch the beautiful sunset. We only made one stop in Rush City, to see the largest walleye in the world, of course. Paul Bunyan was the brave fisherman on this one. (So dorky!)

We were warmly welcomed at our beachfront property in Lutsen, MN on Friday morning. I had never seen waves crashing into a shoreline blanketed in snow before. Soon after, I got a massage at the WatersMeet Spa, took a trip to boyfran’s brother’s cozy cabin in Grand Marais, then headed out to the community center for ice skating and hockey. 

The boys raced and played tag, while I honed my stopping and backwards skating skills. I may have ran my head straight into a hockey net at one point, but all was cured with a Peppermint Patty at a local bar with an awesome bartender, Whiskey Dick. Seriously, his name was Dick Winzer, kind of like Windsor. Like Whiskey. Get it? We ended the night with dinner and Cribbage and all was well in the world.

On Saturday, we trucked out to Caribou Lake and hauled our stuff on the boyfran’s three-wheeler. We played catch, I learned to punt, and we drank ice cold beer to keep us warm. Hmm? Yeah. I even got enough courage to hang onto the back of the three-wheeler while being towed on a snowboard. I tumbled down three times, but those falls were worth the fun. The scenery on the lake was intensely beautiful. Woodsy cabins dotted the shoreline and tall pines and bare birches skirted the entire perimeter. It was the most beautiful football field I have ever played on! Every once in a while, I’d stop, take a breath, and stare at the shoreline in disbelief of its beauty. 

Afterwards was the same drill: Cribbage, drinks, laughter. Only this time, we got to open presents! In my family I had never opened presents before Christmas morning so this was a treeeeeeeeeeat. Boyfriend Zeb and I got each other snow shoes – I can’t wait to bust those out! (Snow, darn it!)

On Christmas morning, we had a yummy breakfast prepared by boyfran’s mama. We had a small photo sesh for the other blog, then geared up to go sledding. When we arrived at Lutsen Resort to pick up some sleds, boyfran’s brother Luke decided to take us on a mini hike. The hike was breathtaking and a little bit scary, as we scaled steep inclines covered in slippery snow. Again, the green conifers against the snow were so strikingly beautiful I was practically gaping at every new view. We saw otter tracks along the water too! So cuuuute! 

After our hike, we drove over to the golf course and found a hill to slide down. The hill itself wasn’t all that intimidating, but a river disguised by a bed of snow awaited us at the bottom. Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we quickly had to roll off before plunging into the depths of the river. We had a Christmas dinner at the lodge and slothily made our way home for more Cribbage, Sequence, and Reggae music.

On Monday, we found our water pressure had officially died and instead of enjoying a slow morning with yummy breakfast, we bolted out of the place like something that bolts out of a place fast. 

We made our way slowly back to the cities, stopping at Beaver Bay for the giant Adirondack chairs, Split Rock Lighthouse for a view of the lake, and Duluth for a meal at Fitger’s Brewhouse and some shopping. I have a new quest to go see all of the odd statues and such in Minnesota, and everywhere.

I know this post is ridiculously long, but it’s basically a journal, so deal with it! Trips in confined quarters inevitably make you closer to the people you share them with. I feel closer to the boyfran’s family, if that was even possible, and I am happier for it. Sure, they are a quirky, sometimes gross (three boys, c’mon) bunch, but they’re pretty awesome and extremely welcoming. They got it from their mama!

So now I have all these amazing memories, items checked off of my winter to-do list, and a slew of photos I can’t even begin to sift through. It’s great to recognize the beauty in life, but when you take photos of each of those moments, well, you have hundreds of photos. Oh well, better than none! Okay, now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.

  

End of the Year Recap Part 4

So here is the part of my year that you might have already shared because I posted about it as it happened...

October: I started the month off with three concerts in the first week! Then I spent a week in Paris with my sister (and away from work!) It was one of the best trips I have ever taken because I was able to truly relax and enjoy every bit of life. This meant delicate macarons, inspiring museums, pristine gardens, delectable pain au chocolats, frequent cafes, talented street performers, sporadic shopping sprees, and brisk walks. I feel so darned lucky to be able to travel as much as I do.

November: I spent a lot of time with the boyfran's family and a lot of time at shows. I saw Noah and the Whale (awesome show!), Jerry Seinfeld (hilarious!), Mat Kearney (alright, pretty good), and Mason Jennings (love forever). Thanksgiving was a blast, and I'm sure you could read all about November in this blog if you really wanted to...

December: This brings us to now. December has been a month of crafting, celebrating birthdays, and best of all, a new baby nephew, le peanut.

This wraps up my 2011 recap extravaganza. It's satisfying to relive memories and be excited for the future. It's also nice to be present and live in the moment. So I'm going to go do that.

What's on your list of highlights of the year? Would you call it a good one? Everyone has a different story concerning 2011 - I'm thrilled to say mine was one of happiness and light. Here's to a wonderful 2012! 

Happy New Year!!!

Awake and Bake

I never meant to bake anything. I promise. But with my looming adventures up North, I had to make something to bring along. And if I was going to take time to actually make something, well then it better dang well be pretty. So naturally, I looked to my friend Jessica's blog, Life's Simple Measures, for inspiration and guidance.


So then I did this:

{Recipe here}

And then I made this:

{Recipe here}

I had leftover candy melts, so then I made this:

Now I not only have goodies to take with me up North, but also to give to the girls I am seeing at an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party tomorrow, and to my lovely sisters, and to my coworkers. Oopsies. In all seriousness, I have never really had an affinity for cooking or baking or anything in the kitchen unless it included crafting at the kitchen table. This round of "baking" was kind of amazing. I looked at the recipes, I shopped for the items I didn't have, I timed the preparations correctly without even trying that hard, and I yielded plenty. AND I was able to craft them. 


All the while, I had conversations with my parents and actually had a lot of fun. I hope this doesn't become a hobby of mine, however, because I spent a lot of time doing this, and maybe I stayed up till the very wee hours of the morning and maybe that hinders the rest of my Thursday. We'll see.

Merry Monday

Hello frannns! This morning was a little rough, even though I forced myself to bed last night at 10pm due to a severe migraine. Let me tell you, 10pm bedtime never happens with me, so I was hurtin' something fierce. This morning I was all achey too, but then my coworker gave me some medicine and it's getting better.

So here I am. The weekend was pretty low-key. I went to a Friday night yoga class, woke up early Saturday for a half day of work, then headed over to my sister's house to craft until I couldn't craft anymore. This crafting sesh was also filled with attempts of dougie-ing, too many desserts, YouTube videos and scary stories I couldn't handle. I finally finished  making my Christmas and Hannukah cards though, so that felt awesome. I finished working on some Christmas gifts as well. But now, I must write out all of these cards and while I definitely enjoy writing to people, it's going to take a block of time to get these out. 

Sunday the fam celebrated my parents' birthdays with Banh Xeo Brunch and playing on the lake behind our house. Then I headed over to boyfran's brothers to do some man-crafting. You know, ditching the pretty paper, brads and tape runners for drills, scrap wood and tape measurers. We made one of our two giant hockey nets for future broomball on the lake. I had never really played with a drill before or built anything that didn't come in a set in a box, so this was pretty fun.

Now, onto Monday and what is getting me through the day:

1. Hydration. Must. Fix. Headache.

2. Crafting. I'm on a craft-kick, if you couldn't tell.

3. Book Club. We're having a little gift exchange tomorrow with our discussion of a holiday-themed book. Yippee!

That's all. 13 days until Christmas, ahh!

I want to go to there. [Winter to-do list]

Happy December! Can you EVEN BELIEVE IT? There isn't a ton of snow, but the bit we do have came just in time! So, in spirit of that, here is my winter to do list:

1. Snowshoe.

2. Ice skate.

3. Cross-country ski.

4. Build a snowman.

5. Throw snowballs for my puppy to go fetch. (It's pretty hilarious to watch).

6. Make a snow angel.

7. Ice fish.

8. Watch the following: Elf, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without a Santa Claus...

9. Consume the following(preferably separately): Peppermint mochas, Jessica's mom's cabbage rolls, something Carrie baked.

10. Make chicken and dumplings, as taught by Jessica's mom.

11. Scrapbook like a maniac; make holiday cards and presents.

12. Go to a craft fair.

13. See a musical.

14. Hang out in Rice Park.
15. Play Christmas songs on the piano. 

So if you’re willing to contribute to the checking-off of any of the aforementioned items, please get in contact with me. Ha! But really, is there something I am missing? What’s on YOUR winter to-do list?

Merry Monday

Happy Monday! (Is that an oxymoron? Heh.) Unlike about 78.1% of my weekends, this one seemed to last forever, in a very, very good way. Thanksgiving started perfectly with a Turkey Day 5k (an easy-breezy-fun-run), Friday was a very long day at work (mainly because I was thinking about the people who weren’t at work), but I ended it with a couple of games of pool and Big Buck Hunter (yep) in Uptown. 

Saturday was the loveliest day of all! It started out with a breakfast at Grandview Grill (my new favorite breakfast joint) to reunite with my friends from high school. Then my sister and I headed over to the new Anthropologie on Grand and did a bit of damage. Afterwards, we had dinner at Punch Pizza (also a favorite spot) before buying macarons at Surdyk’s (sub-par) and heading to First Ave. to catch The Pines and Mason Jennings. Mason was amazing, as always. He played a good mix of songs from his latest album, Minnesota, some from the album before that, and some from the 7 albums before that. He threw in a couple of covers too, which I was all for. After the show, we headed a block or two over to Kieran’s to meet my friend David who I studied with in Hong Kong three long years ago. And you know, I might have stayed up until 4am getting beat at card games. 

Sunday I headed to the mall with some girlies to do a bit of birthday shopping (thanks family for having holiday birthdays) and then bolted out of there to go to yet another Thanksgiving dinner, complete with cribbage and football.

Okay, so you might not care about the ins and outs of my weekend, but when I write about what I did, it not only serves as a little bit of a record, but also a moment at least to reflect on it and appreciate it before moving on. Sooner or later though, I’m going to be reflecting on something a minute or two after it happens…hmm…

Anyway, I’m super glad I had a couple of reunions this past weekend and can’t wait to have more over Christmas! But for now, it’s Monday, there’s a LOT to do this week at work (not so much socially), and I am, as usual, tired. 

What should I think about today?

1. Cyber Monday. Some might say I like to dabble in shopping. 

2. Running. I did surprisingly well at both Thanksgiving dinners, only eating one plate, minimal desert, and barely anything else those days. Still, I feel a bit guilty and am going to go running after work.

3. Connecting. Sometimes when I have reunions, I get addicted to the idea of them. Especially because David wants to go to Toronto together to visit all of our HK friends. So now I'm thinking about every possible reunion I can muster up.

Was your weekend long or short? Was it hard getting up for work today? (Yes over here!) Anyway, I hope your Monday is super-cali-frag-i-listic! 

I am so thankful.

Obviously I was going to post today. There are so many things to be thankful for, and since a lot of this blog is dedicated to recognizing and appreciating those things, it's only natural that I write about them today!

Where do I even begin?

For starters, there are things that I am thankful for every day and while I don't discount them, they go into a short list here:

1. Health.

2. My five senses. 

3. Freedom.

4. Shelter, food, clothing, a car, a job.

5. Love and happiness.

Now on to the main event: people. None of the aforementioned blessings would matter at all if it wasn't for great people in my life. And here they are:

Family. I love my family! This year we have the addition of Mr. Kevin and it's pretty exciting to have a new brother. At the end of this year, we'll have yet another addition in the form of an itty bitty baby!

Boyfran. See this post. (Also his awesome, welcoming family!)

The girls. I’ve known these ladies since I was 9 or 10 years old. Enough said.

The girls. These are the people who made college so exciting. We shared school, parties, and Stinkytown Dinkytown. I even got to live with…all of them.

Show-goers. Music is the air I breathe and since I have the need to go to a bazillion shows, it’s been awesome to have accomplices.

HK boyz. These are the people who I spent almost every day of my time abroad with. They are all hilarious and insanely smart. I’ve gotten to see some of them since we’ve been back, but I’m still waiting for a reunion with the international ones.

HK penpals. After three years, these girls still write to me! You don’t know how great it is to get mail from them, adorned with silly Hello Kitty stickers. 

HK people in general. Reunions are my faaavorite and it's super fun to have friends around the world.

Bookclub. My fellow nerds literary aficionados keep my brain sharp and are fun to meet for dinner every month. Still waiting on that magnum bottle of wine.

You. Whoever you are.

Every person has added to my life in such a special way, and I really am grateful for each and every one. (Also the ones not featured here, who I maybe haven't seen in a while). Here is to more communication, more reunions, and remembering the awesome times we’ve shared. Happy Thanksgiving people, you rock my world.