The Heart of the Matter

Happy February! I love the beginning of every month and every year because it feels so fresh. This month is many things: Black History Month, Heart Health Month, the month of Valentine's and mushy gushy things, and this year, it's a leap year! 29 days to recognize some really great things. 

I've known a handful of people who have had heart attacks. Some have thankfully survived them, and some have not. My dad's best friend, who in turn, was one of my favorite people in the world, passed away in 1996 due to complications from a heart attack. It was the first funeral I remember and one of the saddest, if you could even put them on a scale. And more recently, as in within the past couple of weeks, someone close to me had a heart attack and will undergo surgery next week. 

So, as people who are young and able to change the course of their future pretty easily, I think it's time to change. (Yes we can!) I received a nifty calendar from SparkPeople (thanks to Ash for that website recommendation) of 29 days to improving your heart health. I've always known cardio exercise was important and I've gotten my fill through running. But now, I'm placing a greater emphasis on it. No longer do I run only to lose weight, but to strengthen my heart. After all, "The heart is a muscle. So treat it like one." 

With this, I vow to make some changes in my life: 
1. Cook meals on the stove, not the microwave. I tend to eat Lean Cuisines because they are fast and easy, but chock-full of sodium and micro-waves. 
2. Decrease my intake of red meat, eggs, fried foods and foods with high cholesterol. Be mindful of cholesterol in general. 
3. Exercise. I'm running for a plethora of reasons and now I have more motivation to get to the trail, track or treadmill. 
4. Sleep. I am in dire need of a bedtime. 
5. Be mindful of actions. Mostly because I couldn't end the list at four. Oh I know, decrease the alcohol intake. There. 

A heart attack is just that. An attack. An ambush. No one expects that they will have one; it most certainly comes as a surprise. And what do you do when you know you may eventually be under attack? You prepare. You draw your armor out. You round up your defenses and fight your hardest. 

So be healthy for your heart, yourself, your family and your friends. They all want you alive and well for as long as humanly possible. We're given one body that's meant to last decades - take care of it. And again, happy February. <3

Merry Monday

Hello dearies! It's been probably over a month since I last wrote this installment since there were so many other things happening on Monday, like the day off of work for Christmas, the day off of work for the New Year and although I was working, MLK Jr. Day and Lunar New Year warranted other thoughts.

Now I am finally back to being at work on a regular, old Monday. Cue the trumpets! Wahoooie! It's 100% a Monday at work too. This weekend was fun and fast, as usual. I spent Friday celebrating Laura's birthday in Uptown (it was such a college reunion!), Saturday I attended the boyfran's high school alumni basketball game and we celebrated three years of going steady with a tarte from Chez Arnaud, a dinner at Rudy's Redeye Grill, a viewing of Super 8, and a night out with his friends who were in town. 

Sunday was a day of volunteering (you can read all about it here) and then I went and cuddled with my nephews for a couple of hours. Then, I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and was blown away. You can also read about that movie here. All in all, a good weekend.

This month has been one of the best, with so many activities and what I feel are accomplishments. I planned to run 25 miles this month and am at 22 so far. I wanted to see at least three movies and I've seen 4x that amount. I did really well on my resolution chart in terms of the weekly and monthly goals, and not so well on the daily goals.

This is what I'm looking forward to and what will give me energy today:

1. My coworker comes back tomorrow. I'm trying to finish a lot of her stuff I was filling in for, so this day will be busy, busy.

2. Book club is tomorrow and I'm excited to see everyone. (Not as excited to see all of their tans from their January vacations, snots!)

3. Next weekend one of my favorite comedians (Chris Barnes) is coming to town and I'm definitely going to see him.

The days are long, but the years are short. This one is already flying by! I hope you have a great Monday! 

Hecticity.

So I don't think that's a word, but I'm going with it. That is what my life feels like. How in the WORLD is today Friday?! Whhhaaaaaat?! (Well, yesterday was Thursday, and tomorrow is Saturday, so I guess that's how). Even Rebecca Black could answer that. Boy, do I miss her.

Anyway, the past four days have been crazy at work with a coworker gone and much to do before the end of February. But it makes me more productive and more amped up. Seriously, Friday? Tonight is my cutie pie friend Laura's birthday bash. In celebration of her golden birthday, I've decided to revisit the wonderful cake balls from Christmas. This time, in golden birthday form.

One problem. I added too much frosting to the mix and didn't think it was a huge issue. Until I coated, decorated, chilled, cut, and was disappointed by the mushiness of it all. I guess I learned my lesson: don't get overzealous on the frosting. I thought about scrapping the entire thing but after the resources spent on the project, I figure people who are drinking keg beer won't mind semi-mushy cake. Right?

I've also decided to do a short little thingy about my friend's birthdays this year on this blog. I realize I might be digging a hole in case I forget an important birthday or don't happen to post around that time. Please forgive me in advance, I'm trying.
Here is thingy number one.

Happy birthday to Miss Laura!
Laura and I met briefly during freshman year of college at a Halloween party. We didn’t meet again until we had the class “Intimate Relations” together - it’s okay, you can make fun of us. After that, we saw each other here and there, had another class together, and then thought, what the heck? Let’s move in together. Yeah, we took the fast track. And we’ve been besties ever since, sharing crazy nights, lots of gabbing and shopping, and Vietnamese food. Laura and I are now travel buddies on top of that! Happy birthday to my beautiful, optimistic, strong and courageous friend who has more friends than anyone I know. 

Birthday, belated.

Hi friends! It's been rather hectic around here so it's taken me a few days to write about my best birthday ever. I've never had a bad birthday. Maybe it's the hype I give it to ensure that my day is great. It might sound self-centered, well, it kind of is, but I think it's important to celebrate birthdays, no matter your age, and so I make it a point to do just that.

It started out a couple of weeks ago, when my coworkers got together to celebrate the January birthdays. They set up an awkward scene of eating cake at 10am break time in the shipping department after a rendition of "Happy Birthday" with the lights off. Nonetheless, I appreciated the gesture 100%.
Then came last Wednesday, where my boyfran and his mother gave me awesome gifts and we watched Moneyball. Love that movie. One of those gifts was a beautiful indoor plant (this is important to have during a dark, MN winter) and the other was a fantastic camera for which to blog with. Oh, and to capture life's moments.

Then came Friday! Flowers in the morning, a gift, a cake, a birthday song, a balloon, time to myself to clean and exercise, then a fun night at the boyfran's apartment which included the first beer I had in nearly a month. (Trust me, that's a long time). 

Then came Saturday! Spa date in the morning, followed by a shopping extravaganza, then coffee, a date for a manicure with a birthday-twin (well sort of, her birthday is the day after mine), a rush to the movies to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with book club and other friends and to sob aloud. And then...this:

This video was created by my tubular friend, Micah, with the amazing efforts of Carrie, Nancy, Nathan, Mary, Linda, Zeb, Ashley, Jessica, Leigh...well, you can read the credits. It features everyone in my family (even the babies!), a HUGE chunk of my best friends, some of my favorite artists, some of my favorite retailers, and even my yoga instructor! Can you believe it?! I can't. I was in so much shock that I kept exclaiming, screaming, tearing up, etc. the first time I watched it and I hardly remember what was going through my head that first time. Since then, I have watched this video multiple times a day and pretty much know the ins and outs of it. I couldn't believe that I could receive such a thoughtful present that took so much work. I love it. From the bottom of my heart, I love it. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this piece I will cherish forever. 

After the video reveal, we rushed to Barrio in Downtown St. Paul to have my favorite type of food and imbibe on yummy drinks. I certainly felt the aftershocks, but it was well worth it. And it didn't stop there. Sunday, I received even more gifts, and Lunar New Year gifts as well. (Double-whammy!) And today, Katrina took me to dinner and gave me a wonderful gift. And then I got home and saw a package from Davina with the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories that I mentioned here! Tomorrow, the boyfran's parents have a dinner planned for me. Then I think it will all be over and I will revert to the non-birthday portion of the year. Whew.

I received a ridiculous amount of birthday love and I am so grateful. I never expected this to be as amazing as it was and it would never have been this way without all of the seriously cool people I know. Even those facebook friends who I haven't talked to in months. I am still grateful.

Thank you!!!!! Now let me celebrate your birthdays!!!!!

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!