Category Archives: Life

Life, Places

The Paramount Room

There’s a little bar near a chocolate factory, and if you walk underneath and past the train tracks a little bit on N. Milwaukee Street, you’ll find it tucked in neatly against a few plain buildings. A blue neon sign displays only the word “Lounge” and you’ll have to look twice before you see the restaurant’s name high above the building. When we were here on our second night in Chicago, we were greeted by a man (perhaps  the owner or tenant who lives in the building above the bar?) and his friendly dog. We had the entire booth to ourselves by the open front window. The atmosphere here is perfect for drinks and good conversation with a small group of friends, and the food is so good,I’m still thinking about those fried green beans as I type right now.

The guys took a shot of Chicago’s infamous malort. From what I’ve heard, this is something I’d rather not try anytime soon.

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Life, Places

Chicago

The architecture and landscape in Chicago is so beautiful. Everything seems to be done on a grand scale, right down to the very last color coordinated tulip.

103 stories above everyone else… just for a little while

My favorite kind of tree, flowering pear.

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Life, Places

nighthawks…

It’s been a few days since I returned from a quick trip to Chicago with a few good friends and already I am feeling a heavy dose of withdrawal symptoms. Chicago is such a beautiful city, it’s difficult to experience everything in such a short amount of time, let alone try to blog about it in one post. I’ll definitely have to visit Chicago again and immerse myself in the city when I have more time. Only 8 more days of school left in the year! Maybe another trip during the summer, perhaps?

Chicago in the night…

… garlic flavored ramen with mussels, clams, & saffron….

… extraterrestrial architecture …

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homemade, Life, Parties, Phamily

for Baby…

          Last Saturday, I threw my very first baby shower for my sister. Oh yeah, did I mention that I am going to be an aunt? :) This will be the very first baby in the Phamily so everyone is ready to spoil the kid rotten. (My mom has already filled a hamper full of baby clothes and socks).

          For the baby shower, I decided to go with a pink and gold hot air balloon theme using geronimo balloon-inspired balloons and whimsical animal decor throughout. Baby’s breath and daisies were both budget friendly and simplistically beautiful to vamp up the mantle. I knew I wanted a clean and simple look, but the details were more tedious than I had anticipated. Everything was handmade down to the very last gold boxed favor and pennant. And after all the animals were sprayed painted, all the fringe hand cut, and the diaper cakes made, I think everything turned out so beautifully.

          My sister and I have thrown enough parties to know that there is always a table full of leftovers by the end, so we decided to serve our favorite dishes and desserts so that we could actually enjoy and finish the leftovers if guests didn’t. We had steamed baos that guests could choose from a variety of meats of Peking duck, Korean pork and bacon, and roasted pig, Vietnamese style. Everyone in the family chipped in and made the rest of the menu which included papaya salad with beef jerky, Dad’s good ol’ stir fried noodles, and a plate of assorted veggies and cheese and meats. For dessert, I splurged a little on macarons (salted caramel, apricot, and raspberry flavored) and mini bundt cakes. (For budget conscious desserts, I also recommend petite madeleines that you can buy at Costco. Everyone loves them and leftovers can be eaten with cup of hot coffee for the rest of the week!)

          For baby shower games, guests were asked to design baby onesies and guess what the baby would look like using different baby features and facial features from the parents-to-be. We also played Guess the Celebrity Baby, which a lot of people were surprisingly  not so good at. Maybe I read too many tabloids? Oh and of course, the guys had to participate in the Poop Game where they had to guess what type of candy bar is in each diaper.

Now all we have to do is wait for baby in a month or so. Exciting times ahead!

If you are wondering, yes, a Stegosaurus is one of my favorite animals.

Vroom vroom! This one’s for the dad. The diaper motorcycle is very easy to make thanks to this tutorial here.

Can that baby robe get any cuter?

 

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in the backyard, Life, Parties

an evening with friends…

This has been an exciting year for the family. My sister is expecting for the first time and in two months, there will be a very spoiled and loved baby in the house. For her birthday, we decided to invite our close friends over for a crawfish boil and some delicious Korean barbecue ribs. Her husband had been working hard on building a deck in their backyard, so an outdoor party seemed to be ideal for such an occasion. All we really needed for the party was good company, yummy food, and a few drinks (pink lemondae for the mom-to-be of course!), but if you know me well enough, I just had to make a few decorations! Handmade pinwheels were easy enough to make out of butcher paper and brightly patterned gift wrap, and the flowers are pretty and practical for use in the backyard after the party.

This is a belated post, but I hope everyone had a pleasant Easter holiday with your families.

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