P.S. August

for Baby…

psaugust — Thu, 09 May 2013 06:59:33 +0000

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?

Filed under: homemade, Life, Parties, Phamily Tagged: baby shower, geronimo balloons

an evening with friends…

psaugust — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 05:33:55 +0000

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.

Filed under: in the backyard, Life, Parties

bee season

psaugust — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 03:42:20 +0000

Some images from the last days of my spring break. I was able to get lots of work done the earlier half of the week and spent the last few days outside enjoying the a m a z i n g weather, visiting museums, grading papers outside in Brazil’s patio, and relaxing in the backyard with Baby Girl. Can’t believe it’s spring already…

Filed under: Houston, in the backyard

birthday dinner

psaugust — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 03:30:06 +0000

For my sister’s birthday this year we enjoyed our two favorite things together, shopping and cooking. After a day of shopping, I signed us both up for a cooking class creating a four course dinner inspired by Jaime Oliver’s recipes. I haven’t been a big fan of lamb ever since I had a bad tasting at a restaurant recently, but the lamb chops we learned to cook were so delicious, I might just have to try it again at home. One more day of school left this week and then a four day weekend, including more birthday festivities for the sis. I really cant wait! My mind and body has been set on work mode for the past 14 days straight, working on teaching, lesson plans, photo shoots and relaunching a brand new website for my photography company. But things are looking brighter each day and I can’t wait to launch the new website and, oh yeah, my min vacation with a few friends to Chicago!

P.S. My sis rescued a polydactyl kitten last week. It’s the sweetest thing. Here’s hoping they decide to keep it.

Filed under: Cooking, Phamily

color break

psaugust — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:57:57 +0000

Filed under: in the Mood for...

traditions

psaugust — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:26:24 +0000

My dad may be known as the cook around the house, but when it comes to vegan dishes, no one beats my mom. Every year for Tet, she would recreate her special vegan noodle dish, the same one that she used to sit at a local food cart in Vietnam and would eat with her sister. The concept is simple but using many key ingredients. Rice noodles cooked in a sweet broth that has been brewing from daikon roots and onions overnight. Throw in a variety of tofus, dried tofu, tofu skin, fried tofu, mushroom caps, fresh bean sprouts and basil leaves, and roasted peanuts to create complex textures in your mouth. The result is sweet and oh so amazing. This dish is usually the first to run out in our family.

And of course you can’t have Tet without its official food staple, banh Tet, which literally translates to “Tet snack.” Banh Tet is basically a roll of very glutenous rice, pork fat, and mung beans wrapped in banana leaves. The sweeter version of a banh Tet has black beans mixed into the rice and the pork is substituted with sweet and soft bananas in the center. You can also fry slices of the snack for a crispier texture. I like to enjoy my banh Tet with pickled scallions and ginger.

Filed under: food

eat, pray, love…

psaugust — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:58:35 +0000

Happy Tet! Being a big fan of winter holidays myself, I often get into a slump after the New Year in January, but then February comes along and the festivities of Tet always gets me back into the spirit of things. Every year during this time, my mom cooks up a storm of vegan dishes and an explosion of yellow blooms from forsythia branches and chrysanthemums fill the house. On the eve of Tet, my brother and sister and I always like to celebrate by partaking in a little temple hopping in Chinatown to enjoy all the festivities, dragon dancing, and performances. The morning of Tet is reserved for spending more time at our local temple with mom, who has always been the most devoted Buddhist in the family. This year, we went to a new temple that is developing just down the street from our neighborhood. The grandeur of it all, from the carved, wooden doors and altars, the lingering smell of thick incense, to the vast open dirt lot that has yet still to be developed has really put me in a state of awe and nostalgia for the temples back in Vietnam. For the last act, we like to celebrate Tet at our Great Uncle’s house where they traditionally have a dragon dance performed by students at the local temple. And after all the blessings and all the praying and all the photo ops, we feast on homemade dishes that my aunts have made and of course my dad’s famous pot of curry, followed by many food comas… With all the kids growing up so fast and with everyone in my family all grown up and so busy with our own lives and careers, it’s always nice that we can spend a weekend together in food and love and more food. Happy new year guys, hope you all have a prosperous and fulfilling one this year shared with your friends and loved ones.

Filed under: Life, Phamily

round & round…

psaugust — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 02:31:01 +0000

I’ve been doing well so far with not staying too late in the classroom during the weekdays, even though this week has been full of meetings and Open House shenanigans. I’m taking a step back to enjoy the beautiful weather and Tet this weekend. The kids have been doing so awesome. I’ve really been enjoying grading these Van Gogh paintings of theirs. See more here.

Filed under: in the Classroom

signs of Spring…

psaugust — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:17:16 +0000

The winter is slowly showing signs of it’s departure down here in the South. On good occasions, like this past week, the only remnants of its presence comes to us in chilly breezes, accompanied by those blazing orange sunsets around 6 o’clock in the evenings. Signs of spring have been discovered, if you look close enough, in the little weeds that peek through the grass and in the flowering pear trees that have been so eager to showcase it’s white visage around town.

I’ve been spending a bit more time in the backyard lately after work, enjoying the company of a family of stray kittens. The mother had been coming to the house during the winter last year and when she disappeared and came back with a smaller belly sometime after Christmas, I thought for sure the babies could not have survived the cold for too long. My brother found them mewing away in between our backyard fence and the neighbor’s right under our staggering orange tree. It turns out that she had been nursing her family of five in this little nook for a few weeks now. We took them out and put them in a little carrier and now they are living under our pepper bush by the window. The kittens are slowing getting used to their new patch of land and my presence as I was able to get quite a handful of decent shots of them lounging around. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find them all a good home soon. If you are in the Houston area and looking for kittens, let me know!

Filed under: in the backyard

printing sessions…

psaugust — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 04:36:32 +0000

Last week, I spent another evening at Myth & Symbols with old friends and met a few new acquaintances during a relief printmaking workshop. Wine, good pizza, great art and sour gummy worms to cap off the night. You can see more images from the workshop here.

Filed under: art