Changing California

This past weekend, Michael and I took a four day trip to visit my family in California. The trip went way too quickly for me. I'm already missing my family, the heat, and the familiarity of it all. The last time I went home was in December for my mother's Birthday, so I was over due for some family time.

Normally, I'm pretty good at taking photos so that I can put them up on my blog, but during this trip I was really in the moment and enjoying my time there that I completely forgot, and now I regret it since I don't see my family much. Luckily, Michael took a few photos for me, so the photocred in this post goes to him (including the blurry ones :P).

We flew in on Wednesday night and had some cheese and wine after quickly catching up with the fam. On Thursday I grabbed coffee with a friend to catch up then went to Davis so Michael and I could grab lunch with my little and grand little from my college fraternity. It was strange, but neat to be in Davis a year after graduating. It was kind of surreal. I showed Michael my favorite cafe, Mishka's, and then grabbed some gelato before driving home. After we relaxed a bit before having a home cooked meal at my mom's with the whole family. Oh boy do I miss my mom's food!

On Friday morning Michael and I shipped my last remaining boxes to Seattle then grabbed coffee and took a morning walk before meeting up with my best friend for lunch at in-n-out. The last time I saw her was last summer before my move! Can you believe it? Nonetheless, we can always pick up where we left off!

After, we met up with my sisters, brother-in-laws, and cousins for some food fun in South Sacramento then went to the movies in Folsom.

Michael snapped this photo because during the trip I was really obsessed with Hay Day,
a game my mother introduced me to.

Saturday was a pretty packed day. Michael and I went to Temple Coffee, one of my fave coffee shops, where I spent a lot of time writing M1. After we went to Scandia with the fam for some mini golf, batting cages, and air hockey! Then it was off to the Cafeteria for dinner and drinks and dancing at the Park Ultra Lounge!

Tran Sisters minus one! We didn't intentionally coordinate our clothing :P

The Husbands and Boyfriend!



Group photo at The Park (sorry for the blurriness!)

This was Michael's first time experiencing the night life in Sac, and I think we showed him a grand time!

Sunday was family day as well as Easter (although we do not celebrate it), so we did brunch in Old Sac and a barbeque in the evening.

Ma mere et moi!

 It was rough to leave home again after such a short trip. Poor Michael had to hold me as I cried the night before my flight (I'm a tad emotional). So many changes have happened in the last two years with my family that it makes it extremely difficult to be away from them. This trip was the last time I would see the house I've lived in for the past seven years. It's not a spectacular house by any means, but it was a place filled with so many memories that it's strange to think I would never get the chance to step inside it again.

 

The next time I'll be heading back will be for Thanksgiving in November, so it'll be interesting to see what else will change!

 









Love, in the city of Paris...

Once upon a time in the summer of 2012, a young woman and a young man went to Paris. Both had gone for vacation with their respective families. She was a bookworm and still a student. He was a tea enthusiast and owned his own business. Through divine intervention (mostly by the random chance of their sisters meeting at a California Wedding two weeks prior to the vacation), they found themselves sitting side by side at Cafe Rousillon meeting for the first time.

They had less than a two hour conversation that consisted mostly about books and writing since she was completing her BA in English and he had already received his a few years ago. They talked about how much they loved the city of Paris, The Sun Also Rises, and The Great Gatsby. He loved poetry, T.S. Elliot was a favorite poet of his. And she told him about her crazy dream of being a writer one day.

Then as the sun started to set on the city of love, they departed, never knowing if they'd ever see each other again.

The young woman, however, was somewhat of a hopeless romantic (although she wouldn't admit it then), and sent him a message (oh the wonders, of Facebook), and he replied by giving her his e-mail address.

When the two returned to the States, she in California and he in Washington, the two began exchanging letters. The letters went on and as they started to get to know one another, the letters held promise. Without realizing it, they fell for one another.

The letters went on all fall and all winter until he asked her to be his Valentine. She accepted, though they were unable to see one another. The letters soon stopped after that, but the conversations went on through phone and video calls. After she received her degree, they made plans to finally meet again and celebrate a late Valentine's date on April 14, 2013.

That day she flew from Sacramento to Seattle with luggage in hand to stay for two weeks. She could hardly breathe the whole plane ride over. When she did arrive, she found the young man waiting for her at the gate, with purple irises in hand.

Later that night, they finally had their date at The Pink Door in Seattle and have been dating ever since.



April 14, 2013

April 14, 2014

The End

(for now)

 

Yesterday marked Michael and I's one year anniversary. We celebrated not just for ourselves, but in celebration of our amazing families and friends who supported us and helped us get to where we are now. Love is never an easy endeavor, so we thank you all for pushing us and believing in us. We are forever indebt to you all, and of course, the city of love, for bringing us together. May we have many, many, years hereafter.

Below are some photos of our date last night! We recreated our first date by grabbing pre-dinner drinks at The Tasting Room, dinner at The Pink Door, and a night cap at Liberty Bar.

The Tasting Room in 2013

The Tasting Room in 2014



Apz! At The Pink Door while watching the trapeze artist (not pictured)

Cioppino for Michael

The most amazing piece of lasagna ever, for myself!

Our Desserts!

Opening gifts :)

Opening gifts :)



 

Nightcap at Liberty



Irises from 2013

Four amethst stone bracelet
for the four seasons we've been together!
2014

 

*Fun Facts:

-Michael went to Cafe Rousillon with his sister Cristine to meet my sister Dao (I tagged along :P)

-Michael and I met the couple who got married at the wedding where Cristine and Dao met, about a year later at Cristine and Tim's wedding.

-Michael and I's first movie date was Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby
-All of our letters are bounded into a private book that I gave to Michael as a gift
-Michael was my date for my sister's wedding and I was his date for his sister's wedding (both weddings occurred in the summer of 2013)

-If you haven't noticed, our names are the masculine and feminine forms of the same name
-I am the youngest sibling in my family, he is the oldest in his
-Our age differs by 4 years, our birthdays by 4 months, and it also took 4 months from our first date for me to move to Seattle

My first Mariners game!

It's crazy how the sun can just lift your mood immensely! I was all smiles yesterday, because it was such a nice day in Seattle! This has been such a long winter for me. In Northern California, signs of Spring show up in late February. It took until April for me to see signs of it here.

Yesterday morning Michael and I went to grab coffee and shared a crepe at The Essential Bakery before making our way to Leschi Park. Everything was blooming and not one cloud in they sky!



Photo Cred: Michael

 Afterwards, I got to go to my first Mariners game! Cristine invited Michael and I to go with her and Tim, and I'm so glad she did because it was a blast and such a perfect day. Great convos, great drinks, splurging on guilty foods, and sunshine!

Photo Cred: Cristine

Cristine and I

Cristine and Tim

Michael and I

The neat wine glasses with a top that Cristine and I had.

 

Afterwards, Michal and I went to Bottlehouse for some wine, and more food all the while soaking up the sun. Such a great day!

SUNday

The SUN is finally shining down on Seattle.

Had to post a happy selfie, because this weekend has been amazing. Oh yeah, and finally stopped procrastinating and finished my middle revisions yesterday after brunch, which means I only have one third left before sending it out to betas and workshop!

excuse my morbid motivation :P

Also tried fried pickles for the first time!

Hope you're all having a fab weekend filled with SUN!

a week of great sleep and if Michael were a cat

I love Fridays! Though it makes it extremely difficult to get through the work day. This week Michael and I have been sleeping very well, because on Monday morning this arrived!

We got a new king sized bed! Granted we can't fit anything but the bed in our room, nevertheless it's great! So excited to sleep in this weekend!!!

Also, this week Michael has been sending me Blaire photos while at work. Do you guys see the resemblance between Blaire and Michael?

 They like to sleep in on the mornings.

 They both get the wide-eyed look from time to time.

And they both enjoy tea time!

Birthday with the Armfields

I know, this is like my third post about my Birthday, but good news is it'll be my last post about it! So bare with me it will be very brief!

Opening my gift from the Armfield rents!

Since Michael's parents were in Palm Dessert during Cristine and I's Brithdays, they were so sweet to take us out this past Saturday to celebrate at Bis on Main in Bellevue. Here are a few photos:

Squeezing in for a photo with Tim at the center!

 

The Californians of the table!

 

Another wish!

 It was so fun and a night to remember, and as always the food at Bis on Main was absolutely perfect!
Thanks to the Armfield/Peter family for my gifts! They were all so truly thoughtful and I'm so happy to be a part of your lives!

Great wine, chocolate, a framed photo of Michael and I, and an Amazon gift card to buy books on my Kindle from the Peters! Thanks again!



Gorgeous earrings from Mr. and Mrs. Armfield! I love them!

And to add, here's two other photos from my weekend:

 

Blaire trying to sneak in nap!

Signs of Spring on my run in Volunteer Park

 Happy Monday everyone!

Tamura

Michael and I usually have "Friday Night Date Nights," but because we're going out to dinner on Saturday night to celebrate mine and Cristine's birthday with their parents, we decided to move date night to Thursday this week to avoid eating out two nights in a row.

Lately we've been frequenting the same places so we decided to go somewhere new. Michael found this sushi place in the Eastlake area called Tamura. If you haven't noticed already, Michael loves sushi. For sushi, we usually go to Nishino's, but Tamura might have to be our new go to sushi place. They had more options for nigiri and rolls, not to mention a cocktail menu that I enjoyed.

What made it very exceptional was the perfect size bites, the great cut of the fish, the tasty rice, and the right amount of wasabi.

 If you can believe it, I never ate Nigiri until Michael introduced it to me. I was always a roll person, but now I'm absolutely hooked!

Michael really enjoyed their dessert too, housemade millet mochi with sweet beans on top. The dessert was a little on the savory side making it perfect for him.

Aftwerwards we came home and watched 'American Hustle.' If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend it. It was entertaining and kept me on my toes. I wasn't sure how it would end!

Sacramento Timelapse

This morning I stumbled across this Sacramento Timelapse from Justin Majeczky on Vimeo, illustrating my hometown! I loved it so much I wanted to share it on my blog!

And in exactly two weeks, I'll be waking up in sunshine and eating mom-cooked meals (aka food heaven).

Sadly, this little guy will have to be left behind for the trip!

Kitty Profile

Blaire doing what he does best: lounging!

April Fools

Anyone else get pranked yesterday? Here is my failed attempt at trying to pull off an April Fool's joke on a whim with a text message to my sisters:

 

To my credit, I kinda fooled my sister Oanh. Normally we don't do pranks on each other, so I thought they wouldn't notice what day it was. Then my oldest sister texted me this after trying to turn my joke back on me:

 





 

It kind of worked, so I'll give her props for that one.

 

I definitely miss my fambam! Just about two more weeks until I fly out to California to see them :D

the added scene

I split my revisions into three parts (chunks), the standard beginning, middle, and end. During my read-through the transition from the beginning to the middle felt awkward. I knew I would have to add a scene there to depict a turning point. I tried tackling it yesterday, but couldn't get out what I wanted to convey without making my MC sound overly dramatic. Needless to say, I didn't get much done yesterday.

Fast forward to now, as I write this: I finished it. It took me a long while considering its short length, but I am over the moon with it! Revisions are rough, but when you're able to find a gem like a successful scene that really ties up the story, it makes it all worth it. Now going into the middle chunk of revisions. Hopefully I can dig up some more gems :)

Keep on writing everyone, keep at your dreams, because the process is so worth it.