Pumpkin apple chicken soup
Posted on July 2, 2008 - Filed Under Simple joy
While having lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in Las Vegas with friends, I saw that the TV there was broadcasting some food channel, showcasing a restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan. There was this golden soup that looked very yummy. The TV was in mute mode, but from reading the subtitle, I knew that the ingredients were chicken, pumpkin, apple, and onion.
So I tried cooking the dish myself, based on the little information I have, and was so impressed with myself because the soup turned out soooooo well! I am soooooooo happy!
It’s very simple. Here’s what I did. Read more
Engagement Party
Posted on June 30, 2008 - Filed Under Family, John
It has been almost a week since our big engagement party, but I am still recuperating from it. The party was a success, filled with abundant joy and love, but it was also so much work at the same time!
It all started with a very simple idea, which then snowballed into a bigger and bigger production. At first, after we announced John’s proposal to our parents, his mom wanted to do a small Christian ceremony in the church for our engagement. Doing it in the church would have been easiest, but upon hearing the idea, my mom responded “why not have the ceremony at home?”. Then, since we were going to have it at home, John’s mom said we should serve some “snacks”. And upon hearing that, my mom said “why not serve dinner?”. Then, since we were serving dinner, my mom said “why not invite more relatives and friends?”
Before we knew it, the guestlist was at 85. On the day itself, about 100 guests were at my parents house, and there were many more that my dad would have liked to invite but had no space for. And we sat all of them down for dinner!!! None of the approximately 100 guests included John’s or my friends. We couldn’t invite our own friends because we went over-capacity too fast. Talk about craziness! My parents have too many friends, and also, the news of my engagement just attracted lots of attention. Read more
Preparing for Engagement Party
Posted on June 20, 2008 - Filed Under Family, John
It is all happening. Hard to believe, but it is all happening this Sunday
My engagement party will be held at my parents’ house in late afternoon on Sunday, 6/22. The balcony will be decorated with balloons and candles, plus music will flow in the air. Our friends and family will gather for a Christian liturgy, then we’ll move tables and chairs out for a sit-down dinner. My parents have held big parties at home before, but this is the first time we are serving about 100 guests for dinner on our balcony, so it’s exciting.
Arrangements have been made to have tables and chairs transported to the house in the afternoon. Matching table clothes, plates, cups, utensils, vases for center pieces, candles, candle holders, ribbons, glitters, wine… etc… all have been brought. I also got my paintings framed for this occasion. Initially, we were going to cater food, but many of our family friends volunteered to prepare various yummy dishes for us that we actually had to cut down on the menu. My voice teacher and my mom will sing for us to open the ceremony, and a pianist that I’ve long admired is going to perform for us! Three pastors who are close to my family have thoughtfully prepared a beautiful program. A super sweet lady is giving us an engagement cake. John’s mom will make the center piece for each table. Our dads have arrived from Taiwan for this occasion. So far we’ve only announced the news to our close friends and family, and we’ve already attracted more than 100 people to come share our joy. These 100 guests does not even include John’s and my friends, as we are over-capacity already.
So much love. We are so blessed!
Sometimes when I sit back to reflect on how John and I met, how this dream-like romance has progressed, what a marvelous young man he is, and our prospect of having a very fulfilled life together, I always feel so, so, so, so overwhelmingly blessed!
Now I just hope I won’t cry when my dad gives a speech on Sunday.
The Ring
Posted on June 18, 2008 - Filed Under John
From the start, John was real picky about the quality of the diamond, and I was real picky about the design of the ring. I can’t help it. I am an art person so if I am going to wear this ring, it must look harmonious with my hand and transcend what I am like as a person. It must be as beautiful in the ring world as I am in the human world (yeah I know I sound rediculous). At the same time, being a scientist, John can’t tolerant impurities. We’re both perfectionists in some aspects.
This rather peculiar combination lead us to a rather trying, yet interesting and educational quest for the engagement ring. For example, we visited all reputable jewelry stores along Las Vegas strip twice, but only found one diamond that “almost” met all of John’s standards. I, on the other hand, found two designs at Cartier that I liked very much, but we didn’t get it because 1. the diamond didn’t meet John’s standard and 2. we were sure they were overpriced.
Anyways, after weeks of searching both in Nevada and California, we finally found a place that can deliver our expectations, and placed an order for a custom made ring which we designed together. The priced was very reasonable too! Read more
Tosca
Posted on June 15, 2008 - Filed Under Art and music
How surprising it is that the opera season is coming to an end, but this is only my first post about an opera performance this year? Just like previous years, I still go see performances very often, both at LA Opera and Opera Pacific. This is the 4th year that I am a subscriber to Opera Pacific, and the 3rd year that I see almost every opera production at LA Opera. Last night, I went to see Tosca, which is my favorite opera thus far, with two of my favorite people in the world — my mom, and John.
I’ve anticipated this performance for a very long time. How should I say it? Tosca is simply a perfect opera. It’s my favorite! “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” in the third art is also my favorite, favorite aria of all operas that I’ve heard so far. In this opera there’s beautiful and virtuous diva who lives for art and for love, plus her young and passionate artist lover, and the optimum evil in authority who lust after women. Then, the oppressed, the helpless, the beautiful Tosca who never harmed a soul was forced to raise up and fight for her fate (and her lover’s) by killing the evil. Unlike other divas in many other operas who swallow whatever injustice that was presented to them, Tosca raised up and fought. Throw all that into Rome in post French Revolution era and make it a tragic love triangle, all told in concise, dramatic libretto and Puccini’s glorious music. That’s Tosca in my uneducated words. I loved the music years before actually seeing the opera. I’ve listened to the music numerous times and watched the whole opera on DVD numerous times, and I never skipped any opportunity to see it live either. Read more
Doing the Karen Cheng
Posted on June 4, 2008 - Filed Under Simple joy
Karen Cheng the online goddess started Doing the Karen Cheng on facebook, and, being a big Karen Cheng fan, I just had to follow. Yeah, I am one of those crazy people.
It just happened so that I wanted spend some time by myself after work today, so I went to Downtown Brea, which is pretty close to where I work. It’s where I frequently go when I want to unwind after work. There are some pretty nice shops there, and I’ve always enjoyed going there to window shop after work. Strolling around in a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere can be very relaxing. Having music and water fountain and nice shops there just makes it even nicer!
So, I made my way to Anne Taylor Loft today and totally adored myself way too much with my camera in front of the dressing room mirror. I was trying out the Karen Cheng pose, the signature head tilt, and see if I can remotely be that cool….
I ended up taking 40+ pics, both inside the individual dressing room, and outside in front of the big mirror when the associate wasn’t looking. 
That was one heck of a fun hour, although all 40+ pics have one common problem — they don’t look Karen Cheng enough.
Conclusion? Karen Cheng is way cooler than me. Ha~
Like many ladies out there (please tell me there are many others who do this), I like to try on different things from time to time — just to see how it looks! Hey, that’s how you know, right? If you don’t explore, how do you find what works? How do you branch out of our fashion comfort zone? I don’t wear prints that often, but seeing the chic style, hey, I like it, so I tried it on.
I don’t think I quite pull off the Karen Chen look, or get the head tilt in this shot. Like I said, Karen Cheng is way cooler.
Karen Cheng does close-up mirror shots quite often too, so here’s my attempt at it. I took many where I looked at the camera versus the mirror, because that’s what Karen Cheng does, but alas, I look weird not looking into the mirror…
Like I said, she is way cooler….
So this one, smilling at the mirror, is a mirror self-protrait with signature Catherine Yu smile.
Yeah, that’s my real name.
And by the way, that dress is now in my closet. Got it for $31.00. Not bad. It’s a nice addition of colors to my wardrobe.
I am SO lucky!
Posted on June 3, 2008 - Filed Under Friends
I’ve been keeping up with my promises to meet up with friends. Yeah, I cancelled plans with several of them multiple times before because I was too busy, but, although it took a while, at least now I am making good progress to meet up with them.
Two weeks ago, I met up with Ray for ramen dinner. It took over a year to finally happen (all my fault), but at last it happened. Last weekend, I met up with Fanny for yogurt snack. Tonight was the best! I met up with Pei for Italian dinner.
Tonight’s dinner also took a while to happen. Five months? But it wasn’t completely my fault. We met up at this mom and pop Italian restaurant in her neighborhood, which, surprisingly, was only 2 miles from where I work! We met through a friend a year ago, and since we are both urban planners and we finished graduate school at the same time, we’ve been wanting to meet up for a long time.
I am so glad we met up tonight. Although this was only the second time I saw her, I felt very comfortable with her and we had a really, really, really good chat. We exchanged many hilarious counter stories as well. Ha, you don’t realize how much fun your work is until you hear funny/silly stories from another person with same job.
I am so lucky to have lovely people like these around me. Even though I’ve always been the MIA one, whenever I am in need, there’s always someone there. I am truly fortunate to have some friends who never abandon me.
There are still many people I haven’t seen in a long time and want to meet up with … Pamela, Juliana, Sophia, Amanda, Jenny, Susan, Heidi, Debby ……. hm… I hope I am not missing anyone but I know I probably am.
Hey, let’s go have coffee!
Posted on June 1, 2008 - Filed Under John, Simple joy
At around 9pm tonight, John said “hey, do you want to go get some coffee?”
So we went to a local Starbucks, ordered two cups of coffee, and sat down to chat for a good hour or so. I love spontaneous moves like this.
We talked about our wedding … how many bridesmaids I’ll have … when and where are we going to get our wedding photos done…
We’ll pick up my engagement ring next Sunday. Honestly, I can’t wait! I asked John to inscribe some personal message for me in the inner circle of the custom-made ring, and I really can’t wait to find out what it is! We’ve also started looking for a venue for our wedding. Obviously, we are still at the very early stage of planning, but it seem that our wedding will be in April 2009.
It all seems so surreal. Can I really be this lucky?
Happiness and Uncertainties
Posted on May 28, 2008 - Filed Under John, Trips
Funny how happiness and uncertainties come hand in hand sometimes. Or am I thinking too much?
I spent the Memorial Day long weekend plus a Tuesday in Las Vegas with my soon-to-be-official finance, John. Yup! We’re getting engaged! The proposal actually happened in mid April, but we kept the news to ourselves for a while because we were still searching for a ring, plus there were much to talk about (and still are) as we live and work in two different states. For weeks since the proposal, we spent our weekends looking for an engagement ring. It took some work, as I was picky about the design (it has to be petite, simple, sweet, elegant, yet has a timeless look), and he was picky about the quality of the diamond. After weeks of searching we finally placed an order for a custom made ring and it should be ready for pick up in about two weeks. After that, we’ll have an engagement ceremony/party at my parents’ house on 6/22. We’ve also started looking for a venu for our wedding.
I’ve been on cloud 9 ever since the proposal. Everyday I feel happy in a different way. Every morning I wake up looking forward to be his wife. But over the long weekend, certain serious topics brought me face to face with loads of uncertainties. Being a urban planner by profession, I’d like to plan things out, I have to see a feasible, perfectly safe, well-laid out plan out there before I make a step. In other words, I hate uncertanties.
I tried to shut the planner in me off so I could enjoy private time with the marvelous man I am going to marry, but I have too many reasons to feel uncertain and unsecured. No matter how I tried to tell myself “just take it one thing at a time”, the planner in me comes screaming lots of different thoughts in all directions. At the end, I became very quiet.
But, I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. That part is certain.
I am still on cloud 9, but in a different dimension I guess.
Into the Woods
Posted on May 23, 2008 - Filed Under Painting talk
I call this one “Into the Woods”. It’s oil on canvas, 60″ x 48″.
It’s loosely based on this photo, which was taken in January, when John and I made a trip to Yosemite National Park. We hiked midway to top of Yosemite Fall in snow, and passed by those gorgeous trees. When I saw those trees, I immediately knew I’ve got to paint them.
So I printed the image out, but the colors on the copy turned out really different from on the digital image. Was it my computer? Or was it the printer I used? Anyhow, as a result, the colors on my painting also took a departure from the original digital photo. But I think it worked out better this way. Instead of some reddish, brownish, greyish, blueish green as in the photo, I’d rather have more light bouncing through the leaves for an inviting feel.
I am quite happy with this one. At 60″ x 48″, it looks rather majestic. Well, at least my mom said so, and that made me happy.
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