Lots o' Lakes

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, huh? We've been keeping ourselves busy winding up (for our big trip) and down (tying up commitments) at the same time. One of the many things we want to do before our trip is to go around and spend some quality time with all the family, and we did just that over the 4th of July weekend in Sun Valley.



Amy (Jeremy's sister) and her partner Gerry met us there, along with Martina (one of Jeremy's best friends and the only groomswoman at our wedding) and her husband Chris and two adorable daughters Anya (4.5 years) and Taryn (14 months). I didn't really know Chris and Martina very well before this trip so I was very happy to get to know them. Their oldest daughter, Anya, took an immediate liking to me (hint: I had lip gloss) and wanted to be by my side the entire trip. Pretty cute, if you ask me:



As is the norm with all Hermann visits, we spent most of our days outdoors. There was a short walk the afternoon we got in, at the same place we went cross-country skiing just a few short months ago:



The following day, we headed up to Red Fish for a lake day. There were some fires in SV last year and the Forest Service was still clearing some brush from the beach that we wanted to hang out at. So road access was closed to that area...fortunately, industrious Randy found a guy with a speedboat to haul all of us and our kayaks out to the beach, which we had all to ourselves, minus a few really nice Forest Service peeps:





Sweet little Taryn, who has just started walking, had a blast at the lake...though as the day dragged on without her nap she began to get a little loopy. But she still had a big smile for the camera, even when the day cursed her with The Dirtiest Little Face Ever:



The next day we went for a hike up to Silver Lake...it was a big hike but we brought the kids and Anya made it the entire way all by herself. We were all very impressed...seriously, it was a tough one!







We ended our trip with a hike from Pettit Lake to Alice Lake (we saw a lot of lakes)...but we left the kids at home for this one. Though technically a lot easier than the Silver Lake hike, it was a loooong one...we were hiking for about 10 hours! This hike involved two river crossings...



...a couple log crossings...



...and lots of mosquitoes. But we ended up here:



And saw stuff like this:





As always, we had a wonderful, relaxing time, ate really yummy food, and enjoyed wonderful conversations around the dinner table. I was happy to spend some good time with Amy and Gerry and get to know Chris and Martina better. They are really committed to their parenting and it shows in their two wonderful daughters. It was really fun for Jeremy and I to see the type of loving dedication they have towards their family and they are really great models for us when we begin to think about starting our own...

happy 36th birthday, eddo!

Ha ha, just kidding, he only turned 26. :) But yeah, my little bro is 26 now! Crazy. It's funny, I expect him to be older, like 28 or so...but when I think back I can still imagine when he wore big glasses and orange shorts and played chess at Halecrest. My how times have changed...

Basically Eddo's 26th bday consisted of several days of activities, kind of like the Olympics only with less torches and more drinking, but just as many Chinese people. We started off with a dinner on Friday night with 30 of his closest friends at PPQ Dungeness Island. Here we are as I try to pry his nose off with a nutcracker and he tries to stab me in the eye with a crab fork. Awww, so sweet:



Note the bibs. Oh please note the bibs.

The crab fiesta was followed up by scorpion bowls at Trad'r Sams. For the first time that I can remember, I didn't scream at his friends to make sure he got home OK. Either he is becoming more responsible (he's not) or I am learning to trust him more (ok, maybe he is becoming more responsible).

Tuesday was Eddo's actual birthday and we headed to The Mint for some karaoke fun. Here's a photo of Mimi, Sarah, and Eddo singing "Zombie" by the Cranberries. They sang this with a full on Irish accent. "...with their tanks and their BOMs and their BOMS and their GONS! Za-am-beh-eh-eh-eh!"



We left before Eddo and I could pay homage to our dad with a duet to Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie", but not before we saw Maria and Eddo perform "I wanna F* you" by Akon and Snoop. Sorry, but I am having problems posting this video to YouTube. Will update the blog with video as soon as I can! For now here is photographic evidence:



Happy birthday, Eddo! I love you and I am proud of the man you are becoming.

Queen SHRED!

We spent this weekend in Sun Valley, Idaho, visiting with Jeremy's parents, Laurie and Randy, and their two adorable pups, Aki and Mia. As is typical in the Hermann household, "visiting" means spending all daylight hours outdoors doing some sort of physical activity, and evenings at home lounging with the puppies, eating yummy dinners, and watching movies or reading.

We flew in on Friday and immediately got down to the business of getting our gear (this is another Hermann activity...the acquiring of gear) and headed out for some cross-country skiing:



The next day we went up to Mount Baldy for some downhill skiing. The Hermanns were very sweet and got me a private lesson with an instructor, who worked some serious miracles. Some may know that I have been scarred in the past with bad, bad skiing experiences so he had some physical as well as psychological issues to contend with. At the end of my lesson, though, I felt (for the first time ever on skis) fairly competent. Here's the view from on the ride up. Pretty stunning:



Randy bought me this stylin' jacket as a bday present...maybe he figured that if he can help me make a proper outfit, this skiing thing might just stick in my repertoire. Does he know me or does he know me, people?



Saturday was our "rest" day, meaning we we were ONLY going to go snowshoeing. It was a beautiful day and we actually got quite a workout while we were "resting."







The next day we were back up on Mount Baldy, and I am please to say that I was SHREDDING it! OK, maybe not by most peoples' standards, but definitely by mine! I declared to Randy and Jeremy, "Skiing is fun now!" I think they were pretty happy to hear that. :)

We ended the trip with me taking a walk to shoot some photos while Jeremy, Randy, Aki and Mia went for another cross-country ski. What a beautiful place with beautiful people (and dogs). We love you, Randy, Laurie, Aki, and Mia! Thank you for sharing this time with us!





See the entire Flickr set here

the 411

Whoa, has it really been a month since my last blog entry? Time goes so fast these days it's getting kind of scary. Here's some of what we've been up to...

Several weeks ago we went up to Tahoe to stay with our friends Susan and Craig (Susan is the one who married us). They recently purchased a beautiful 2-bedroom home in Truckee area and we were delighted to hang out with them, Sacha and Maureen, and Suzy and Jeff. Here's Jeremy enjoying a beverage in their kitchen:



We spent one day downhill skiing at Sugarbowl (sorry no photos--the camera battery was dead), and the next day the boys went back-country snowboarding while the girls did some cross-country skiing (my first time!). Here's photographic evidence (with Maureen's dog Raja in the foreground):



Cross-country skiing is a hilarious sport, especially after getting used to the downhill skis. I have never in my life felt so out of control going so damn slow! Here's a cute thing we saw while on the trail:



The following weekend was Valentine's Day and J and I's 5 year datingversary. We celebrated by eating at Quince. Adam had generously given us a gift certificate there and we loved our meal! The only thing is, if we're ever out to dinner together, please remind me not to get the wine pairing. It's just a little too much for me to handle these days. ;) Here are the gorgeous roses J bought me for V-day:



I also celebrated by chopping off all my hair...don't have any great photos of the new cut yet, but you can get a feel for it in some of the photos below.

This last weekend was my bday and we started celebrating on Wednesday night with a big dinner at one of our faves, Bodega Bistro. Good friends and good food, what could be better?





On Thursday night, we saw a fantastic show at the Herbst Theatre with the Robucy...one of our favorite bands, the Magnetic Fields, were playing as part of the Noise Pop festival. WOW! What an incredible show! Stephen Merritt's voice is even more incredible in real life, and though I've never really loved Susan Anway's voice on their albums, I found her really charming live. While Stephen's voice is all dark chocolate and cigars and bear-skin rugs, Susan's is like that sweet, quiet girl in the back of the class with the heavy bangs and the Trapper Keeper. Beautiful.



On Friday we headed up to Orr Hot Springs for the weekend and spent our days sitting in hot water, reading, and making yummy food. Typically we are one of the youngest couples there, and everyone is making delicious, amazing meals in the kitchen beside us. Well, perhaps because they recently renovated the place to be more modern, there were tons of young people (mostly couples) and they were all eating yogurt and salads as we prepared meals like bacon-wrapped scallops, marinated hangar steaks, egg scramble with mushroom, sausage, and onion atop cheesy polenta. Funny!

We also took a gorgeous hike on Saturday morning in nearby Montgomery Woods. It was a beautiful time of year, as brightly colored green moss was growing over EVERYTHING. We also encountered many, many mushrooms and salamanders. Just gorgeous...

Doesn't this look like a postcard or something?



These don't look poisonous or anything:



OK, just a question, how the heck do salamanders stay alive? They are the slowest things EVER. Talk about an easy meal for some hawk or woodland creature...



And, the requisite "hold-out-the-camera" self-portrait:



So that's what we've been up to these past few weeks. This weekend we head up to Sun Valley to visit with J's parents, where I can put my newfound cross-country skills to use. I promise to update about that trip in a more timely manner. :) 'Til then! XOX

New Edition

This weekend I was back in SD to give a talk to the San Diego Chinese Women's Association, a group that gave me a scholarship back when I was about to go to Berkeley. They invited me back to update them on what I had been up to in the last 14 years (yikes!!!). The speech went really great and everyone was super interested as I told them about Stitch, my graphic design work, my chalkbags, bellydancing...basically anything I had done in the years since high school. Afterwards, a woman who had survived breast cancer came up and told me that I had inspired her to start fitting her own clothes...off-the-rack just doesn't fit her anymore after the mastectomy. It was very sweet!

This trip was very well timed, as Felix and Lily welcomed their second little bundle, Alyssa Kailee Chu, just about a week ago, so I got to see the new baby. She is so pretty! Here are some photos Felix shot:





What a sweetie, huh? Lily is just made to be a mom...she was in labor only 1 hour, no epidural...two pushes and Alyssa was out! Lucky lady!

I also got a chance to visit with Karsten, who was on FIRE! He is growing up to be quite the little man. He showed me his Tickle Me Elmo doll and then proceeded to mimic Elmo as he fell on the floor laughing. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Here he is in action:





I rounded out my SD trip with a visit to Derek, my friend from high school who I haven't seen for about 5 years, and his wife Amy, who is preggers. I can't wait to meet their little one (it's a girl too!).

forgot to mention...

...that I've posted all our professional photos shot by Jennifer Kloss Heffner on our Flickr site here, so you can download as your little heart desires!

She took so many amazing photos; the emotions she captured were just incredible. Here are some of our faves...

The couple shots:





This one deserves to be seen very very big:



She made me look really good:



And Jeremy even better!:



I adore this photo of my mom and Jeremy's mom when they first saw each other at the tea ceremony:



And Kim, Jen's assistant photographer and best friend, caught Jeremy's reaction the first time he saw me that day:



Here's my dad losing it (one of many times that day!):



And this one of my momma watching me and my dad come down the aisle just melts my heart:



I loved her unique way of capturing the wedding party:



And this one of Kara helping me into my Chinese dress...oh, the beauty:



What a night, you guys...

See the entire Flickr set here.

XOX!