Category Archives: love

Nostalgic Birthday Par-tay!

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On Friday, my dear friends helped me celebrate my birthday with a late 90′s/early 2000′s-themed party.

For dinner, we had a Tex-Mex (“Tex-Max”) dinner:

In the background, I showed music videos…until the Internet died. N’Sync and Backstreet boys? Please, that never gets old!

Cassandra gave me a hula-hoop:

(Notice Kayla’s curled bangs.)

Some of us, like Jin (who manages to barely move her hips) were better at it…

…than others:

There was also an Etch-a-Sketch. The boyfriend drew Mitt Romney.

 

Darby wrote “Happy Birthday.” I mean, “Happy Birth.”

Do you remember the Macarena? I apparently forgot it.

Ring pops!

And scrunchies!

Ryan didn’t have a scrunchie, but he did wear snap-sided pants.

This is probably the last year that Jessica will make my birthday yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Nooooooo!

We ended the evening with a screening of 10 Things I Hate About You, a late 90′s classic if ever there was one.

It was a really fantastic birthday week, and I couldn’t ask for nicer friends!

April, off to a good start.

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On April Fool’s, I used a Korean face mask to eke out every bit of my 25-year-old youth:

 

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. Even my heart rate monitor knew:

 

Despite being a Monday, it was a great birthday with lots of love all around–on the phone, in person, from the Interwebs. Thanks to everyone who made me feel special on April 2nd!

My inner minimalist is especially excited because the boyfriend got me a Kindle. Reading without books to clutter up my shelves, yessssssss!

(Also: April 2nd is National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day!)

Apparently, Bodger does not approve of birthdays:

Today is April 3rd. I just got back from Jessica’s thesis defense. After five years of hard work, Jessica is now a PhD, so she can write “Dr.” in front of her name.

The thesis defense was full of words that I didn’t know, including:

  • transmetalation
  • organopalladium
  • cyanation
  • diphenylphosphine dimethypentane

Truth be told, I spent a good bit of her presentation writing down the words that I could pronounce based on the four stress rules that I teach my students. (This was also an attempt to make it look like I was taking notes.)

I also made good use of my “serious” face to give the illusion that I was thoughtfully contemplating the material:

After she got the “O-K,” the boyfriend and I were invited out to celebratory dinner with her family, during which I learned that her grandfather got to sing with ukulele great, Don Ho.

She may have “PhD” after her name, but she’s not too good to throw up some Asian peace signs with me!

Congratulations, Jessica! Over the last five years, you endured some really brutal criticism, grueling hours, and general ill treatment. Chemistry is certainly not a field for the weak-willed, and I am constantly impressed by your perseverance. You have earned that “Dr.” in front of your name!

White Day Treats

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Today, 3/14, is not only Pi(e) day but also White Day. In Korea, girls give guys chocolate on Valentine’s Day, so one month later, guys return the favor.

I’ve been waiting to hear back from the scholarship I applied for, but it’s looking pretty certain that I will not be receiving any good news. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Korea for the summer and to continue studying Korean next year, but rejection still hurts. For most of the afternoon, I felt pretty disappointed.

Therefore, it was especially nice to come home to a White Day present from the boyfriend:

Chocolate-covered pretzels? Yes, please! Thanks, boyfriend!

In addition, we met Kayla and Darby (“Darbla”) for the first Custard Cup run of the season. Mmm, the frozen custard was just as smooth and delicious as I remembered it:

I’m trying to live without regret, so gotta’  keep my head up and just move forward.

Week Events!

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The boyfriend and I spent Halloween with Brian, Kya, Dan, and Alejandro. (Triple dating, what?) Though the evening was pretty much devoid of trick-or-treaters, we enjoyed the holiday by watching scary movies and carving a pumpkin.

Nice hat, Bri-bri.


Bodger supervised the activities. Really, he just kept trying to eat the pumpkin.

Brian and Kya let us use one of the stencils from their pumpkin-carving kit.

Later, “Rajon Bodger” came to visit us. It was actually quite difficult to get this headband on him because he has no neck.

Last night, Ryan had several people over for enchilada night. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of our gracious host. Instead, I have a picture of one of my favorite couples, Kayla and Darby, eating Ryan’s enchiladas.

Susan brought baked beans, which didn’t quite fit with the theme:

My contribution was an oreo cake, which ruptured during transport. I screamed about it.

Eventually, the evening turned a competitive Scattegories game. However, we did take time to measure and compare our heights. I am  apparently 5’2.5″, though Ryan’s roommate Joe did a dubious measuring job.

 

(I’m not in this picture. That’s Jin. I know, I was confused too.)

And this morning, Jessica and I got out for a (windy) “long run.” Both of us were sore from cross-training activities, but we managed a decent pace. (At least, a decent pace for me.)

  1. 9:22
  2. 9:17
  3. 9:15
  4. 9:18
  5. 9:10
  6. 9:14
  7. 9:21
  8. (0.21 – 1:56)

Check out Jessica’s new bling:

That’s her left hand!

Matt proposed to Jessica last weekend while we were in Richmond for Steph and Stephen’s wedding. I’m sorry that I missed the proposal (because, you know, I obviously should be involved in everyone else’s personal business), but it sounds like they managed without me… :-)

Congratulations, Jessica and Matt!

Wedding bells! (Not mine)

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This past weekend, the boyfriend and I flew home to Richmond for the nuptials of our friends Steph and Stephen, who started dating just a few months before we did back in high school.

On the plane, I laughed about this a lot:

“This sucks and I don’t like these.”

After arriving at midnight at the Richmond airport (Thanks, Dad!), we crashed hard. Then we woke up in time for breakfast with my parents (all four) before going out to get miscellaneous presents, cards, and a bang trim.

Then it was wedding time!

Unfortunately, the point-and-shoot digital camera that I purchased over the summer is not my friend. I apparently only know how to operate a Canon Powershot, and the Sony just isn’t cutting it. Thus, I had to steal this picture of the happy couple from Facebook:

(True story, in high school, Steph had the nickname “Ugly [Fat] Man” because we loved her that much.)

The ceremony was pretty different from Jordan and Maria’s wedding last year, but don’t worry, I still cried.

The reception was held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which is within walking distance of both of my parents’ houses. At the reception, we were seated at the Kid’s Table…I mean, the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Alumni Table.

The silver plates made us feel like royalty.

…I did this:

(Though this was not the first time that I have sported a plate halo. Do you remember this, Caitie?)

From looking at these pictures, you’d think that I went to a predominantly Asian high school.

Roommate Tina and Ben were there!

The chocolate pie was delicious, though Sam and the boyfriend had a difficult time cutting it:

Later, it was time for the cake-cutting. Unfortunately, my camera made it look like this part of the ceremony took place in the fiery depths of hell:

In lieu of a speech, Nathan, the best man, serenaded the happy couple. This sounds like it could be awkward, but Nathan is quite witty and made everyone laugh. (True story: Nathan tried out for The Real World and was told by the casting directors that he was the weirdest kid they’d ever met.)

This is the best picture we managed to get all night:

My favorite Richmond police officer and his lovely girlfriend were also there! Despite what it looks like, we were not trying to throw glow-stick bracelets onto a bottle….

I never miss a photo opportunity with Roommate Tina…and Ben, who is just a disembodied head in this photo.

As the couple exited the reception, we attacked them with noisemakers.

…But the evening wasn’t over. We headed to Capital Alehouse for a post-reception, pre-Halloween party. Yes, that’s right, yours truly went to THREE SEPARATE venues in one evening. This almost never happens because I am lazy and sleepy.

UVA/Maggie Walker Governor’s School photo!

As we left, Steph and Stephen both thanked us for coming all the way from Illinois to attend their wedding. While it was a long way to travel for a whirlwind wedding weekend, I am so glad that we made the trip. It was great to see so many of my high school and college friends, and I was really honored that Steph and Stephen invited me to be part of their special day. Congratulations!

(This weekend also happened to be my mom’s birthday! Happy birthday, Mom! I’m glad I got to see you, even if it was for 12 hours.)

Korean family dinner

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Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there in the world, especially to mine!

This morning, I ran four miles with fellow River-to-River teammate Emily:

  • 9:22
  • 9:04
  • 9:02
  • 8:56

This evening, I had a homemade Korean dinner. One of my former students (Seungkook) invited me to have dinner with his family. Since my own dad is out of the country, it was nice to spend time with somebody’s dad.

His wife prepared all kinds of tasty dishes:

Taking advantage of the cool summer evening, we ate out on their back porch. There were a few bugs, but fortunately, his son (Hyunwook) was on “bug duty.” He actually zapped all of the bugs with some kind of electronic bug killer from Korea. Meanwhile, his sister (whose name I didn’t catch) was shy:

However, she wasn’t too shy to devour several of the chocolate chip cookies I made:

Notice the chocolate on her mouth:

One of Seungkook’s coworkers from Korea (who just completed an MBA at OSU) was visiting. He was very charming and told me all about Korean business drinking culture (which sounds terrifying, by the way).

Seungkook’s wife was busy bringing out all sorts of tasty dishes. Still, I managed to get a family shot.

(Still holding a cookie)

I had a new Korean food today: 쥐포 or jwipo. It’s a sweet-ish fish jerky, and it is so good.

(Seungkook’s friend informed me that this is good drinking food.)

To top it off, the family presented me with presents when I left–a phone fob and a pencil case. It was really a wonderful evening, and I’m so thankful that his family was open and warm enough to welcome me into their home. Seungkook said he wants to set up some English tutoring sessions for his kids, so I hope to continue this connection in the future.

Beach vacation

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After returning to Richmond, the boyfriend and I immediately headed out to meet my family in the Outer Banks (NC). Here are photos from the week.

We stayed in the 4WD area of the OBX, where there are still wild horses. I was literally astounded to discover the origin behind the colorful expression “hung like a horse.”

The house had nine bedrooms (12 people were staying there.), and was well-equipped. I particularly enjoyed these salad tongs:

Dad and Pat took us out for a day outing in the town of Duck. The boyfriend had his first softshelled crab:

We also walked around the Whalehead Club.

And climbed to the top of the Corolla lighthouse:

The view from the top was incredible, though I was sad to see all of the sprawling beach mansions.

This was the whole group, plus the three dogs:

Bodger got to experience the beach for the first time. We’re not entirely sure that he understands how the ocean “works” (i.e., the waves coming in and out).

When we first took him down to the water, he made a beeline for the surf and immediately peed in the Atlantic. Here, he is tasting the salty ocean air.

We collected and impressive number of shells and made a tiki torch shrine:

We also eavesdropped on the parents reminiscing about their “hippie” days and subsequently debating politics:

It was still “off season” at the beach, so the water was pretty chilly. Dad came prepared with a wetsuit, and he even got me to go boogie-boarding:

Outer banks sunset:

Nothing like some late night chats and walks on the beach with friends:

We even found the locals’ bonfire and flyers for town meetings against proposals to commercialize this area of the beach:

The Outer Banks is truly one of my favorite places to visit. I have so many memories of summer beach vacations with my family. I want this to continue to be a tradition for many years to come. As such, I started noticing the impact that we (=people) are having on the beach. Everything is becoming so commercialized, and I cringe to think about the effect that the houses, roads, and traffic are having on the natural ecosystem. Even in the 4WD area where we stayed, which is still non-commercial, the vehicles and houses lead to erosion of the beaches and harm the wildlife.

On the other hand, I will admit that I like poking around in beach shops and eating ice cream by the sound. Tourism is a large part of the economy. And certainly, I cannot point a finger at anyone; we stayed in a large air-conditioned oceanfront home with all of the amenities of home. I just hope that we can see past the immediate future and preserve the natural beauty and charm of such a nice place. It would really be a tragedy to let greed and commercialization ruin such a treasure.

25th Birthday Recap

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Oddly enough, Lena gave me a birthday card that basically told me to calm down and enjoy myself on my special day. I did enjoy myself, but I was also extremely productive, more so than usual on a Saturday.

First, I hopped out of bed at 6:30am (after a really late night) and after blogging, went for an eight-mile run:

  1. 9:27
  2. 9:22
  3. 9:00
  4. 9:09
  5. 9:13
  6. 9:13
  7. 8:40
  8. 8:49

Other things I did:

  • deep-cleaned the apartment (The boyfriend helped!)
  • moved furniture
  • bought party supplies
  • went grocery shopping
  • did three loads of laundry
  • walked Bodger
  • made Bodger presentable for guests (bathed and brushed his teeth)
  • wrote an outline for my [I hate you!!] class

Look, Dad and Pat! The flower crisis was averted. The roses are beautiful–Thank you!

I really hate it when people brag about everything they got for their birthdays or Christmas on their blogs, but I really want to share this photo. The boyfriend wrapped his gifts for me all by himself, and he did a really nice job. (One year, I got my present in a plastic bag, inside a used Wendy’s bag.)

Can you guess what it is?

…It’s an ice cream maker attachment for my mixer! Nom nom nom!

In the evening, I had a birthday fiesta and invited people from the department. Bodger and I put on our birthday hats. (Bodger’s birthday was a few weeks ago, but we all forgot. He is three!)

Jessica and Aileen came over early to help out. Jessica prepared the Velveeta+Rotel queso dip. Aileen and I had never made it, so we just were skeptical:

Jin brought some kind of Korean rolls, which were made with rice flour and deliciously chewy:

There was also a seven-layer dip, which Ryan B. could not get enough of:

It’s always nice when you catch people laughing and having a good conversation:

Uh-oh, Bodger! How did the hat get there?

Jenna brought delicious key-lime pie:

And Jessica made my favorite kind of cake (yellow with fudge frosting)!

(That’s very special, Jessica.)

After cake and pie, everyone indulged my childlike nature, and we went outside to beat the piñata with a wiffle ball bat:

After the poor piñatas had lost his legs and his hanger, Cassandra propped his up on the porch railing, and her boyfriend Logan did the honors of splitting him open:

And that’s more or less how my 25th birthday was.

 

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special in some way. I appreciate all of your friendship and kindness, and I look forward to spending a 25th year with you!

…Also, by Korean reckoning, I am now 26.

What’s your favorite part about birthdays?

Pounds cake

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Did you have a happy Valentine’s Day? I can’t say that Monday is a very romantic day, nor can I say that I am a very romantic person. I ditched the boyfriend to attend Dan’s Body Blitz class. Nothing says “I love you” like doing 100 squats with sweaty college girls.

Afterwards, however, we had a pretty awesome dinner. Instead of a one-on-one dinner, the boyfriend and I joined Dan and Alejandro and Kya and Brian for a “couples” Valentine’s Dinner.

Dan made heart-shaped pizzas:

While we waited for Brian and Kya to get off of work, we stuffed our faces with semi-healthy pizzas and watched the Westminster Kennel Club show. The Frenchie didn’t win. (Bodger is OUTRAGED!)

Both Dan and Alejandro are group fitness instructors. Their chiseled physiques made me feel a little guilty for having repeatedly flopped on the ground during the planks and push-ups part of BodyBlitz.

Did you think that I came to the party empty-handed?

Not only did I bring a dessert, I wore a festive Valentine’s sweater! (Thanks, Mom!)

Let me tell you about this pound cake. It is seriously five-pounds cake. It actually weighs five pounds.

“Cheese Poundcake”

  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  • (8oz) 1 package cream cheese, softened
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 300ºF
  2. Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time.
  4. Add vanilla and flour slowly.
  5. Pour into a bundt or Tube pan.
  6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. (I baked it for closer to an hour and 40 minutes.)

It looks innocuous, but you have to serve very small slices.

I topped the cake with Cool Whip and homemade raspberry sauce. It is dense and awesome and would probably make you puke if you ate too much of it in one sitting.

And that was my Valentine’s Day. I hope yours was great too.

Do you know anyone who got engaged on Valentine’s Day? Facebook informed me that two of my high school acquaintances got engaged yesterday. I was surprised.

[Good news! Garmin will repair my Forerunner for a flat $79 fee. It should be back next week. Yay! Much cheaper than buying a new one.]