Happy New Year, everybody! :) I hope this year started out spectacular for you, too! And if not action-packed, then relaxing and fun? Oh what a holiday season this year! Usually, my family drives up to visit my Aunty Joyce in Toronto! (but what with my dad getting older and tiring more easily…we didn’t make that trek this Christmas/New Years) I did however take an unexpected trip to NYC and had the most wonderful time!
Spending quality time with my Trenton-poo poo helped me realize how lucky I am. It wasn’t just that, though. Actually, it *definitely* wasn’t *just* that…just a huge catalyst, I think. After all, I got to spend quality time with some of my cousins *and* first cousins, once removed. (my cousin, My, has two kids—they’re soo cute!) I got to spend QT with some of Trenton’s family, too! Trenton’s sister, Vickie and her husband Jorge were moving down a floor in their apartment building so we helped with the moving a bit. Hopefully next time we visit, they’ll be happily settled in! :)
▼ my cousin, Jenny + me
▼Trenton + Justin leading the way to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
▼Minh, my cousin My's daughter
We tried to get rush tickets for Avenue Q; that was exciting (it was Trenton’s first time, hah)! Unfortunately Lady Luck was not on our side that day. We didn’t let that get in the way of our fun though! We stuffed our faces instead. Mmmm! Just thinking about all the good food we tried (and kinda not good too) makes me angry at the lack of competition in State College! Seriously, how many good pho places are in State College? zero. How many sushi places? several. How good are they? (Let me that this moment to remind you that State College is in the middle of Pennsylvania. IN THE MIDDLE—no where near large bodies of water.) How many good Thai places? How about cute little pizzerias? Or nifty cafés? Or Korean BBQs? Or frozen yogurt?! (More about that later!)
Really, the biggest thing that makes me feel so lucky is my family. I know, maybe that’s really trite and corny, but I really mean what I say! And I’m not just saying it because it’s the holiday season. I’m just so glad that I have my mom and Alda-poo and my daddy. They’re so supportive. I know, we’ve had ups and downs (of lots of those) but now as I’m a little older and hopefully that much more mature, I’ve come to realize that my mother’s been right the whole time. Thankfully it’s not too late for me to realize how amazing they are and for me to express my deepest gratitude. ♥
So about that frozen yogurt! I think the Pinkberry versus Red Mango debate may reach Pepsi versus Coke proportions. Trenton like Red Mango more, hands down. I like Pinkberry’s granola more than Red Mango, but regarding fro-yo, Red Mango definitely wins in my book, too. What do you guys think? Have you tried it yet? Are you even frozen yogurt adventurers?
▲mmm. Red Mango.▼Maoz Vegetarian -- Falafel + Pita + Fries + unlimited toppings!
Even though we didn’t get those rush tickets, I think some one was looking out for us, if not Lady Luck. We were up in Times Square the day before New Years’ Eve for the chance at tix and since we didn’t get them, we had time to walk around to take in the city lights, to be totally silly, and to check out the M&M store! (!) With the aid of surf the web by proxy (we called Amin to look it up online), our quest to find the giant M&M ended with success!
▼▲Us. Being silly. (stupid faces!)
▼"I dunno where the M&M store is, baby..."
Since we got to hang in Times Square then, we stayed as far as possible away from the craziness that was New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Leah, however, she came up with friends from St. Mary’s College and they’re nuts! We didn’t get to meet up so that was sad, but here’s a pic of her and her friends in Times Square. They got a pretty good view – lucky ducks.
Oh, there was so much delicious-ness!!
/happy sigh
▲Vickie and Jorge took us out to eat at Azuki. This is the very last part of a spider roll. Oh man. So good.▼Trenton took me out to KBBQ at Wonjo! Oh wow!
▼He's sucking out my brains!
