Turkey, photo albums and This is it

My sister and Ezra drove down from San Francisco and one of the first things my sister did was go into my mom's room and bring out all the photo albums. The five of us huddled around each other and flipped through each and every album. The photos were of my mom in her early years. From elementary school, to high school and life after marriage. There were periods of silence when we were just soaking in a photo... you could just feel and hear everyone thinking. My mom thinking back to when the photo was taken, my sister and I thinking of what my mom must have been like as a young woman and richie and ezra getting a little glimpse of who my mom was. I honestly had to stop concentrating on the photos cuz i could feel the tears. Looking at our boyfriends genuinely interested in my mom's life and enjoying looking at old photos with us hit the spot. And seeing my mom with that 'thinking of those good memories from long time ago' gleam in her eye and smile made me even more teary. And I couldn't be more thankful for these lovers in my life. Thanksgiving was great. We cooked together, ate together, laughed together and tried to communicate with each other. With my mom's broken english, she tried with Ezra. And seeing Ezra being so patient and really trying to understand my mom... made me love him even more. And Richie always being so sweet to my mom... made me fall in love with him ever more. And my sister being the sweet younger sister she always is... made me love her even more. And seeing my mom basking in the love and attention we were giving her made me love her even more. It also made me miss my dad even more. Because I want him to so badly see the men in our lives. And how happy they make us. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving. And ofcourse we had to end the night with watching Michael Jackson's This is it per my mom's request. lol.

And I ain't gonna lie. Every relationship has it's up and downs. If you don't, then you're lying! *wink*wink* And trust me. Richie and I have had our ups and downs. lol. But babe. I couldn't be more thankful for you. We're just two passionate people that love and fight passionately. That's how we roll. That's how we live. And that's why we work.

Happy Monday everyone! And I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! xoxo

My adorable mom. She actually let me take a picture of her.




My wonderful sister cooking up a storm. She cooked for 8 hours straight. She's a rockstar. And the food was amazing. Seriously so good. I'm so sad I ate all the leftovers.




Mother wanting a pic with the boys.


The boy's 'helping' us cook. At least look happy when you're rocking it out! hahahahahah. ezra cracks me up in this picture.


ezra said some joke i thought was corny and not funny.
me: you're suh lung heh.
ezra: what's that?
me: i don't know. what's suh lung heh in english?
nancy: ....
my mom: your jokes are SO-SO!


:)


oh! and i forgot to buy the cranberry sauce and candied yams. but the pumpkin pie from Marie Callender's and the creamed corn i made was good! :) It just tasted like corn with cream. hahahaha.

Kheng & Rami :: San Diego |wedding|

Hi everyone! I just wanted to drop a post before all the cooking, eating and napping begins! This year, my sister convinced me to make everything from scratch. Yup. You heard me right. S.C.R.A.T.C.H. Does anybody do that anymore? LoL. SO kidding. If you know my sister, she loves cooking for anyone and everyone, so she thought it'd be fun. I usually order our Thanksgiving meal at Gelson's so I never stress out during Thanksgiving. Please don't hate. :) The food is consistent, tastes great and it doesn't take the WHOLE day to cook. It was so funny because towards the end, I got all excited about cooking and spending time in the kitchen together. But my sister said she'll take care of the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole and brussels sprout with bacon. Um. Ok. I know I'm no Ramsay, but put me in charge of something! So this year, I am in charge of the creamed corn (making from scratch), cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie (which imma buy at the market). Hahahahahaha. My sister says I add way too much butter to everything and won't give me anything too high profile. Who doesn't like butter??? But I bet everyone will love my creamed corn so much that they forget to eat the turkey. and mashed potatoes... and gravy...

I don't know if you know, but I LOVE Thanksgiving. I look forward to this holiday each year. I am so truly thankful for everyone in my life and love getting everyone together. And don't forget the leftovers! So wish us luck with all the cooking! Cuz if i don't get to eat turkey this year, I will be very cranky. :)

And speaking of giving thanks, on 11/14, I had the honor of documenting Kheng & Rami's wedding in San Diego. I actually met Kheng and Rami the day of the wedding since everything was done over email. And I couldn't be more thankful and grateful to end my 2009 wedding season with such awesome clients.

We started at the Rancho Bernardo Inn for the getting ready pictures and first look, migrated to the Bernardo Winery for the ceremony and continued the celebration at the Pearl Chinese Cuisine restaurant. Since it's November and the sun sets real early, Kheng opted for the first look so that we had time for pictures. Now that's what I call perfection.



Love her sparkly shoes! I'm a sucker for anything shiny.




Ok ladies. Get ready for this. Kheng custom made her dress in China for $300. Isn't it beautiful?




Love these shots.




Kheng. You looks sooooo beautiful. I love it!


Introducing the groom. Looking good, Rami!


Rami waiting for the first look.


:) This set makes me happy. You can totally see the story unfolding.




Arriving at the winery.






Such a beautiful couple!


Kheng. You look so fab here. So fab.














:)






After the photos, it was time for the ceremony.










First kiss as husband and wife!




First dance.




Love the cake series too! They have such a fun relationship!


Congrats guys! And Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My first car

Just wanted to give a little tribute to my first car. 10 years of memories in this car. A '99 Ford Convertible Mustang. Ahhhh. I LOVE Mustangs. If I could, I would have bought the new GT but being the gas guzzler it is, I don't think that would have been a good idea. :) But I seriously can't wait to get a vintage mustang some day. How awesome would that be?





I find it very comforting that i'm selling the car at 143K miles. It's as if the car is saying goodbye and i love you to me as well. I sound crazy, right? But I swear I have my reasons. Lol.




:) love you dad.

Sneak Peek!

Here's a little sneak peek from a wedding I shot in San Diego this past weekend. :)



And I CAN NOT wait for NEW MooOOOooON!!!!!!! :) Who's with me?!!