
Global Running Day 🏃♀️💨

As I mentioned in my last post, I was brainstorming ways to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I came across an Instagram post about “A Place at the Table.” Which is a curated box filled with treats from experienced home bakers and professional chefs honoring their Asian heritage. Of course, I had to support it!
As an additional bonus, a portion of the sales is donated to Heart of Dinner, a nonprofit combating food insecurity and isolation within NYC’s elderly Asian American community.
Check out the beautiful packaging.
Check out the desserts.
Of course my favorite was the Filipino focused one, which was a Mango, Coconut and Sago piece (I may or may not be biased 😉).
Here are the home bakers and chefs who participated (from top to bottom and left to right): Ying Ting Hu, Guadalupe Lucero, Andrew Cheng, Kimberly Camara, Ruth Li, Shirley Yu, Christine Yen, Joy Chu, Ayaka Ando, and Kelly Miao.
Glad I was able to participate in and support this initiative. The box was a bit pricey ($75, $82 with tax), but it was well worth it! I would love to see more collaborations like this in the future.
As May comes to an end, I want to take the opportunity to celebrate my Asian heritage.
First and foremost …
Proud half Filipina here!
I was brainstorming ways I want to celebrate, and one of the things is acknowledging all of the Asian representation I have seen lately. Which is amazing!!!
Earlier this month, I was excited to see that comedian, Jo Koy, has a movie coming out called Easter Sunday that focuses on a Filipino family. The movie comes out in August, and it looks hysterical.
Seconds into the trailer shows a spoon and fork decoration piece that is pretty standard for a Filipino household and is hilarious. The trailer also hints at many stereotypical Filipino bits, but I’m all for it. Representation does matter, and it was great seeing pieces of my world and what I have experienced on TV.
Speaking of movies, I was also happy to hear that one of my good friends, Louanna Factora, was in charge of hair and make-up for a new movie filmed in New York called Asian Persuasion with Dante Basco.
Dante Basco also has a film called The Fabulous Filipino Brothers which premiered this month on Hulu 🙌.
I also recently watched Turning Red, which focuses on an Asian girl going through puberty which gave me all the feels! It was very relatable, especially about pleasing her mom, her embarrassing moments, and her ride-or-die friends who centered her. I laughed, and I cried 😃.
It’s heartwarming to see Asians, specifically Filipinos, in the spotlight. I feel like that rarely happens. I want to see more of it!
My daughter Maxine celebrated her first birthday on December 19. She is growing up so fast. I really can’t believe it! My cousin’s girlfriend told me about a fun Chinese ceremony when a baby turns one. It’s called the zhua zhou ceremony, where symbolic objects are laid out in front of a baby to grab. Whatever the baby reaches for and plays with can indicate future employment prospects or interests.
We are a little late, but I thought it would be fun to do! I researched and found more information and potential objects to use via Gathered Gifts’ blog story.
Here is a list of some objects and meanings.
I substituted the following:
Abacus to Cash; Paint Brush to Hair Brush; Calculator to Whiteout; Chicken leg to Bamboo; Lego to Puzzle Piece; Microphone to Fan; Stethoscope to Thermometer; Sword to Shield
Moment of truth. Maxine’s top three…
1. Shallot = Intelligence
2. Measuring tape = Designer/Architect
3. Shield = Law enforcement
Rounding out top 5…
4. Cell phone = Tech Entrepreneur
5. Celery = Industrious
Not bad! LOL. I can’t wait till she is older to see what she likes and is passionate about.
This month, I took part in The Sweet Frugal Life’s January Pantry Challenge, where I took an inventory of what I had in the pantry, fridge, and freezer to make dishes. I wasn’t super strict with it and only made a handful of meals, but I still consider it a success!
The main takeaway from my experience; I have a lot of soup in my pantry!
Here are some of my dishes.
My 2021 wasn’t terrible. I became a Mom, and I celebrated and enjoyed life as much as possible. I explored and pushed myself to try new things. I got creative with ways to motivate myself, and I continue to move forward. It sucks that I’m spending the last day taking care of a sick baby, but such is life.
Below is my picture recap of the year. I choose one picture to sum up each month.
It was great to reflect on the year. I hope you had some time for reflection as well.
Cheers to 2022!