I know March is approaching, but I haven’t genuinely parted ways with 2022 yet. On my quest to look back and build my goals for this year, I wanted to call out some of my proudest moments of last year.
My proudest food adventure last year was making these dumplings from scratch for Lunar New Year. What makes them even more special is that they are my redemption dumplings. I screwed up the first time but didn’t give up and made a kick-ass bunch. My proudest date night with my husband was Sushi on Me. We had so much fun that night. The food was AMAZING, the restaurant had a cool speakeasy vibe, and we had free saki all night. My proudest mom moment was Maxine’s first day of school. She didn’t start until December 1st because she was turning two that month, so it was a regular day for everyone else but her first. She wasn’t scared, and she went right in. I was a mess but so proud. My proudest family moment was attending my cousin’s dance recital. My cousin Marcus (wearing the ‘Senior’ shirt) had a solo and was one of the only guys in this dance troupe. We were all so proud, yelling for him. He did a fantastic job. It was great to see him perform, but it was also great to see many of my family members. My proudest moment with my parents was when I got them to go on a family vacation with me, and they went swimming and enjoyed themselves. My parents are not into activities, but I try to involve them in as many things as possible. It was great to see them let loose and enjoy themselves.My proudest personal achievement last year was that I took the time to learn how to play Mah Jongg. I always wanted to play, and I was able to make it happen in the Fall.My proudest professional moment was being asked to speak about my experience with the New York Junior League. I’ve volunteered with the organization for many years and built a lot of strong skill sets here. It was such an honor to talk to young professionals looking to join the organization.
I made my own version of shrimp gumbo that was 🤤Ordered a king cake from Gambino’s BakeryI got the chocolate cream cheese flavor Guess who got the baby?!?
This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to do something special for my daughter, husband, and parents.
I bought flowers for Mom.I got these beautiful flowers from my husband.I found these cute food-related Valentine’s Day cards and had my daughter draw on them and give them to family members and her teachers.I bought these cute cards for Maxine’s classmates. I had to nix the strawberry-scented erasers because they were a little small for the kids.My daughter’s new favorite show is Octonauts, so I bought her a set of figurines and a dish set.Chocolates were a must for my parents and my husband. The way to my heart, and my family’s heart, is through seafood. 😆 I bought 10 lbs of crawfish from the Louisiana Crawfish Company. They came alive and kicking! I gave them a good wash and then cooked them. It was an amazing meal and a great ending to the night.
As the clock turns 12, I wanted to celebrate and look back at 2022.
I started the new year with a challenge, the January Pantry Challenge. The idea was to cook things I already had at home to save money. I ate a lot of soup and finally ate stuff in my freezer. Some of my favs were the shrimp stir fry, red beans, sausage and rice, and dumplings.In February, I did some fun activities with my parents. We took part in a virtual chocolate tasting and a chocolate-making class. In March, I did a bit of a staycation and enjoyed the TWA hotel at JFK. It was a lot of fun. It had a fantastic 60s vibe with great food and ambiance. One of the best features is that they remade one of the planes into a cocktail bar/lounge. For Easter this year, I decorated eggs and did a few egg hunts with Maxine and my family. It was fun to make the eggs with mom, and even better to see Maxine’s face while she was looking for eggs.I don’t see my friends as often as I would like these days, but it’s always a blast when we do get to see each other. In May, we had brunch at Lucky Chengs and enjoyed a fun drag show.In June, I was a panelist for a new membership event at the New York Junior League. I have been volunteering for the league for about eight years now and I was honored to be asked to speak. Dad turned 80 in July! I wanted to throw him a huge party, but that is not my dad’s style. We had an amazing dinner at a Greek restaurant in Astoria instead. We rented out a beautiful house in the Poconos in August and had a kickass family trip. The place was amazing; it had an indoor pool, a game room, and a movie theater. We also did some hiking and saw some beautiful waterfalls, and did some canoeing as well.September was all about soaking up the last bit of beautiful weather and enjoying the parks and water sprinklers. I turned 41 this year and spent my birthday with my family in Atlantic City. We stayed at Caesar’s Palace. I haven’t been to AC in years! I gambled with my parents, and Andrew won big at the roulette table. I ate excellent food and enjoyed the beach, as the weather was nice. Andrew and I even got to have a little date night on my birthday and explored AC at night. I kicked off the holiday season by attending the New York Junior League’s Golden Tree event. It’s a holiday market where a percentage of the proceeds go to the league. The event also had a great auction where you could bid on various items, including holiday wreaths. I participated in the auction for the first time and won these two beauties. Maxine turned two in December! Last year, we kept it simple and celebrated at a buffet so this year, I wanted to go all out. I rented a small venue and we had a bouncy house, face painter and balloon artist. Of course it had to be CoComelon themed.
The Casual Explorer 