Last week, I had friends from out of town visit. We had three kids to entertain, one being my little munchkin, so we decided to go to a museum and headed over to the American Museum of Natural History.
My daughter had a great time and did well in her first museum experience. She loved the butterfly exhibit.
She is also a big Octonauts fan, so the Oceanic section was a big hit. She was so happy and proud to recognize some of the animals she saw on the show.
The family and I recently had lunch at Mad for Chicken in Astoria. It had a bar feel but was still family-friendly. We ordered the wings and drumsticks combo (soy garlic and honey bbq flavor), japchae, and fries. All yummy!
My family and I randomly came across the new Nuts Factory on 30th Avenue in Astoria. They have an impressive selection of nuts, gummies, and chocolate.
Nuts galore!Yum Yum!
We went a little nuts (pun intended) and got a variety of goodies. I selected strawberry and watermelon gummies and a crunchy corn mix. My husband, Andrew, got a few chocolate pieces, and we got our daughter Maxine banana chips.
In Early May, my husband, daughter, and I went to Maryland for a friend’s wedding.
The wedding was on Sunday, so we left New York Saturday afternoon and arrived at night. The first stop before the hotel was Cracker Barrel, and we ordered a feast. Maxine got the scrambled egg and biscuit. Andrew got the country fried steak with green beans and bacon mac and cheese, and I got the chicken fried chicken with broccoli and dumplings. Everything was yummy. Maxine ate all my dumplings, so I wish I had gotten a larger order. I know for next time! We need a Cracker Barrel in NYC.
We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Frederick. It was a nice hotel near many restaurants and, most importantly, had an indoor pool. Maxine and I took advantage and were the only ones in there.
For lunch, we got food from the Silver Diner. Maxine got silver dollar pancakes, Andrew got a sausage omelet, and I got a shrimp and grits dish. Everything was good.
Then came the wedding! The wedding and reception were at Dulany’s Overlook. The space had a country feel; the main venue was a barn.
Here are some pictures of our night.
Beautiful groundsEnjoying some watermelon and cheeseFam pic!The lovely couple😍👯Maxi was all over the dance floorLine dancing!
Before we headed home on Monday, Andrew wanted to check out a buffet situation, so we ended up at the Golden Corral. This is the first I have heard of this chain; the food was pretty good. I got about three plates worth of food.
😍One of my plates
Overall, it was a great weekend trip, and I want to come back to explore more soon.
I got to play tourist again but in a different capacity.
I volunteer with the New York Junior League, an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
I’ve been a volunteer for nine years and have had many roles.
This year, I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the Personal Advancement and Leadership Committee (PAL), which focuses on mentoring young women (ages 14-18) on continuing education opportunities, broad career aspirations, and life skills.
One of the workshops was a tour of Radio City Music Hall. We were able to tour the whole venue and got to meet a Radio City Rockette. It was an excellent opportunity for the young women to see the space and hear from various employees on how they got their jobs and what their roles and responsibilities are.
It was an inspiring and fun workshop. Here are some pictures of the tour.
Hidden within the carpet are 6 instruments The room that really makes the magic happen Artwork in the women’s bathroomArtwork in the Men’s bathroomStage time!Selfie momentRockette pic with my fellow PAL members
In April, I had family from California visit. They explored NYC for many days, and I was able to spend some time with them and enjoy some sites I hadn’t been to before or hadn’t been to in a while.
I have been wanting to check out Little Island for a while now, so we went there first. It’s a great little park with lovely views.
An area of Little IslandThe view from the top!Family pic!
From Little Island, we went straight to the High Line. I haven’t been in years! The High Line is a public park built on a freight rail line elevated above the streets of Manhattan’s West Side. The park is from 14th Street to 34th Street and has impressive views and great artwork along the path.
ArtworkMore art!
The High Line goes directly into Hudson Yards. We enjoyed the mall there and some yummy food.
Overall, it was a great relaxing day, enjoying the city.
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.
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.
Like most holiday weekends, this past weekend just came and went. It was a low-key one, but I prefer low-key these days.
Friday, I got the best type of delivery. Crawfish!
10lbs of crawfish, to be exact, and they were still kicking.I made them nice and spicy for Andrew and me.I made them plain for Mom and Dad.In terms of entertainment, I finally watched Turning Red. It had its cringy moments for sure, but it was super cute.Saturday, I picked a bunch of goodies up. “A Place at the Table” was a curated box of desserts made by home bakers and professional chefs to honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Everything was delicious.On Memorial Day, Andrew and I enjoyed a local street fair.I had an overpriced lobster roll, but I had to have it.I found a vendor who made fruity drinks… with some alcohol and gave a free refill 🙌.Bad Habits was giving away free sushi samples. Overall, pretty awesome weekend. Looking forward to what this summer will bring.
Two weeks ago, I attended my first ‘Eat Something New in Queens’ meet-up at Hug Esan, a Thai restaurant in Elmhurst.
I had such a great time. It was a date night/food adventure/reunion kind of night. An old friend from high school, small world, planned the event, and Andrew and I got to venture out, try new things, and meet new people.
Everything was amazing! Here is what we ate.
Pork Spring RollsBamboo Larb Salad- *the spiciest dishCrispy Pork BellyTom Zabb- spicy and sour soup with spare ribs and various mushrooms *my favoriteEsan Pork SausageChive DumplingsMoo Num Tok- sliced pork salad with rice powderLarb Pla- fried fish with herbs in a sweet and spicy sauce *the most exciting dishSom Tum Thai- papaya saladCoconut Ice CreamThai Coconut Pudding
The Casual Explorer 