Merry Christmas 2011!

Another festive celebration at the Kim house. Cat and the kids made it for the first time in years. Cat had decided it would be a good idea for an "ugly headpiece" component to our usually fun get togethers. She found reindeer antlers and I found springy Santas, snowmen and Christmas tree headbands. About 20 of us suffered effects from our various colds, but that didn't stop the babies or grown ups from having a good time and enjoying the craziness of Christmas. Even with my cold, I managed to make my Bread pudding, a huge Caramel apple pie with pecan toffee streusel, chocolate brownies and Vanilla bundt cake. Everything turned out really well. I think I've found my go to recipe for apple pie. It was gone in a flash. I had to stop someone from taking the last piece just so I could take a picture.

All the kids were so cute. My gifts went over really well. John was surprised and relieved that I was his secret Santa again. It was another successful and memorable Christmas. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing family.

Oh, and congratulations to Justin and Jenny on their engagement. Justin, you've finally knuckled under the inevitable truth that you are part of the Lee family. Soon you'll be legally bound to all of us. Welcome!

iPhone heaven

I've been wanting to change to the iPhone for ages. My old Samsung phone was working perfectly forever. That is until this week. I kept having trouble hearing when I called home. Even when I tried to call Cat a couple of days ago, I couldn't hear her but she could hear me. That was the last straw. After I finished work, I went straight to Rogers to get the new phone. After some deliberation, I got the iPhone 4S 32G. I cannot fully express the feeling I had. First fear of the unknown, since I've never used a smart phone before. Then this feeling of excitement. While I was there, I also bought my brother a blackberry. I had been scoping out what kind of phone to get him. John has not carried a cell phone for the last 10 years. To say he was overdue, is a gross understatement. Sometimes he can be gone for days and no one can get in touch with him. He mentioned his friend Joe had a Blackberry so I thought, he could BBM, use it for emergency purposes. I got him the cheapest plan that could still text and message. Rogers was having a promo where if signed up for family plan, you get a Samsung Galaxy tablet for free. The problem was it didn't make sense to sign up for more plan and money than we needed. The next night, I was showing him what his phone could do and he was playing with my iphone. His comment about the iphone was "this phone is sick!" After analysing all the plans on the Rogers site, he decided it made more sense to go for the iPhone and get the larger plan. So the next day he came to Sherway and spoke to the Rogers rep. We returned the Blackberry and he got the 4s in the 16G. We signed up for a larger family plan and he got the tablet. After years of being the anti phone guy, he goes to the other extreme, the most coveted technologically advanced phone there is. The whole day at work, I had this odd feeling...like the world had tilted on it's axis. The world as we know it is forever changed. Possibilities are now endless.

I'm not quite sure what happened?

I posted this collage with my post about Charlotte's birthday and my crazy Saturday, but I'm not sure what happened. So here it is again.

Happy 1st Birthday Talia!

Mark and Mer wanted to have a party to celebrate Talia's 1st birthday. Once they pinned down a day, I started contemplating their dessert menu. The week before we finalized the details. I wanted enough variety, something seasonal, something chocolate, lots of bright pretty colours and some fruit ;) I had only the evening before and morning of to create the desserts, so I had to be very selective. I prepped the chopped chocolate the thursday before (a little tedious). I should of prepped the caramel apple filling but was too tired. The final menu was Devil's food cupcakes with vanilla frosting topped with Lindt white chocolate hearts (+a 3 layer mini cake version to blow out a candle), Pecan pumpkin whoopie pies with pumpkin cream cheese filling, Chocolate Chunk cookies with Guittard and Hershey chocolate, Cookies with Lindt white chocolate, toffee bits and oatmeal, Caramel apple triangles in Phyllo pastry, and Chocolate Pavlova.
I worked on Friday from 9-5:30. I went to buy Talia's birthday gift on my lunch break. Picked up the photos I had developed after work. Traffic was horrible. It was on the way home that I realized I forgot to borrow the Whoopie pie pans from work...so I called Yorkdale and had 2 put on hold. By the time I got home, had some dinner, tried to explain to my dad that he can't just save numbers on his cell phone, he has to input their matching names too...I started baking around 9pm. Cookies first, then cake and cupcakes, pavlova meringue base. Too much to do, I asked John to peel some apples and wash some dishes. (He declared the peeling part...Fun:) Made the white chocolate hearts to chill in the fridge. Made the caramel apple filling, left to cool. Made the frosting for the cupcakes, did the lighter pink first, then added extra red for the second half. At 4:45am I called it a night after I put all the cupcakes and cookies in containers and meringue under plastic. (Thank goodness John helped with the dishes)
The next morning, I woke up before my alarm at 8:50am. I bolted up, afraid I had overslept. I immediately asked my mom for some help rinsing and cutting the fruit for the pavlova. I started on the apple phyllos triangles. Then the whoopie pies and cream cheese frosting. Lastly the whipped chantilly cream for the pavlova. With my mom's help as dishwasher, I was able to even have a shower before I had to pack up the car to go. The car was so packed up, that I had to ask mom to carry the mini cake on her lap on the way down in my dad's car.
Once at Withrow park, thankfully John Kim (Mark's cousin) helped me unload everything and we set things up in record time. The place was open and airy. They decorated it with huge paper balloons and hundreds of 8x10 photo copies of pictures from Talia's first year.
I was very pleased with the result. I received many complements on the desserts and how pretty everything looked. Even Cat's mom pulled me aside to tell me she "loved" the caramel apple triangles. I packed her up 6-7 to take home (and another bag for Sooky's mom)
The party was lovely, although a little short on time. It seemed like we had just settled in when it was time to pack up and go. When I think about how short a time it took me to make everything on my list...essentially 10 hours, I'm amazed at how well everything turned out. Next time though, I'll save myself some heart palpitations and insist on having the day off the day before.

Following Korean tradition, the birthday child picks items to predict their future. For the record, Talia picked a paint brush, money and the book. Happy birthday Talia...xo Aunt Carol.

My crazy Saturday and Charlotte's 4th Birthday.

Last Saturday, November the 19th was one of the most hectic I've ever had. It started off calmly enough...sleeping in late and lounging around with my family. Then I went to Walmart to buy a birthday gift for Charlotte. It was crazy busy there. It reminded me of Christmas...or I guess just a typical Saturday at Walmart. Because the checkout line was so crazy I was late getting to Mark and Mer's. We planned to go over some plans for Talia's birthday party the following week, menu and planning. I left their place at 5:15 to head to Congee Queen at Don Mills and Lawrence for Charlotte's family birthday dinner. So cute. We ate, hung out for a bit, before I headed out at 7:15pm. I had to meet a group of work friends for dinner at East Side Mario's near Sherway. We were meeting Andy's boyfriend for the first time. Lovely evening. I was still full from chinese, I ordered just a mini pizza and ate half. At 9:30pm, I made my apologies and goodbyes before racing out to meet the gang to watch UFC at Boston Pizza at Warden and Eglinton Ave. They have a minimum $20 charge so I had to order something. I ordered apple crumble and a diet coke. I hoped my friends had eaten enough to cover my shortfall. The fights were incredible. The Henderson-Rua fight was probably one of the best ones I've seen ever. At 11:45pm I left to go home to sleep. My stomach was not so happy with me...but I didn't have time wallow. I had to go to work for 8am...I feel tired just remembering it all.

Car trouble, and missing book club.

Last Saturday night was my bookclub meeting at Maureen's house. After baking a Maple Bread pudding the night before and working all day, I was driving out of the parking lot with Halina when I noticed no response from the car when I was pressing the gas. In fact the rpm's dipped. I stopped the car and restarted and still nothing, then the engine just stopped. Some fellow coworkers Bonnie and Carol were following behind me on their way to Maureen's. They stopped to help me try and figure out what happened. I called Maureen to let her know about our delay and ask if anyone there had any jumper cables. In a few minutes Maureen and Kellea arrived with the cables. We tried to boost the car but it didn't work. Luckily Maureen is a member with CAA. She called a tow truck. We waited in her car, taking and laughing, while the other book club members were all hanging out at Maureen's. The tow truck driver arrived about 30 minutes later. The first question Maureen asked him was "Does she have to go with the car?" Still hoping that I'd be able to go to the bookclub meeting :) I sent the bread pudding with them. He gave me a lift to the garage in front of my house. After hearing my story about the car, he guessed the problem was a broken fuel pump. He was right. Two days and $360 later, I got the car back on Monday afternoon. Absolutely bummed about missing the book club. It's always a great evening with fantastic women. Everyone told me how missed I was...but at least they had the bread pudding. It's damn good bread pudding ;)

Happy 70th birthday and UFC

Nancy and Eunho hosted a 70th birthday celebration for his mom on the 29th. It was a surprise party. So everyone convened at their house at 5pm. Diana and Gerwyn picked up her mom at 6. Everyone was there, even my brother John made an appearance. Diana hired our second cousin John and his wife Lulu, to take pictures of the party. They also took some family photos. My family gave her a Vitamix blender. She seemed genuinely touched. Diana told me she's been using her old blender since 1975. That's how long Diana has been alive.
After dinner, I went up to Newmarket to Ron's place to watch UFC. We had planned on continuing our Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins (Pip had purchased a dozen huge pumpkins), but we never got around to doing any carving.
I never got to test out my new carving kit.:(

White Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake

In honour of Sooky, Eunho and Diana's mom's 70th birthday, I made a cheesecake and the WS Vanilla bundt cake. I think it came out beautifully. It was the first time I was arranging the strawberries like this. The resulting effect looked pretty spectacular. Hopefully everyone thought it tasted as good as it looked.

Happy Birthday Meredith!

Lovely Meredith celebrated her 40th birthday this year. Marky, her husband, planned a whole weekend of adventure and celebrations. I thought we should recognize this milestone too. So Sooky, Diana, Hanna, Jenny and I braved torrential rain storms to take Meredith out to Queen Margherita Pizza. We enjoyed a cozy dinner and fun conversation celebrating this fantastic woman. Love you Meredith!

Thanksgiving 2011

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I emailed the cousins, asking what we were doing for the holiday this year. After a bunch of emails with no real plans, Sooky decided to have a small gathering with her immediate family. She ordered a $100 Organic Turkey from Rowe farms and asked if I wanted to join them. Then, in typical Lee family fashion, Uncle John called everyone on Friday to let them know they would have it at their place on Sunday. So I made my promised Sausage, Mushroom and Chestnut stuffing, WS vanilla bundt cake, Bourbon Apple Crumble, and Pumpkin dessert squares. Everything was a hit. The kids were sooo cute. I love that picture of Samara and Charlotte on Grandpa John's tummy. The dogs are new Sadie and Cailey. They were just so adorable. All they wanted to do was play and lick. Charlotte and Samara, however, were petrified. A shaking Charlotte was holding onto me for dear life, while Samara burrowed into my side while I reached out to Sadie, to show them how sweet she was. They didn't buy it.:( Good food, fantastic family, it doesn't get any better.

Hanging out with Mer and Talia

One Thursday late in September, I called Meredith to catch up. She was heading out to Metro Hall to meet up with Mark in the park. Apparently they have an outdoor event called Indulge every Thursday in the summer. It has food vendors, live music and a farmers' market and market vendors. It was a beautiful fall afternoon. There were numerous food vendors to choose from. I picked the one with the longest line. I figured, the regulars must know something I didn't. The back bacon sandwich was delicious. We enjoyed the festival type atmosphere and the good food. Talia was such a good baby, so happy. We headed back to the house and had dinner with Samara. She is a natural ham, just like her dad. Obviously the apple didn't fall far from the tree :)

I'm back...and Cottaging with friends

So I'm back! I lost my USB cord for my camera and couldn't download any photos. That shouldn't have stopped from blogging but...I'm a visual person. I need to remember while I blog. So get ready I'll try to catch up...
The gang rented a cottage up at beautiful Port Severin. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go up the entire week, but I did manage a few days. The views, lake and surrounding landscape was spectacular. It was just lovely spending time with my friends, eating amazing food, napping in the afternoon and just relaxing with my kindle. The photo of Sabrina with the Cheetos was the picture I took when she woke me up. Her whispering "Carol" and crunching on Cheetos...so cute.

TIFF 2011 Melancholia, Alex, Kirsten and Ryan too!

Alexander, Kiefer and Kirsten.

This is how Ryan looked tonight...Wow!

I have never attended a screening at TIFF. The Toronto International Film Festival is world renowned as one of the world's best. I love movies and yet have never been. Sooky asked me last week if I wanted to go see Melancholia...the new film by Lars Von Trier. Alexander Skarsgard was coming to promote it. Last year at Comic-Con in San diego, it was one of Sooky's and my greatest regrets that he was not there to promote True Blood. We missed the opportunity to see him. When I checked the TIFF website last week, it said it was sold out. I was also interested in seeing Drive...Ryan Gosling is supposed to be fantastic in it. According to the website, at 7am on the day of the screening, potentially additional tickets will go on sale.
This morning, at 6:40am, I happened to be awakened by my mom since I had fallen asleep reading again and left the light on. She came in to turn off the light. I probably fell asleep at 3am. I thought to myself, "It can't hurt to check the website to see if any tickets are available..." So I turned on the Kindle to read for another 15 min, then I logged on to the website. Tickets were available to Melancholia!!!
But, my computer, the piece of crap, crashed and I couldn't get the tickets. In frustration, I called Sooky at 7:10am. She logged onto her iPad and got the tickets! We arrived at the Ryerson Theatre about an hour before the show. Just in time to pick up tickets from the box office. Unfortunately, the line up for admission went all the way around the block, down Gerrard, right on Church, all the way south to next intersection. We still got a decent seat. On the way in, we could see Alex Skarsgard and Kirsten Dunst doing their interviews...Wow! They were both so gorgeous. Inside, the cast introduced the film then came back at the end to do some Q&A. This picture was the best one I took out of 25...(I really have to figure out low light at distance shots). The movie was depressing, the performances were very good. Kirsten Dunst was luminescent and tragic. She won Best Actress in Cannes for this performance.
On the way out, we passed the interview area again and Sooky and I got to see Ryan Gosling!!! No more that 10 feet away from us. Sooooo cute!!! I couldn't get a real picture, because I'm short, there were too many people, and the volunteers were fanatical about keeping us moving so the next crowds could get in. We would have loved to watch his movie Drive, but I'm just happy I got to see Ryan. Pretty awesome for my first TIFF experience.

Crazy few days and a miracle cure!

It's been a crazy few days. After a stretch of 10 days of work (there was one day off in the middle somewhere) I finally had a few days off in a row...lovely. Of course, that meant lots of errands and a haircut, UFC on Saturday night at Boston Pizza...Willie Stout's is no longer showing the fights...:-( Crazy, Stupid, love on Sunday evening. Ryan Gosling...YUM does not adequately do him justice. The movie was very good. I raced home after. Even though I had to get up very early to meet Mad, Cat, and Mark's mom to take her to her eye surgery at St Michael's Hospital downtown by 6:15am, I couldn't not watch True blood. So I washed up, curled up in bed, watched the show and went to sleep around midnight. At 4:45 I woke up, got ready and met her at 5:35am. We got a great parking space on Bond st. (The street had exactly 1 parking space available at that time.) Her surgery went very well and by noon we were on our way back home. I stayed at their place until about 4pm. Then I went home to shower, wrap my two gifts and go back downtown to meet up with "the gang" for a joint birthday dinner at Terroni's on Adelaide. (Coincidentally it's 2 blocks from St. Michael's hospital)
Dinner was fantastic, delicious. Steve was back in town for a few days. Just enough time to celebrate his birthday and Greg's birthday is in a few days, but we decided to celebrate them together. After dinner, as we were outside chatting and saying our goodbyes, I could feel myself getting bitten by a mosquito...on the face! Left cheek just under my eye. In fact I was bitten there twice! By the time I got home, I washed up and could feel the heat on my face and the whole area was puffy...UGHHHHH! I applied a little Benadryl ointment and went to bed. I could feel it swelling and went to the kitchen for something cold to lessen the swelling. All I could find were some frozen cheese/potato perogies. I popped two in a double sandwich bag with a paper towel and wedged it between my pillow and my face. I woke up at 6:03am. Yikes, I was supposed to be at my aunt's at 6:15 to go to her post op appointment across the street from St Michael's. I washed my face and brushed my teeth, put on the first thing at hand and raced out. We had to go the scenic route because of the traffic at 6:30 in the morning (brutal) but we made it there by 7:03am. A couple of minutes before the doctor arrived. Everything went very well. The surgery was very smooth and she was doing very well. We got back home and I waited until Meredith arrived. Then I went to home to take an hour nap before I had to go to work on Tuesday.
After 9 hours of sleep last night I still feel tired. I have one more day before I can really sleep in on Friday. Can't wait.
As for the two mosquito bites on my cheek, when I woke up the next day I saw nothing and felt nothing. No swelling, no firmness, no desire to itch. Wow. Today I feel a little bump on one, the kind you feel days after when it's almost gone. I'll have to remember that for next time. Benadryl ointment and frozen cheese/potato perogies. It worked like a miracle!

Happy Birthday Nick!

After Stephanie and Jessica's birthday party, I headed downtown to Big Daddy's Crabshack for Nick's birthday dinner. The first question he asked on my arrival, was if I made him any of his favourite cookies. I told him yes. He absolutely loves my chocolate chunk cookies. Apparently he savours each one by slowly eating them, one a day with his coffee until he runs out. He told me they are like gold. Dinner was lovely. Good food, good friends, good conversation. You can't ask for more...maybe one more cookie. Happy birthday Nick.

Stephanie and Jessica's birthday bash.

Sunday was a beautiful day for a birthday party. 40ish family members convened at my aunt's place to celebrate Stephanie's 5th and Jessica's 14th birthdays. The food was good. I made the Winnie the Pooh birthday cake as well as the WS Vanilla bundt cake my family loves so much. Everyone had such a good time. After the party, Stephanie told her mom that she wished everyday could be like her birthday. I can't blame her :).

Winnie for Stephanie.

After watching the new Winnie the Pooh movie with Stephanie, she asked me to make the Winnie cake for her birthday. She wanted the balloon to be purple and the cake had to be chocolate. At least I got to use my Pooh pan again. I think it turned out even better than Elijah's cake for his 1st birthday.

Driving in a cocoon.

We stayed an extra day in Maryland to give the kids a little extra time to be together. Since we were planning a birthday party for Stephanie and Jessica for Sunday, that meant we had to drive back on Saturday. I woke up 4:10am to shower and finish loading up the car. By 5:10 we were on the road. We actually made fantastic time getting back into the city by 2pm. To say the car was full would be an understatement. Everything you see here, including 6 people and 2 reusable bags full of stuff I left by the car, a violin case and kids knapsacks, is everything we packed into the minivan. I started the drive in the middle seat (for the first nap). I felt like I was in a little cocoon. Miraculously, the kids were great on the drive. Considering they couldn't have been very comfortable, they were real troopers. (We even had a stop at Costco on the way. We had to carry things on our laps the final few kilometres home)

Memories from Maryland

There are so many fond memories I'm going to have from this trip to Maryland. Going to the pool with the kids and totally passing out after lunch, only to wake up just in time for dinner. Having a "special" day with Stephanie, where we went to California tortilla, then watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie. "Helping" Steph win her first game of Monopoly...she totally killed her brother Michael and Hosie. She was the "doubles" queen. Cheering for Gracie and Hosie during their swim meet. Laughing and just spending time together. The kids are growing up so fast. They are such good kids. Funny, smart, beautiful. I'm proud to be their aunt.

Trip to Washington.

One of the special things we did on our visit was a trip to the Department of the Treasury in Washington DC to check out how money was made. For obvious reasons, photography on the tour was prohibited...They were in the process of making $64000000 in $100 bills. Kind of awesome. It was another gorgeous hot day. Some incredible sights of the city. The kids were pretty cute too.

Hoseok in concert

Catherine and I took Gracie, Michael and Hoseok to an introductory guitar lesson. Basically, it was a 15 minute private lesson to get a sense if the guitar might be something they would be interested in pursuing. While in the car, after the lesson, Cat asks each kid how it was. The first thing the instructor asked each kid was "what kind of music is your favourite?" Gracie-"Pop music" Michael-"Classical" Hoseok-"Baroque...and 20th century impressionistic". Cat an I burst out laughing. Hoseok-"What's so funny?" Cat-"Nothing...that's great...what did you think about the guitar?"
While Hosie was waiting for his turn, he played this for me totally from memory...he played a few other songs too. It was like having my own personal concert. He is just amazing. Michael and Gracie too. They played music while they waited. They are all just like Stepford children...just too talented and amazing.

Swim meet

Early on Saturday morning, Hosie and Gracie had a swim meet. They have really improved over the summer. Hosie and Gracie competed in 3 events each. Gracie even won 3 "first place in the heat" ribbons. It was a gorgeous morning, not a cloud in the sky. You could feel the exciting energy. Congratulations to both Hoseok and Grace for new personal best times!

Congratulations Hosie!

I arrived in Baltimore, just in time to join Cat and Hoseok for his Maryland PTA awards dinner. Hoseok submitted a piano composition for this year's national Reflections contest. He won first place for the state of Maryland. Wow! It was amazing to see all the winners. These amazing children and their wonderful work. Congratulations Hosie!

U2...finally.

We purchased these tickets 2 years ago. The original concert date was cancelled last year after Bono injured his back. They were better than ever. An amazing evening with friends and music.

Happy Birthday Sooky!

Now that Sooky lives here full time, her mom decided to throw her a birthday celebration. All the cool kids were there. It was a lovely family gathering. Good food, my chocolate pavlova and so many cutie pies to kiss...yumminess all around!

I'm at the end of a long line...Each truck's line was about this long!

At least while we waited, there was a band playing. They were pretty good. When Nelson and I finally abandoned our line and rejoined our group, this is what we saw.

Sabrina really likes her gelato. At one point, she was eating 3 bowls.

The atmosphere at the Queen Margherita was much nicer. Cool, quiet, airy and yummy. Sabrina and me. She came over to my end of the table for a cuddle.

Uncle Nelson, hamming it up.

It was a beautiful day. Gorgeous, warm and sunny. Dave, Vivian, Gar, Nelson, Pippette, Rena and Sabrina decide to join me at the Distillery District to sample the yummy eats. We arrange to meet at 12:30pm. The crowd was crazy. The majority of our group decides to find somewhere to sit and eat (as a nearby restaurant or bar) while Nelson and I chose to wait in line to get food. The crowd is so crazy, when Nelson checks ahead to figure out which line we want to chose to get food, he finds out that by the time we get to the front, they are going to run out of food. Ugh!

I purposely did not eat breakfast because I didn't want to ruin my appetite. While Nelson and I had been waiting in line, the rest of the group had been looking to sit in shade and get something to eat. Unfortunately, everything was so full (from the overflow) that they were all sitting on a bench eating gelato. Hungry and disappointed, we decide to stay in the general vicinity and go to Queen Margherita for lunch. I was the only one who had been there before. We all had the prix fixe menu. Appetizer, pizza and mousse or gelato for $20. Not a bad deal at all. Since I had been there before, I knew which pizza I wanted to order. There were too many comparisons with Terroni's and Pizzeria Libretto. This place is somewhere in between. I like the airy atmostsphere. But they all agreed that the pizza at Libretto's was better. I can't speak for the others but my pizza was delicious. After our very late lunch, and a quick stop at Sweet Bliss for a red velvet cupcake, I did a little grocery shopping. Then I stopped at home for a little wind down then out again to Willie Stout's for UFC. The whole card was pretty good. Some amazing fights. Carlos Condit over Dong Hyun Kim, Dominick Cruz over Urijah Faber...the only disappointment was witnessing Tito Ortiz's submission over Ryan Bader. I like Ryan, and can't stand Tito...The old guy staves off forced retirement for another day.