How Charlie Rolls

Yesterday was our good friend Charlie's birthday. The night consisted of dinner and dancing at Studio 1. Charlie reassured me that dinner would be an intimate affair, with just his closest friends. I had foolishly attempted to help him pick out a venue for dinner. And each restaurant I suggested was "too small." I retorted, "How big do you want the place to be? I thought it's just suppose to be for close friends?"

But I should have known... no one rolls deeper than Charlie. When you think of "dinner with close friends," how many would you invite? Six? 10? 20? Ok, I'll even give you 30. But would you ever guess 60?! And to think I thought Michael and I were special and "close" enough to be invited to dinner! Ha. They just kept coming and coming. There were three cakes! And that was just dinner. The theme was black, red, and white. Charlie, decked out in a black suit, white shirt and red tie w/ vest had to divy up his time from table to table. Some say it was like MTV's Sweet 16. I say it was like a Chinese wedding. He had to make his rounds, toast and take shots with each of his tables! If this was for his 28th birthday, I can't even begin to imagine what his 30th birthday might be like. Or his wedding for the matter :) We better start mentally preparing for it now.

"The San Francisco Treat"

Thinking we were hard core, Michael, Chi Quan, Derek and I took an impetuously planned road trip to San Francisco. But the "hard core" part was when someone (ahem) thought of the bright idea of driving overnight to save time (OK so it was my bright idea). Ten hours each way! I must have thought I was 22 years old again. Every time I got behind the wheel, it rained. No, let me correct myself - it poured. I don't know why it is, but every time I drive long distances, no matter the season, it rains! And not just the normal drizzle you get in the city. The kind of rain that comes down in buckets, where your head feels like it's gonna' explode and your eyes wanna' pop out of its sockets from concentrating hard on the road, and even then, you're hydro-planing - scary!!! Then every time Derek got behind the wheel, it snowed. LOL The drive through Mt. Shasta was at times treacherous, forcing us to slow to to 40MPH for a few hours... but the trip was well worth it! I hadn't been to SF for over five years. It's still as lovely as ever. Here are some pictures - enjoy!

Getting ready to pay our toll to cross the first bridge!View of downtown from the Golden Gate Bridge

We road on this cable car - the Rice-A-Roni train!

We love our In-N-Out Burger

Michael's dream job :P

Ghirardelli Square! Yep, the chocolates!
Lombard Street - the world's curviest street!

Taking a break from our crazy uphill climb!

We want that rooftop and the view from it (below)
Mission Street - where the mission-style burrito was born!

Cupids for Charity

When: Thursday January 28, 2010

Where: Old Town Pizza

Who: Singles ONLY!!!

If your New Year resolutions involve giving back to the less fortunate and say...meeting someone special, then you're in luck! Even if you're only toying with the idea of settling down from your wild ways OR simply venturing outside of your comfort zone to muster up the guts to talk to someone new, this event is for you.

Join us for a night of cheap drinks for charity!

Here's the name of the game:

To keep things even, all you have to do is:

BE SINGLE AND BRING A FRIEND WHO'S ALSO SINGLE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX!

Please don't come solo! We encourage you to spread the word and invite all of your eligible and single friends, but we're not in high school anymore, so don't bring your posse (unless you want them ruining your game).

Please also be sure that:

1. Your friend is not already in love with you.
2. You're not in love with your friend.
3. You and this friend have not had a (even remotely) romantic past.
4. You have not had dreams of having a romantic past with this friend.
5. And that you and your friend are truly single! No baggage please!

Breaking those 5 rules would defeat the purpose!

The event is casual and free to attend. If you're shy, we'll have hosts to help you mingle!

Old Town Pizza on MLK is an amazing space, with a spacious bar area, fireplace, high wooden beams and tons of seating. Drinks are cheap - stay long enough to enjoy happy hour at 9pm where well drinks are just $2.50 and pizza slices (arguably the best in Portland) are $1.50! But don't be so cheap that you wait till 9pm to come. Seriously. Everyone might already be drunk and the "good ones" taken by then ;) though we are expecting a very good turn out! It's for a good cause!

Plus, 20% of sales that night will go towards Portland-based Mercy Corps in an effort to help those who suffered Haiti's earthquake. Even before the tragedy, more than 80% of Haitians already lived below the poverty line, so imagine where this leaves them now. Please come support - every little bit helps!

UPDATE: ADP, Blount International and Nike have agreed to match the donations we raise that night!

Got questions? Feel free to ask! Or go directly to my Evite by clicking here. You will have to add your name to the guest list before you can RSVP but please do RSVP!

Italian Night

After a deliciously successful Hawaiian themed Christmas party at Allison & Tommy's house (shall I reminisce of the homemade macaroni salad, pulled pork, ribs, chicken skewers, and mango salad - all on a banana leaf spread?!), we decided to have monthly themed potlucks in an effort to get together more often, in the midst of everyone's busy schedules.

Last night, Piet & Thuy hosted Italian night at their's where Michael started off the night with his family's shrimp bruschetta recipe.

Followed by Thuy's zuppa toscana (I don't have a picture of the soup but here's one of her Italian soda :) !


Allison's tomato, basil and mozzarella salad.

Ina's spaghetti meatballs.

Tram's corkscrew pasta with chicken in a homemade pesto sauce ("with lotsa' pine nuts").

And after making Thuy feel bad about having eclairs at Italian night, Piet ran to Jakiva and bought us tiramisu! I am so bad. But what lovely hosts! Their 2-year old son did the honors of devouring the first slice (who cares that it was the most rum potent tiramisu I have ever smelled) and I had two slices myself! YUM!!!

I miss Amsterdam.

New Year... New Decade!

Last minute planning led Michael and I to ring in the new year at Noble Rot (that wine bar I'd been raving about) with just the two of us and bottle of bubbly! It was our first one-on-one New Year (that must come with old age) and a lovely one at that!


"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

She said, "It's not Goodbye, but See You Later."

A lot of Texans seem to move up to Portland (like Kieu here on the far right), so it was inevitable that we'd lose some of our own to the good ol' South...

One of my oldest friends Thoai (second from the left above) and his lovely lady from Austin, Elaine (second from the right below) will be moving to Houston today!

They will be sorely missed, but it's just one more reason for me to go to Texas. "Everything is bigger in Texas!" I love it there!

Last supper :) Thoai & Elaine's Goodbye Dinner @ Uyen & Tinh's house.