Early celebrations of B-Days & V-Day! :)
Yesterday (Saturday the 11th) was a day full of food, folks, fun and festivity! First it involved birthdays, then it involved Valentine's Day!
It all began in San Jose, at my parents' house, with a birthday lunch for the two February babies: my dad (Feb. 20) and Shawn (Feb. 28). The gathering consisted of my folks (duh), me, Shawn, my aunt Janie, cousin Julie & Julie's son Brandon. The usual suspects! :) Julie's brother, my cousin Ron, has a son turning 12 this month who shares Shawn's birthday, but unfortunately they live in Texas and couldn't fly in just for this weekend.
My dad loves the salmon patties (sort of like salmon croquettes but a different shape) that my aunt makes, so she made them for this occasion. She uses the famous family recipe my grandma used. Even tho my aunt's salmon patties are very good, I gotta say, my grandma's were even better! The same thing has happened to my mom when she tried to duplicate one of Gram's recipes -- it was very good, but not AS good! I guess Gram was an example of the cliche: "Often imitated, never duplicated." Before the main course, we had salad and garlic/cheese breadsticks; with the main course we had an orzo & rice pilaf. Then we took a break in which dishes were done and Shawn & I joined Brandon to watch (as usual) some of his SpongeBob SquarePants DVDs. Then we reconvened at the table, where everyone gave my dad and Shawn B-Day cards, we sang "Happy Birthday," took pictures, and indulged in the delicious Boston cream cake from Safeway that we all love! Boston cream cake is SO much better than Boston cream pie!
After Shawn & I left, we came back to Redwood City, rested a bit, and got changed into dressy clothes to attend the annual Valentine's Day dinner/dance put on by the San Francisco State University Alumni Association. Shawn got his M.P.A. there in December 2010 and belongs to the Assn., which seems to plan a lot more cool events than the Alumni Assn. at my alma mater, San Jose State. Coincidentally, of all locales on campus for the dinner/dance, it was held in the same building as his master's degree hooding ceremony! (Seven Hills Conference Center, for those who know SFSU).
I decided to wear the burgundy-maroon-ish dress I wore when I was maid of honor at my best friend Lisa's wedding. (It was the same dress worn by the matron of honor and the one bridesmaid). Despite being very dressy, it doesn't really look like a bridesmaid dress, though; it looks more like a cocktail dress or evening dress or whatever that's called. It's SO cool for a woman to be able to wear a bridesmaid dress more than just ONCE! ;) Shawn also got dressed up, in a suit and tie and dress shoes. He looked extremely sharp and handsome! <3 Admission to the event included a complimentary photo of each couple taken by a professional photographer, so once we get our copy (via email) I'll share it -- maybe here, definitely on Facebook! The photog let us look at the "proofs" (haha, old-fashioned term) on the screen of her digital camera and we selected our fave.
Between running a bit late and waiting in line for the photos, we didn't get to partake in the hors d'oeuvres, but we did get some glasses of white wine (chardonnay). The dinner itself was three courses. The first course was some of the best crab cakes I've ever eaten, maybe even THE best! Accompanying them was some louis sauce, a few petite green beans and a nest of frisee lettuce. The main course was a choice between filet mignon, baked halibut and a vegetarian entree. When Shawn & I reserved our tickets, we chose the fish, which was delish! It was thin & tender, with a yummy sauce and covered with toasted pistachios and some type of baby lettuce sprouts. It was accompanied by cooked carrots, more of the petite green beans, and a generous portion of seasoned whipped/baked potato plated like a spiral. The dessert course was a large ramekin filled with what seemed like a baked chocolate pudding, but much finer/lighter than what you'd find in some supermarket! It came with a curled white chocolate "stick" and some fresh raspberries.
After the dinner, the jazz band played for quite some time. Unfortunately, neither Shawn nor I know how to "dance" to jazz music, except of course when they play a slow song. Thanks to a dance class I took and thanks to the years I used to go to country dance clubs, I know how to do a passable waltz, rhumba, cha-cha, swing (East & West Coast) and two-step, and of course lots of line dances. I can "backlead" on couples' dances pretty well if I do say so myself. :"> But I've no idea what to do with myself with jazz. But at least Shawn and I got to take advantage of the slow song! It was so fun and romantic to slow dance with my love!! Oh, and before I forget, we had some very nice couples at our table, which made the usual dinner chit-chat easy and pleasant. Another person at our table was the photographer, which was cool, and another was Ryan, one of the Alumni Assn. representatives who we first met last summer on a camping trip we attended at SFSU's field campus in Tahoe National Forest. Ryan's a hoot and it was very nice having not just a familiar person at our table, but one who's so cool to talk with! (The camping trip is an annual thing and we plan to attend this year as well. It was there that I finally got to see, fairly up close and personal, CHIPMUNKS!!!!)
I'm very happy that Shawn not only came to my family thing during the day, but then took me out for a beautiful night as well! <3 <3
It all began in San Jose, at my parents' house, with a birthday lunch for the two February babies: my dad (Feb. 20) and Shawn (Feb. 28). The gathering consisted of my folks (duh), me, Shawn, my aunt Janie, cousin Julie & Julie's son Brandon. The usual suspects! :) Julie's brother, my cousin Ron, has a son turning 12 this month who shares Shawn's birthday, but unfortunately they live in Texas and couldn't fly in just for this weekend.
My dad loves the salmon patties (sort of like salmon croquettes but a different shape) that my aunt makes, so she made them for this occasion. She uses the famous family recipe my grandma used. Even tho my aunt's salmon patties are very good, I gotta say, my grandma's were even better! The same thing has happened to my mom when she tried to duplicate one of Gram's recipes -- it was very good, but not AS good! I guess Gram was an example of the cliche: "Often imitated, never duplicated." Before the main course, we had salad and garlic/cheese breadsticks; with the main course we had an orzo & rice pilaf. Then we took a break in which dishes were done and Shawn & I joined Brandon to watch (as usual) some of his SpongeBob SquarePants DVDs. Then we reconvened at the table, where everyone gave my dad and Shawn B-Day cards, we sang "Happy Birthday," took pictures, and indulged in the delicious Boston cream cake from Safeway that we all love! Boston cream cake is SO much better than Boston cream pie!
After Shawn & I left, we came back to Redwood City, rested a bit, and got changed into dressy clothes to attend the annual Valentine's Day dinner/dance put on by the San Francisco State University Alumni Association. Shawn got his M.P.A. there in December 2010 and belongs to the Assn., which seems to plan a lot more cool events than the Alumni Assn. at my alma mater, San Jose State. Coincidentally, of all locales on campus for the dinner/dance, it was held in the same building as his master's degree hooding ceremony! (Seven Hills Conference Center, for those who know SFSU).
I decided to wear the burgundy-maroon-ish dress I wore when I was maid of honor at my best friend Lisa's wedding. (It was the same dress worn by the matron of honor and the one bridesmaid). Despite being very dressy, it doesn't really look like a bridesmaid dress, though; it looks more like a cocktail dress or evening dress or whatever that's called. It's SO cool for a woman to be able to wear a bridesmaid dress more than just ONCE! ;) Shawn also got dressed up, in a suit and tie and dress shoes. He looked extremely sharp and handsome! <3 Admission to the event included a complimentary photo of each couple taken by a professional photographer, so once we get our copy (via email) I'll share it -- maybe here, definitely on Facebook! The photog let us look at the "proofs" (haha, old-fashioned term) on the screen of her digital camera and we selected our fave.
Between running a bit late and waiting in line for the photos, we didn't get to partake in the hors d'oeuvres, but we did get some glasses of white wine (chardonnay). The dinner itself was three courses. The first course was some of the best crab cakes I've ever eaten, maybe even THE best! Accompanying them was some louis sauce, a few petite green beans and a nest of frisee lettuce. The main course was a choice between filet mignon, baked halibut and a vegetarian entree. When Shawn & I reserved our tickets, we chose the fish, which was delish! It was thin & tender, with a yummy sauce and covered with toasted pistachios and some type of baby lettuce sprouts. It was accompanied by cooked carrots, more of the petite green beans, and a generous portion of seasoned whipped/baked potato plated like a spiral. The dessert course was a large ramekin filled with what seemed like a baked chocolate pudding, but much finer/lighter than what you'd find in some supermarket! It came with a curled white chocolate "stick" and some fresh raspberries.
After the dinner, the jazz band played for quite some time. Unfortunately, neither Shawn nor I know how to "dance" to jazz music, except of course when they play a slow song. Thanks to a dance class I took and thanks to the years I used to go to country dance clubs, I know how to do a passable waltz, rhumba, cha-cha, swing (East & West Coast) and two-step, and of course lots of line dances. I can "backlead" on couples' dances pretty well if I do say so myself. :"> But I've no idea what to do with myself with jazz. But at least Shawn and I got to take advantage of the slow song! It was so fun and romantic to slow dance with my love!! Oh, and before I forget, we had some very nice couples at our table, which made the usual dinner chit-chat easy and pleasant. Another person at our table was the photographer, which was cool, and another was Ryan, one of the Alumni Assn. representatives who we first met last summer on a camping trip we attended at SFSU's field campus in Tahoe National Forest. Ryan's a hoot and it was very nice having not just a familiar person at our table, but one who's so cool to talk with! (The camping trip is an annual thing and we plan to attend this year as well. It was there that I finally got to see, fairly up close and personal, CHIPMUNKS!!!!)
I'm very happy that Shawn not only came to my family thing during the day, but then took me out for a beautiful night as well! <3 <3