Shoe Crazy...

My dearest girlfriend Ween Nee, creator of all things splendid from Love-a-Cupcake was seeking inspiration for a current project which calls for designer shoes and handbags. This prompted my love for shoes and to share with Ween, and now with all of your my dream list of designer shoes to date.

Christian Louboutin Ivory Satin Peep Toe

This pair of Louboutin was a definite inspiration for my wedding dress. The tidy little pleats under the white satin rosette brought me to my Watters bridal gown, with gorgeous geometrical pleats in the front bodice and inverted pleats on the back. While it may have been inspiration to my dress, I wore something else on our wedding day. Thanks to Viv, she presented me with a custom made beaded satin shoes which I wore and they were so gorgeous!

Manolo Blahnik Something Blue Satin Pump

This pair of rich blue Manolos were inspiration for my bridal party's dress for our Penang wedding. The girls love it and Ween finally asked me on Facebook earlier, "Now why din we get the Manolo to match it!!??" To which I responded, "Err.. it was hard to get sizes??" :P

Alexander McQueen Peep Toe

Emilio Pucci Peep Toe

Christian Louboutin Crepe Satin Flower

Christian Louboutin Petal Sandal

Christian Louboutin Satin Anemone Black Bow

This particular pair of Louboutin really speaks to me... mostly due to the fact that it's very similar in design to my wedding shoes from Viv. The ribbons/bows at the back of the shoes makes it so playful and cheeky yet so dreamy and sexy. They come in several colors... but my favorite and ultimate number one on my designer shoes list is the following pair of Louboutin...

Christian Louboutin Satin Anemone Brown Bow

These are... t o d i e f o r !! Fellow shoe lovers would agree with me... husband on the other hand has already placed an embargo on retail shoe stores and myself :( Well.. at least I have these amazing pictures of them for eye candy and wishful thinking!

A taste of summer....

I know summer is over... but I am missing these yummy ricotta-filled fried zucchini flowers!!

Fresh zucchini flowers...

I found the following recipe from food & style's blog and it appears to be the closest to what I deem to be the perfect fried zucchini flower recipe.

Pan-fried zucchini flowers
makes 16 to 20 flowers or 4 servings

For the batter:
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 large organic egg

For the stuffing:
1 large organic egg – lightly beaten
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1 shallot – finely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped garden herbs (Italian parsley, basil, oregano, thyme and sage)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
16 large or 20 small fresh zucchini flowers
1/2 cup olive oil for pan-frying (or enough oil to cover the pan generously)

Step 1: For the batter – mix flour, salt and water in a large bowl. Set aside and let stand for 1 hour. Just before dipping the flowers into the batter whisk in the egg.

Step 2: For the stuffing – mix the egg, ricotta, shallot, herbs, salt and pepper until well blended and set aside.

Step 3: To stuff the flowers – make a slit lengthwise in each flower and remove the stamen. Using a dessert spoon, place a small amount of the stuffing at the base of each flower and twist the petals so that the stuffing is held safely inside the flower. Place on a baking sheet.

Step 4: Heat a large heavy-bottom skillet to high heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, dip each flower in the batter and add them to the pan. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Flip the flowers and continue to sauté for 1 to 2 minutes until golden. Repeat until all flowers have been used, reducing the heat to medium-high when the pan is very hot so the oil doesn’t burn.

Step 5: To serve, overlap 4 to 6 flowers in the center of each plate and serve immediately.

Cook’s note: The flowers must be served piping hot, they become soggy as they cool.
Recipe from © 2009 viviane bauquet farre – food & style NY LLC

Lea Salonga

Yesterday evening.... husband and I spent a wonderful evening of music with the amazing Lea Salonga LIVE on stage at UB's Center for the Arts.

When the tickets were first up for sale - I went straight to the ticket office and got the best seats in the house. We were in the orchestra third row from the stage.

She started the evening with an extremely moving I've Never Been In Love Before from Guys and Dolls. Everyone around me were sniffing and I know for a fact that my cheeks were wet from tears as well. She has the most beautiful voice ever!! I was pretty much an emotional wreck for a good part of the evening...another favorite moment was when she sang Two Words - a wedding present to her and her husband from two music composer friends of her. Another great moment of the evening was when she sang Orange Colored Sky - which I just could not help but sang-a-long to.

To reminisce, I first learned of Lea Salonga as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin like everyone else. The next year after that... she released her own self-titled album which I have until today, and I could just recall the days in high school where a bunch of us were just singing to all her songs in her album over recess, sports practice, in the school bus and on the way to choral singing competitions. And that same self-titled album CD of hers, I brought it along with me to her concert last night - met Lea Salonga, had her sign it and husband captured out moment together!

Meeting my favorite singer of all time, the wonderful Lea Salonga.

Mid Autumn/Mooncake/Lantern Festival

On our last trip to Canada, we came back with plenty of mooncakes - in time for the Mooncake Festival. Husband and I enjoyed our mooncakes (has to be white lotus paste and double yolks) with Pu-Erh tea :)

Paper lanterns from home and mooncake

Putting together my paper lanterns...

Husband and I and our mini paper lanterns...

Here I am with my lit up lantern - those darn birthday candles are too big for my mini paper lanterns and this one almost ended up in smoke! Yikes!!

Full moon and chili crabs

When the moon is out in full... the crabs come out to play and this is the best time to get them.

These are mean crabs... mean probably cause they know where they are heading to :P

Chili crabs in a garlic, red chillies, ginger, tomatoes, onions based sauce topped with an egg for that flowery-egg-y sauce.

Wine Club - Seneca Lake

Pete and I have been to Seneca Lake numerous times, but not with the members of our Wine Club. A big thanks to Mary (& Greg) for organizing the fun limo-bus ride from Buffalo to the wineries. We had a lot of fun!

At Rogue's Hollow - Three Brother's Wineries tasting their wine in 'shot' glasses!

Love the view... not to much the wine at Ventosa Vineyards :( Here I am with the birthday girl Rebecca.

Rebecca and Jess getting cozy in our limo-bus heading back to Buffalo...

The rest of the members of our Wine Club 'Gotta Black-Eyed-Peas feeling from the music in our limo-bus :P

Mini lobster feast...

Live Maines new shell lobster special at Wegmans - gotta get my hands on them!

Here they are playing in the sink...

And here they are all red and steaming hot for us to crack them open and dip them in buttery goodness!

Tom's Villainous Birthday Party

We were invited over to Tom & Alicia's home in Kissing Bridge for Tom's Villainous Birthday Party - we all had to dress up as villains. Finding a female villain was no easy task - I made do with whatever I could find hiding in my closet and a $2.99 cat mask. Peter did really well - he made a Wario costume and I helped with the mustache :) Our favorite villain of the night had to be Mary who came in the comfiest pajamas and robe. Armed with a box of kleenex and a pig snout, she was the infamous Swine Flu!

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Mom's Airport Send-off

After being in North America for almost 3 months and 2 weeks, it was time for Mom to head back home. She traveled a lot on this trip visiting our friends up in Canada on numerous occasions, to Vegas to see Dad and almost two weeks in Indianapolis at Sharon's. Here are pictures from her send-off...

Our parents...

Me & Mom...

All in the family...

Mary Anne & Dan's Post Wedding Party

Also falling on our one year NY wedding anniversary was a family party organized by Julie for Mare & Danny. A reunion of sorts as well as a celebration of their marriage for family and friends who could not make it to their wedding in Florida earlier this year. Julie made a beautiful cake for Mare - it still looked amazing even though it tilted a bit on its way to the party. Grandma was there with us, she was not in the best of health at that time but she was so happy she could join in the fun. Get well soon Grandma G! Here are pictures...

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One year ago...

A year ago... family and friends from near and far gathered on this day to celebrate our special day - 9.7.08

It was also...


Aunt Elaine's 80th birthday
&


Wojtek's birthday!

John & Alissa-Anne's Wedding

We are in Rochester this Labor day holiday weekend. Yesterday, we attended a beautiful wedding ceremony of John and Alissa-Anne at the St. Thomas Moore Church. John works with Peter and Johnson and Johnson's and he was a beaming with happiness throughout the day. We later joined the newlyweds at their wedding reception at the Rochester Convention Center. Here are the pictures....

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Jessica & Derik's Wedding

Yesterday was Jessica and Derik's wedding. The weather could not have been any more perfect for their special day. During the ceremony, Mr. Sun graced us with his presence and lit up inside in the chapel with his colorful rays as it passed through the chapel's painted windows. The ceremony was held at the Christ the King Chapel at Canisius College. Later in the evening, we proceeded to the Statler Tower where the reception was held.

Here I am with the beautiful bride...

Congratulations to you and Derik!
We wish you both much happiness!!

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Another year goes by...

Thank you everyone for your kind wishes!
Thank you for thinking of me on my birthday!

Greetings from Buffalo!

A couple of weeks ago, I was involved in a video project for my work office. It is a piece of informational video presentation about all things amazing of our beloved queen city, Buffalo. Here is the final product made by the most amazing producer ever, Amy Matikosh and an awesome creative director and film maker, Suzanne Zorick-Feather of SZF Productions. Check it out below...

...this is Tricia Takanawa signing off :P

Lake Seneca - Part Duex

Here we are... back to the finger lakes again to Lake Seneca. We are continuing with our Riesling passport trying to complete our visits to all the wineries on out list :)

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Jess's Bachelorette Party

We had dinner at Biermarkt in downtown Toronto for Jess's bachelorette weekend before heading to the local Karaoke bar. At dinner, we spotted several Hollywood faces as they were dining there as well. Jess got to meet Mr. Jurassic Park himself, Sam Neil and Noah Wyle from E.R. Thanks to Alicia who first spotted Merlin :P Who else was there? A Lost cast member and Mr. Break-up-with-post-it from Sex in the City and several others whom we could not name unfortunately. They were all in town for the Toronto Film Festival. That aside, here are picture from the dinner.

Jess and her maid of honor, Alicia.

Jess looking beautiful as ever!

With her pot 'o moules... if you have not been to Biermarkt, highly recommended. Belgium food and beer galore!

Alicia helping a fellow bachelor out with his 'to-do' list...

All the girls....

At home with the Jacob family

It was great to see Mindi & Andy again... and who can forget their bright and adorable little munchkin Alyssa. Last time we saw Aly was almost a year ago at our NY wedding where she was our beautiful flower girl and what an awesome job she did. This time, we got to meet her new bay brother, Andrew. We can see that baby Drew is growing big and strong eager to fill in the position of being his daddy's little wingman :D

Our flower girl Alyssa all grown up and here she is holding her first pair of chopsticks!

Alyssa took this picture of her daddy & mommy...

She also captured this moment when mom was holding on to her baby brother Drew.


Aly with Auntie Sherene - and we both match in blue :D

With the Jacob family...

Alyssa loves trying on Auntie Sherene's sunglasses!

Hoover Dam

Our last full day in Vegas was spent with an early morning drive of about 30 miles to the Arizona border to Hoover Dam. We definitely beat the tourist groups being there early and needless to say, the weather was already a balming 102 degrees by 9:00 a.m. After that, it was back to the strip for more indoor entertainment, shopping and great food!

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When in Vegas...

It's been a very, VERY hectic August! Since leaving for Vegas at the end of July - we came back to Buffalo on August 4th. We all got some tan and Sharon came back with us to spend a little over a week before heading back to Indianapolis.

The trip to Vegas was filled with much walking and sightseeing and did I mention PLENTY of Mr. Sun. The weather averaged around 110 degrees fahrenheit and nights were around 100 degrees. We did have an evening or two when it dipped as low as 98 degrees.

We all got to see Dad who was really busy with the Malaysian bowling team. What ever time we can squeeze in with him - we did.

We got to see an old friend from college, Danny Png whom I have not seen since I left for NY. We were all very gracious to have him as a 'tourguide'.

In between seeing dad and hanging around the Vegas strip - we headed north to see the Jacob family. It was a relaxing Saturday and seeing baby Drew and playing with Alyssa indoors from the heat outside was heavenly! (*see next posting.)

Casinos are definitely everywhere and anywhere in sight - gamblers we were all not but good restaurants we enjoyed! Here are pictures from the trip... they will speak for themselves :)

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