Bowling night with the gang at Dave and Buster's... as for me... starving, hungry Sher just wanted to be fed!
Pete, Sharon, Amelia, Sui Bee & Wojtek
Sher, Goran, Ania & Chee Ming
The girls... and a surprise 'visitor'
The guys...
Happy Birthday Daddy (Dec 17th) & Mummy(Dec 22nd)...
We celebrated Lori's birthday with a dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant Thai Orchid Cafe - here are some pictures from me and Steve :D
I was really excited waking up on Saturday... Peter and I, together with our friends Bethany & Binh were going Christmas tree picking. It would be our very first real, live Christmas tree together. No more 'tagging' on our parents tree or trees (sometimes Dad@Mario was not happy with the first tree he went out and got another). There are several Christmas tree farms nearby where we live as well as farm markets selling pre-cut trees. Husband passed on the idea of us cutting down our own tree so we headed to the farm markets instead of the farm :) We found our perfect tree at Spoth's Farm Market.
Growing up, one of Peter's favorite Christmas tree are the white pines - with its soft non-prickly needles. Over the years, white pine does not come about as plenty as the other trees but what luck when we saw several of them at Spoth's. It was the perfect tree and we managed to fit it into Pete's Honda and brought it home. Peter tended to our tree instantly to get it to start 'drinking' before we moved it into our living room.
We also bought a mixed green wreath which we decorated with some festive looking ribbon and then it was setting the Christmas tree up and decorating. Tree trimming was fun - we looked at our small collection of future heirlooms and could not help but to think ahead to the many ornaments which we would be accumulating in the near future. One for each year and so on... we left room for Pete's ornaments growing up which his late Grandma Milizia handmade. We have to retrieve them from Mom@Nancy & Dad@Mario's place and we also left some ornaments aside for Sharon to put on when she gets in town for her winter holidays.
O tannebaum, o tannenbaum...
Thanksgiving weekend proved to be a great weekend to host a reunion, everyone pretty much heads home to their parents - and this is what Pete's high school just did. We were over at the Lovin' Cup by the RIT Campus for the reunion and I got to meet a lot more of husband's friends from his high school days.
Thanksgiving over at our parents... this has got to be the smallest Thanksgiving we ever had since I came along to the Milizia household. Some of the cousins are away and Chele has landed into the tundras of Saskatchewan, etc. This time around, we have 12 people and we all found comfy spots at the dining table! No kiddies and adult's table :P All we did was eat, rest, sleep, eat, rest, watched tv, ate and slept some more. Doesn't everyone after stuffing down that yummy turkey? Turkey Effect we call it!
Part of Peter's birthday gift was me finally getting albums compiled and then made for our family members from all of our wedding pictorials. This has been a 14-15 months work in progress. And here now finally - scanned pics (apparently the bridal studio we went to is still in the dark stone ages and does not give out soft copies - nevertheless, they did a wonderful job! Shalom!!) of most of our bridal studio portraits which will be made into yet another album :D
Created with flickrSLiDR.
We started birthday celebrations for Peter a day early - dinner with friends at the Brew Pub and later on, a nice fruit tart at home. He is now out to see a movie with the rest of the gang while I am at home getting his birthday gift ready :P I hope he likes it!
Peter geting ready to make his birthday wish and blow out the candle...
To my two beautiful chicas in Hong Kong...
This Halloween weekend, Peter and I headed into the city to spend it with our dearest friends Claire & Dan. We walked a lot, ate a lot, walked some more and ate a whole lot more. We did a lot... from Dim Sum brunch to dinner at an awesome Spanish restaurant in the West Village, La Nacional Tapas Bar, a rainy Halloween parade, breakfast at the brasserie, cheering on friends in the NYC Marathon, strolling around Central Park and a short educational stop at the American Museum of Natural History. Needless to say, we did a lot!!
Manhattan at night...
Gearing up for the Halloween parade...
Dan & Claire enjoying delicious tapas...
Shades of blue we were in...
Autumn in New York...
Around Central Park
Claire & Sher
We love the fall...
The amazing back-arch picture of us two!
Created with flickrSLiDR
It's Chele's last weekend Sunday in Buffalo, and wonderful Lori cooked made lunch for us. There were plenty of salad, wine and merry making at the dining table - including ways to fashion a yamaka :P
Ready to eat!
Husband looked sooo cute with a yamaka on.
For the camera...
Sporting our cartoon 'tattoos'!
Doesn't Chele look so 'angelic' ?! We are going to miss you so much!!
Chele blessing our meal...
We attended one of my colleague, Marie's wedding earlier this evening, the band was definitely rockin' and Marie looked so beautiful.
Created with flickrSLiDR.
My favorite Near East selection of couscous were on sale at Wegmans - so I loaded up, BIG TIME!
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 ToeThis 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 PumpThis 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 BowThis 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 BowThese 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!
I know summer is over... but I am missing these yummy ricotta-filled fried 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
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.
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 :)
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!!
