Nha means House

Seriously I am in love with these pair of shoes.  Love love love

Thank you Simplesong for letting me know about sandro.  Now if only I can convince the hubby to go to Paris for our vacation this year!

I have been eyeing this cake stand for actually a few months, since I spotted it at Béatrice Peltre of
La Tartine Gourmande.  I even emailed her and she kindly responded back that she purchased it in France, from a Geneviève Lethu store.  Boy was I sad to hear that, but now I very very happy because now I can purchase it at this wonderful new online store call Sweet and Saucy Supply.  You have to check it out if you are a china/dish addict like me.  My husband has pretty much has told me that I cannot purchase anymore ceramics, but lucky for me – this cake stand is glass! woohoo!  I think I will wrap this up and say it’s from him this Christmas.

Beside lovely, gorgeous cake stands, they have really unique dishes, beautiful cupcake liners, domes, and great finds like this ceramic raspberry or strawberry basket!  What a great innovative way to display some yummy treats!

and how lovely is this stand…I’m swooning with love right now and imagining what kind of cake I will bake for it…maybe a white chocolate strawberry champagne cake?

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am feeling very thankful for my husband, family and friends.  Living so far from my parents and siblings, I really rely on my friends for personal support.  I feel like tomorrow is a day where I can express my love and friendship through food, which I feel is a labor of love and happiness.

Today my friend, Yuna, came over and helped me do all the prep work for my Thanksgiving meal, so tomorrow I will not feel too overwhelm with all the cooking and baking that needs to be done. Because of her, I even had time to set up the table and make “thank you” name cards, within each card is a personal thank you note from my husband and myself, expressing our gratitude of their friendship.

I ended up hand stitching the outer envelop with red and white twine, handwriting each person name and putting a dessert sticker of a donut for Lisa, because we always seem to get a Top Pot Donut when we are together.  (Just a quirky and personal reminder of our friendship.) Each person received a different dessert sticker of a candy, cake, pie or lollipop that reminded me of them.  I propped the card against a flavored chocolate cup to enjoy before we start our Thanksgiving meal.

I hope you will be have a lovely Thanksgiving with your family and friends this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So far on my list I will be making these items…and of course the turkey too!

1. Bread Leek Pudding
2. Cornbread Mushroom Stuffing
3. Duchess Herbed Potatoes
4. Mashed Roasted Garlic Potatoes
5. Root Vegetable Gratin
6. Garlicky French Green Bean
7. Pear Parmesan Salad
8. Lemon Meyer Vinaigrette with Candied Almond Salad
9. Soft Buttery Rolls
10. Cranberry Relish
11. Mushroom Gravy
12. Turkey Gravy

for desserts

1. Coconut Pumpkin Panna Cotta
2. Pecan Pie
3. Pumpkin Pie
4. Cranberry Crumble Bar
5. Ginger Sandwich Cookies
6. Donut Holes, fried to order!

I’m really excited for Thanksgiving this year, especially since we will be sharing it with my cousin, Danee, who just moved in with us, close friends and yummy food.  Also this year I will be sharing the cooking load with a few of my friends.

Also we will be serving three really great items from Trader Joe’s, their outrageously delicious can’t just eat one – Peppermint Joe-Joes, Vanilla & Cinnamon Black Tea and Candy Cane Green Tea.

Also I wanted to share a quilt top that I just completed for my little niece, Madison.  Her favorite colors are purple and pinks right now. Hopefully I will complete the back with a tic tac toe pattern and some hexagon balls for the kids to play tic tac toe.

Beside working on Christmas presents for my friends and family, I have been working on a great side project, an online magazine with a print option, called dottie magazine.  We have lots of work ahead of us but it has been super fun with two other amazing and talented girls, Yvonne Wong and Yeri Yun.  We plan to launch in February!

You can follow dottie at dottie magazine’s blogspot, facebook page, or twitter.

10 years ago today I would have
:: just moved to Seattle
:: learning my way around Seattle and meeting my future roommate, Lisa
:: working at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

5 years ago today I would have been
:: a businesswoman with my first and only Catering Business, Sweet Posie
:: working at least 12 to 16 hours a day maybe more
:: having back problems but working through it

1 year ago today I would have been
:: a new wife
:: learning to be a good wife and throwing too many dinner parties
:: meeting other Microsoft widows

This year I am
:: starting a new career in food photography and food styling
:: looking to forward to starting a family with the love of my life
:: never been so happy and well loved

Today I
:: am with family and friends that I love and treasure
:: baking brownies and cooking spaghetti alla carbonara with bacon and kale that I grew in my P-Patch
:: working on my website for my new business, Quynh Nguyen Phtoography

Next year I hope to
:: have a little one of my own
:: have a well-planned out P-Patch
:: be shooting more food photos
:: go and see my husband’s family in Hong Kong

In five years I hope to
:: still have my grandma and my two grandfather
:: maybe finally have my own dog
:: be this happy

Does it make you want to buy one of these sandwiches? You can, at Pho Bac in Seattle, WA at several different locations! 415 7th Avenue South (Tom Douglas is know to come here for lunch!) or 1314 South Jackson Street (their original location) or 1240 South Jackson Street. Besides amazing Banh Mi, they seriously make the best pho in town, well beside my mother’s but that’s another post.  Definitely give them a try when you stop by in Seattle!

Finally my peonies are starting to bloom.  I love this color! Beside this color I have a light pink, white, yellow and red.  I can’t wait to see them all in bloom next month.

Columbine flowers in bloom.  This reminds me of pink lemonade and makes me smile

My most treasured plants on my decks are the Alpines strawberries

I am also trying to grow Meyer Lemons too, check out this little guy, hopefully in a few more weeks I can actually show you a ripe one!  Can’t wait for that day.

Strawberry themed dinner menu for a baby shower that I did at my house

Antipasto dish that I brought to a friend house for dinner, along with freshly made bread

Chorizo Clams with fresh made egg pasta

Slow braised hamachi collar in sweet shoyu citrus sauce

Two blocks that I made for my monthly quilting blocks for the month of May

A baby quilt that I just made for my friends, Jim and Yeni, for their first baby boy

Pillows with hidden zippers for our living room