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Labor Day Race Track Birthday

September 4, 2012 by ChrissyJee 3 Comments

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayEvery year (except last year because I just had a baby), we celebrate my sister, Kimbie’s, birthday on Labor Day weekend at the Saratoga Race Track.  Since it is her birthday, she gets to choose how we celebrate it.  Most people do not know this, but Kimbie is a closet low budget gambler and that’s why she likes to go to the track.  We packed a picnic, cooler and chairs to setup camp for a day of racing. This year I let Mimi pick all of the bets.  I would read her all of the names of the horses that were racing and she would pick the winner.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayAfter we placed our bet, we would watch the race.  Mimi loved to watch the horses race.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayWe didn’t win any of the races but Mimi had a blast choosing the horses and watching the race and that’s all that counts.  I hope she doesn’t become a closet low budget gambler like her Ee-ee…haha.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayAt the entrance of the track, there was a horse statue that Mimi wanted to take a picture with.  She hung on its tail.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayThen hung on his nose.  Good thing it was a statue!

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayAround dinner time, we licked our wounds from losing and headed to dinner.  In the past we have gone to Fortunes at the Saratoga Harness Track (so that Kimbie can gamble more at the casino downstairs), but the food has been more and more disappointing each year, we decided to change it up and have dinner at Hattie’s, a New Orleans fried chicken restaurant.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayI ordered the fried chicken, red beans and rice, and the cucumber salad.  And even though I am on a gluten and dairy free diet because of my eczema and had to take off the fried parts of the chicken, the food was delicious!

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayBen & Jerry’s is just around the corner from Hattie’s and even though we didn’t stop for ice cream because we had birthday cake at home waiting for us, I had to get this photo of the girls.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayWe came home to eat Kimbie’s Price Chopper birthday cake.  The girls helped her blow out the candles.

Saratoga Race Track BirthdayHappy Birthday Kimbie!  We had a great time celebrating your 32nd (yes, I wrote it) birthday!

Love your sister, Chrissy

 

Filed Under: Featured, Life Tagged With: birthday

Isabella’s First Birthday

August 22, 2012 by ChrissyJee 1 Comment

Isabella's First Birthday photoWe celebrated Isabella’s (or Moysee as we call her) first birthday last weekend.  As I was putting together the guest list, I realized that Moysee doesn’t have any friends.  I don’t have any friends with kids her age and we haven’t participated in any activities yet to meet friends…something I need to work on before her next birthday.  So we decided to have a family party, which turned out to be over 40 people!  The party was a BBQ and thankfully the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day.

Isabella's First Birthday photoMy parents stayed with me at the house a week before the party to get everything ready.  My goal was to do very little cooking the day of the party besides BBQ’ing so that we could hang out with our guests.  That meant all meat needed to be marinated, dumplings wrapped and frozen, corn husked, salad washed, fruit cut, decorations hung…there was a lot to do.  And even with all of this preparation, I was up till 3am the day before the party, and my mom was up till 5am!  I found this DIY birthday sign on Pinterest, made some modification to jazz it up a little bit, and had Jeff make the letters and numbers with his sticker machine.  It took me three days to make but it looked great and I was so proud to make it myself.  Because it was so much work, I decided to make it for ages 1 to 99 so we can use it for all our birthdays every year!

Isabella's First Birthday photoOne of my Dad’s projects for the party was to paint the dining room.  Boy, was this a big project…especially when you have a baby crawling into everything.  As much work as parties are, it’s a great way to get you motivated to clean the house from top to bottom and take care of all home improvements on your list.

Isabella's First Birthday photoIt rained in the morning but by the time the party started it was a beautiful day.  We blew up the water slide jumping castle for the kids to play in.  It was a huge hit!

Isabella's First Birthday photoWe also had water balloons for the kids to play and throw.  It’s amazing how 100 water balloons could be gone in less then 15 minutes.  The kids had a blast!

Isabella's First Birthday photoMoysee played in the water for a little bit.  It was a little hard with all of the big kids splashing around but she was happy to just be around them.

Isabella's First Birthday photoThen she went to her swing to hang out.

Isabella's First Birthday photoWe had so much to BBQ my dad brought his charcoal BBQ from the house upstate.  After dinner, we let the kids roast these gigantic marshmallows I found in the store.  I found out later Mimi had two of them!  No wonder she had a belly ache the next day.

Isabella's First Birthday photoIsabella’s birthday cake was an ice cream cake from Carvel.  Two weeks before her birthday I started to replace her formula with cow’s milk to make sure she wouldn’t be allergic to her birthday cake.  And of course we had the hello kitty candle we use for all our birthdays on top.  Our cousin Zui took this photo.  I love that he caught us all blowing out her candle.

Isabella's First Birthday photoMoysee loved her ice cream cake.

Isabella's First Birthday photoAfter I fed her a few times, she wanted to use the spoon to feed herself.

Isabella's First Birthday photoShe was doing a great job with the spoon.

Isabella's First Birthday photoBut she couldn’t scoop up a lot of ice cream so she started to use her hand.

Isabella's First Birthday photoUsing the spoon and her hand was the best (and messiest) way to get the ice cream into her mouth.  She had to take a bath right after finishing her cake.

Isabella's First Birthday photoThe next morning Moysee opened her gifts after Mimi gave her a morning kiss.

Isabella's First Birthday photoShe loved ripping the paper.

Isabella's First Birthday photoMimi helped her open the gifts.

Isabella's First Birthday photoOo-Oo Melissa (Chinese for paternal aunt in kiddy speak) always knows the fun toys to buy.  Moysee played in the car all day.

Isabella's First Birthday photoEe-ee (Chinese for maternal aunt in kiddy speak) really wanted to open a gift also so we finally let her.

Happy Birthday Moysee!  I hope you had a wonderful first birthday.
Love always, Mama

Filed Under: Featured, Life Tagged With: birthday, isabella

Mimi is 4

July 10, 2012 by ChrissyJee 2 Comments

Olivia is 4 photoMimi, my oldest daughter turned 4 a couple of weeks ago.  This year instead of having a big party, we took a family vacation to Boston (look out for pictures in the next blog post).  On birthday day, it was all about the birthday girl.  The Hello Kitty candle on her Carvel ice cream cake is the same candle we have been using since her first birthday.

Olivia is 4 photoAfter a birthday pancake breakfast, it was all about opening presents.

Olivia is 4 photoMoysee (Isabella’s nick name) helped her big sister open presents.

Olivia is 4 photoFamily picture with the birthday girl in front of her birthday cake.

Olivia is 4 photoShe might be 4, but I remember her this big like it was yesterday.

Olivia is 4 photoHappy 4th Birthday Baby!  I love you always.  Love, Mama

Filed Under: Featured, Life Tagged With: birthday

35

April 24, 2012 by ChrissyJee Leave a Comment

This year I turned 35.  35 is a hump year.  I can no longer say I’m in my “early” thirties.  I will have to start saying I’m in my “late” thirties.  Birthdays are a time of reflection for me.  I choose to look at my accomplishments instead of dwell on how old I feel, tired I am, wrinkly I look…it’s just more positive this way.  I review my accomplishments and compare them to the personal goals I have set for myself and see how I shake out.

So at 35, I have…

  • a grouchy husband (who makes me crazy, but love endlessly)…check
  • two lovely and healthy girls…check
  • had a great and successful corporate career…check
  • started to figure out my identity as a stay at home mom and how to take care of my kids (by myself)…check
  • traveled the world, seen and experienced so many amazing things…check

When I look at 35 this way, I feel like I have accomplished a lot.  It’s everything I wanted to do by the time I was 35.  I’ve been blessed and I’m grateful for all that I have and done in my life.  I can only hope the next 35 years will be as great as the first.

I love celebrating birthdays, mine especially.  For me, it’s not just a one day celebration.  I plan multiple events so this one special day of the year can last as long as possible.

This year I had three birthday celebrations.

Celebration #1 – Birthday Day, April 1

Turning 35 photo

It was a cool and cloudy Sunday so I decided to keep things low key and go to the Easter Egg Hunt at the Greenburgh Nature Center with the girls.  As you get older, birthdays go from all-night drinking parties to nice dinners with your husband to visiting the Nature Center with the family.  This is not a complaint, just a progression I wanted to share.  Here is a picture of Mimi and I in front of the animals in the barn.

35 Birthday photoWe had a family dinner at home and a Carvel birthday cake.  Like I said, a very low-key day…we are all in our pajamas in this picture.

Celebration #2 – Le Bilboquet, April 6

35 Birthday photoDinner with my sister, Kimbie, and brother, Matt, at Le Bilboquet in NYC.  This is a restaurant that came highly recommended by my brother because I love French bistros.  It’s not your typical French bistro because the best dish was Cajun Chicken,.  The french fries were incredible.  I drank too much but that usually happens on my birthday.

Celebration #3 – Horseback Riding, April 7

35 Birthday photoOne of my favorite things to do is go horseback riding.  Kimbie and my cousin, Cheryl, graciously joined me on a trail ride up north.  Have you ever seen the movie City Slickers?  We were the girl version.

35 Birthday photoI have this equestrian helmet that I purchased many years ago and I just love it.  I think wearing it is most of the reason I love horseback riding so much.

35 Birthday photoAfter horseback riding, we headed home for Matt’s famous fried chicken and wine.

Wonderful 35th birthday….check

Filed Under: Featured, Life Tagged With: birthday

Celebrating Po and Uncle Donald’s Birthday

January 25, 2012 by ChrissyJee Leave a Comment

We celebrate Po (maternal grandmother) and Uncle Donald’s (my mom’s brother, her only sibling) birthdays around Christmas each year.  It changes each year because we celebrate according to the lunar calendar.  This year Po was turning 83 and Uncle Donald was turning 60!

Po and Uncle Donald's Birthday photoWe celebrated with a dinner at Delight 28 in Chinatown.  This is Po’s favorite restaurant.

Po and Uncle Donald's Birthday photoEveryone was in good spirits for the birthday celebrations.  This is a great family photo, everyone is smiling…even Gung!

Po and Uncle Donald's Birthday photoDinner was of course too much delicious food.  There isn’t much chatting when the food arrives at the table, everyone is too busy eating.  We ate lobster, Ging Do Pi Gwut (peking pork chop), fish, chicken, mayonnaise shrimp, and long life noodles.

Po and Uncle Donald's Birthday photoThe fish was especially tasty that evening.

Happy Birthday Po and Uncle Donald!

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Jeff’s 3″x”th Birthday

December 14, 2011 by ChrissyJee Leave a Comment

Jeff’s least favorite time of year is his birthday.  I always ask him how he wants to celebrate his birthday and he always says the best gift he could get is for everyone to forget his birthday.  This is just one of the reasons why I have the grumpiest husband in the world.  This year we celebrated with a pork loin, Carvel ice cream cake, and a couple of home made cards.

Jeff's 37th Birthday photoMimi is one of the only people who can put a smile on Jeff’s face on his birthday.

Jeff's 37th Birthday photoShe loves to get kisses from her daddy.

PS. This was his 37th birthday…eeek!

Filed Under: Featured, Life Tagged With: birthday

Hello! My name is Chrissy

I’m a Chinese American woman, mama, healthy eating and living, creating legacy. Welcome to my life! [Read More …]

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