I knew my husband, also known as Grouchy Husband, all my life.  Our dad’s went to college together and we would see each other on summer vacations and holidays.  Being three years older then me, I had a crush on him growing up and my diaries were filled with his name in hearts.  We started dating in college and I showed him the diary entries.  He was freaked out but tried to keep cool since we just started dating.

He is not the typical Chinese American doctor, lawyer, investment banker, engineer, computer scientist husband.  Grouchy Husband is a policeman, currently in SWAT school, and owns a local hot dog shop.  He loves fast cars, rap music, and junk food.   When we were dating he had earrings in both ears and a motorcycle.  When he asked my parents for permission to marry me, my mom talked to him for over 2 hours.  My parents are traditional and conservative so they were worried, to say the least.

I majored in mathematics in college and my Chinese brain was always attracted to the smartest guy in the class.  I loved their structured thinking and thoughtfulness. But my American heart needed more.  My American Heart needed adventure and someone who would excite it when they walked into the room.

Grouchy Husband and I are complete opposites and have almost nothing in common.  My American heart fell in love with the person he is deep, deep inside, his soul.

We are so different and that makes life an adventure but very (very) hard.  No matter where we are, how much we fought that day, my heart smiles when he walks through the front door.  My American heart wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Dumpling Mama xo

When we were in Killington, VT for my cousin’s wedding, Grouchy Husband and I took the girls to the Killington Adventure Center.  We go to Killington every winter to ski and celebrate my Dad and Uncle’s birthdays.  To be there in the summer with no snow on the ground was so weird but so cool because it felt like a new place.

Princess started on the SkyeJump.  She was nervous at first but after she started jumping it was all smiles.  Apparently it’s cool to wear socks that don’t match.

Baby wasn’t tall enough to do many activities, but she could do the Terra-Maze.  There was a scavenger hunt inside the maze on top of finding your way out!

I didn’t think Baby would last finding everything in the scavenger hunt but she stuck with it and 25 minutes later we finally found our way out of the maze.

While we were in the maze Princess was on the Skye Ropes.

Grouchy Husband went with her.

He’s afraid of heights.

She looked like a professional out there.

It made me feel like I was watching her grow up everytime Grouchy Husband let her go to start a new obstacle.

I loved watching him follow her.  This also made me feel like I was watching her grow up.

The one activity the girls could do together was the mining.

We bought bags of sand and the girls would pour a little at a time and then used the shakers to wash the sand away to reveal….

GEMS!

The girls could not believe how many gems they found.  Mining was a huge hit!

On top of the super fun activities, look at this magnificent view!

Cheers to a day on a mountain we usually see covered with snow,
The Dumpling Mama xo

I was cleaning out my daughter’s papers from first grade to make room for all of the papers she’s going to get in second grade.  It made me smile how she progressed in her writing and spelling, how she learned addition and subtraction, and then I came across this poster.  Scanning through, I stopped reading (and breathing a little) when I read “When I grow up I would like to be a model”.  It’s these types of situations that create internal conflict between my Chinese heritage and American upbringing.

The Chinese in me is horrified, instantly thinking that she needs to stop watching tv and I need to throw away all of her Barbie’s.  Questions like “How will she make money?” and “Will she want to go to college?” flood my brain.  Things like more piano practicing and finding extra homework are added to my to-do list.  It breaks my heart thinking about the jobs she won’t get because of the way she looks or she isn’t skinny enough.

The American in me will support her 190% in whatever she has passion for.  I dream about the amazing experience, the clothes and all of the traveling.  How she will finally get over her stage fright, be confident, and learn to put on makeup.  Maybe I would be her agent to make sure she was ok and take care of her?  I would be the proudest mom in the room at Fashion Week.

This internal turmoil keeps me awake at night.  After millions of minutes spent thinking about what I will say or how I will act when she tells me this at 18, I’ve come to the conclusion that it won’t be the Chinese or American in me that speaks to her.  It will be as her mom.  I want her to be happy and fulfilled in whatever she decides to do.  I want her to work hard, be kind, and contribute to making this world a better place.  All of this is possible to do as a model.

Cheers to all moms of models,
The Dumpling Mama xo

P.S. As much as this makes me freak out, her best friend wanted to be a Korean pop-star.  Somehow that made me feel better…

When I visited my hometown last week, I took my daughters to see my school.  I went to a very large school and graduated with over 600 students.  We lived in an upstate NY suburb and I was one of a handful of Asians in my high school.  I had 2 identities and an identity crisis.  I was Chinese at home, at Chinese school on Sunday, and in Chinatown visiting my family.  I was American everywhere else.  American to me back then were my White friends, food like pizza and hamburgers, holidays like Halloween and July 4th.  I didn’t feel like I fit into the Chinese or American community.  I was a Chinese American girl who looked Chinese, didn’t speak Chinese and had all American friends.

I felt less different when I kept my two lives separate.  When I met my junior high school guidance counselor she asked me if I was ever discriminated against because I was Chinese.  She made me hate being Chinese that day.  For any teenager, high school can be a hard place to fit in.  For a Chinese American girl trying to fit in with her American friends, I took it to another level and drank too much alcohol at parties, bullied other girls, and dated the wrong guys.   It wasn’t right and I owe many apologies.

As hard as high school was, I would not have changed a thing.  If it weren’t for those uncomfortable times, I would not be the person I am today.  In high school, I would have turned the other way if I saw one of the other 4 Asians in the school hallway.  Today, I still don’t speak Chinese fluently but I am a part of great Chinese and Asian communities.  I married a Chinese American man and thankfully Grouchy Husband isn’t like any of those terrible guys I dated in high school.  We live in a community with over 30% Asians.  My daughters go to Chinese school every week.  I am always thinking about how to bring Chinese culture into their lives.

If I could tell my 15-year-old self three things they would be (1) You are Chinese and American.  Both are by themselves awesome and together they make you amazing.  (2) No matter how you look or weird food you eat or different language you speak, your friends like you because of the kind, genuine, funny person you are. (3) It is “cool” to get good grades and play the piano.

Cheers to High School,
The Dumpling Mama xo

We just got home from a week in my hometown of Clifton Park, NY.  My parents are selling the house so it was a hard visit in the house knowing that it might be the last time.  I purposely stayed a week because I wanted to visit with friends and family and take the girls to memorable places from my childhood.  We brought their bikes because the house is on a cul-de-sac and a great place to ride bikes without many cars.

My parents are getting the house ready to be put on the market.  They have been painting, fixing, and cleaning.  Grouchy Husband helped move furniture to stage the house for photos and potential buyers. It still is not a reality in my mind the house will be sold and gone from the family.  I’m in denial but it’s easier that way.

I took the girls to my high school to play tennis.  I didn’t play tennis in high school, I played field hockey.  I’m not athletic so I was the goalie.  My youngest sister played tennis.  Princess and I are learning to play tennis now and we’ve just gotten to a point where we can hit the ball on the court together.

The girls and I met a high school friend I had not seen in 20 years.  We had a great time at the park and at lunch chatting and catching up.

We went to my Jewish Uncle and Aunt’s house in a nearby town to swim and visit.  My Jewish Uncle is my dad’s best friend, so he is part of our family and Jewish, so he is my Jewish Uncle.  Got it?!

Their pool was 90 degrees so the girls didn’t want to come out.  There was a frog in the pool they chased and took turns holding.  That poor frog…

We ate dinner together.  Everyone helped, the girls shucked the corn.

We had a great visit.  After dinner my Jewish Aunt threw her mink coat on the floor and invited the girls to sit.  This is a memory my girls will never forget.

The last day we had breakfast at the Saratoga Race Track so we could see the horses train and practice.  The food was not very good but the girls loved watching the horses run.

I left Clifton Park heart-broken at the thought I would not be coming back.  I’ve started to reconnect with old friends and there are so many more places that are part of my childhood that I want to be part of the girl’s.  My visits will be different because we won’t have the house but it just means we’ll make different memories.

The Dumpling Mama xo

Grouchy Husband and I along with the help of my parents and family hosted another birthday party for the girls.  It took me all year to forget how much work and stress last year’s party was and decide to throw another one! Last year’s was a carnival theme and total chaos but the kids had a blast.  This year I wanted a less stressful and crazy party so I found a local kids art studio to come and do an art project, and then had the magician from last year come again.  The planning went so well but then the day of the party Grouchy Husband’s hot dog truck broke down on the way and it poured rain so we had to put the whole party under tents. I’ve concluded a party with 35 kids, 50 adults, entertainment, and homemade food will always be stressful.  As much anxiety this party gives me, the girls have a blast so I’ll probably talk myself into throwing another one for them next year.

The girls picked a project where they would paint murals of the ocean and then put a collage of sea creatures and mermaids on top.  Young at Art did an amazing job with the kids.

A table was setup with all of the materials to paint the mural and make the ocean collage.  The kids would go to the table to find what they needed and then go back to their seats to work on their projects.  Even in the pouring rain under a tent, all of the kids were totally into making their projects.

At the very end, the kids could shake glitter on top of their collage.  This was Baby’s favorite part.

She wrote her own name tag and all of her friends.  She almost had her name right and proactively found a place for the last “a” in her name.  Miraculously, her friends were able to find and read their name tags.

After the art project, it was time to eat.  My mom cooked dumplings, fried rice, and lo mein noodles.  My brother made chicken fingers.  Since the hot dog truck broke down, Grouchy Husband went and got the hot dogs and we grilled them.  After dinner, the kids went to the ice cream truck to get a treat and get ready for a magic show.

Ice cream all over their faces, the kids were mesmerized by the show.

The girls had a blast being part of the magic tricks.

They even got a fish from one of the tricks.

Adults even participated in the show.

This is my Uncle Billy.  He is walking to do something for the party in the pouring rain.  The tent next to him is where my brother is doing all of his cooking.  I could not have thrown this party without my uncle, aunt, mom, dad, brother, sisters, cousins helping to cook, put up tents, help kids find their name tags and cups, shuttle kids to the ice cream truck in the rain, organize collages to dry, hand out goody bags.  The word “thank you” doesn’t even come close to how grateful I am for their help and love.

I feel like I can sleep a week after the party.  But then I realize that after the friend party is the family party.  As tired I am after the day, it’s always worth it to see the girl’s smiles and be so happy with their friends.

Aren’t these photos amazing?  Our friend, Chong Oh (Dad to Princess’ best friend), takes amazing photos and I am so thankful he captured the moments from the party when I was running around like a crazy person.

Even though Baby’s birthday is in August, she shares a party with Princess because many people are away in August and more importantly, I can only handle throwing one birthday party a year.

Happy 7th and Almost 4th Girls, Mama loves you always! xo

Grouchy Husband has a group of his closest friends in New Orleans from when he lived their in college and years after.  Khanh is one of those friends.  Last weekend he and his family came to visit.  It was the first time their girls have visited New York so we planned site-seeing adventures.  First stop was One World Observatory.

It was a busy week and I thought our tickets were for 9am but when we pulled the tickets out to give to the attendent, Grouchy Husband realized I bought the tickets for 10am.  I felt SO bad making everyone get up at 6:30am.  We used the wait time to take pictures.  Their girls are the same age as ours so it was instant fun and friends.

What I’ve come to realize when you raise girls is at some age (different for each girl), posing for pictures becomes something natural and they love doing it.  They create their own favorite poses.

They are happy to listen to direction on how to create poses for the camera.

And love to let loose and take a silly photo.

One World Observatory is on the 100, 101, and 102nd floors.  It’s amazingly a less then 60 second elevator ride.

Once you get to the top, you can see the whole city.  The girls found the Statue of Liberty, the little green mark on the island in the middle of the photo.

The observation decks provide 360 degree views and is an easy way to see the NYC landmarks.

The girls loved looking out the windows.  They liked seeing where their Uncle Matt (kow-fu) and great grandmother (bak bak) lived.

They loved the Sky Portal.  Cameras display what is doing on all the way down on the street.  Baby used the bars to play hop scotch.

Even after a rocky start (with the mixup of the ticket time) we had an awesome time at the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

The Dumpling Mama xo

When I first decided to start a lucky envelope business I didn’t know anything about design software, printing or stationary.   Since there were no websites documenting how to foil print envelopes at home, I did dozens of google searches, spent hours watching YouTube videos and spent months corresponding with Frank Miller from colorfoils.com to figure out how to do it.  There were so many trials to overcome, printing over the seems without seeing an indent in the design, finding the tools and materials to use, I gave up so many times.  I bought the foil from Frank Miller, the foil printing expert, and he always had something to try to resolve every issue that came up, he helped me get my business started and is just awesome.

Let’s get started.  You need the following to foil print envelopes at home:

• Design software like Adobe Illustrator
• Laser printer
• Laminator
• Foil from colorfoils.com (start with the TRF Sampler)
• Carrier board
• Aluminum foil
• Envelope
• Scissors

The process starts with printing your design in black on the envelope with a laser printer.  I used Adobe Illustrator to create the design.

Print several envelopes at a time so that you can foil print all the envelopes afterwards and save time.  Depending if I am testing designs or fulfilling orders, I will print between 5 – 30 at a time.  The envelope paper has to have a smooth surface.  If there is too much lint, the laser design will not come out dark enough for the foil to stick.  You might have to test out different paper before you find one that works.

Cut foil that is big enough to cover your design and fold over the top.

You will need to buy 2 pieces of carrier board.  I was foil printing 4 3/4″ x 6 1/2″ envelopes.  You might need more if your envelopes are larger.

Cut 1 piece of carrier board to go underneath the envelope when it goes through the laminator.  It should not be more then a half inch bigger then the envelope with the flap opened because the foil could crease when it goes through the laminator.  Cut a piece of foil that covers at least half of the carrier board, edge to edge, but does not fold over it.

Cut 1 piece of carrier board to fit snug inside the envelope.  Start by cutting the carrier board 1/8″ less then the length and width of the envelope.  Putting the carrier board inside the envelope ensures the design is not affected by the seems in the envelope.

Place the carrier board inside the envelope.  Make sure the board doesn’t overhang to the flap.

Place the envelop, design side up with the entire flap over the foil.  The glue on the flap will melt a little bit going through the laminator and the foil prevents it from sticking to the carrier board.

Heat the laminator to 355 – 360 degrees.  I usually turn it on when I’m laser printing the design so it can heat up and be ready when I want to foil print.  Grab a piece of foil and cover the design completely and then go over the top of the carrier board to the back.

This is how it should look like in the back.

Place the carrier board foil side first in the middle of the laminating area and slowly push it until the carrier board is picked up by the rollers inside.

The laminator will feed the carrier board through.  The heat will stick the foil to the black design.

The carrier board will be pulled by the internal rollers to the back.  Pick up the carrier board right after it comes out.  It will be hot so use gloves if necessary.

Peel the foil slowly.  Start from one of the corners closest to the flap and peel towards the edge with the foil folded over.  Doing this while it is hot will get the best foil coverage on the laser printed design.

Right after the foil is peeled, peel off the envelope flap from the aluminum foil.  The heat from the laminator will melt the glue to the foil.  This might be sticky but try to peel slowly and carefully.

Remove the carrier board from the inside of the envelope.

And that’s it!  You’re envelope is foil printed!

Finish foil printing the rest of your laser printed envelopes.  After your second envelope, you’ll get into a roll and the printing will be quick.  I’ve done 30 at one time.

This process takes some time to learn so be patient and do lots of test runs.  Good luck and share your experience.

Happy foil printing,
Chrissy xo

Mother’s Day weekend kicked off with a breakfast with Baby’s preschool class.  We ate fruit and mini waffles.  The class sang L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole to all of the moms.  I was serenaded with gifts all weekend from the girls.  A portrait of me with twinkly eyes.

A placemat with my name spelled almost right.

We celebrated with the family at Landmarc in the Time Warner Center.  I was surrounded by three generations of amazing moms.

Everyone had a great time and the food was awesome!

My youngest sister’s birthday was last week so we sang happy birthday to her at lunch.

I love Mother’s Day.  I love hearing about everyone’s plans and all of the wonderful things they’ll do to honor their moms.  I love going to restaurants and seeing tables and tables of families and generations of moms.  It’s a blessing to have my mom in my life and to be a mom to these two little girls.

Happy Mother’s Day,
Chrissy xo