the last pdub, or gratuitous photos of the cat.

the week before we moved we planned a final pdub celebration. it was a tradition that started in november 2008, when i first reunited with courtney and met brandon, and we decided to watch "the office" {how old school!}, order pizza and drink wine.

attendees have come and gone, we've moved more than once and we now make our own pizza, but it's still pdub.

vickie wasn't home yet. so i get a, "take an artsy shot of this - like vickie would!"

baker returning a plate of courtney's that he may or may not have had for... three years? c had not forgotten.

drinking and cooking at the same time is a recipe for success.

anyone else want to sing "friends forever" by vitamin c with me right now? 

look who made it! and no, i didn't encourage that face. i doubt anyone has had to encourage v to "make a crazy face!"

and pizza was made!

and wine was drank. 

and cats were pet.

it was a successful pdub.

this post makes me laugh and cry at the same time. i really miss my friends.

hot pot.

can you see me there? with my amazing camera?

last week, vickie invited us over to have hot pot. i just wiki'd that and they called it "chinese fondue"! which i think is a really cute name. we had hot pot in china and it was one of our favorite {of many} culinary experiences. you basically get a mini fondue pot at your seat and cook various foods, typically meat, noodles, vegetables. so fun, so delicious.

v! the only one would would let me practice with my new camera. this is actually a norm face she makes in front of the camera, so i don't think she'll mind that i'm sharing.

hot pot ingredients.

the hot pot! we used a shared pot and then mixed our own spice blend in individual bowls. lots of tofu and veggies for me.

obligatory cat photo.

so lucky to have such great friends. {who also happen to be talented cooks.}

o, christmas tree.

for the past three years, b and i have gone to cut down a real christmas tree. we both grew up with them and knew it was a tradition we wanted to continue. this year, vickie and courtney came too.

that wasn't the only thing different for this year: it was also the first time there wasn't snow on the ground. which is because it was almost 70 degrees here on saturday. #globalwarming

doing our part to off-set above mentioned crazy weather. in reality i'm sure the impact of real v. fake all evens out in the end, but the experience makes it. the place we go is so great, too.

look, hay pine needle ride!

chubbiest little tree ever! and they totally cut it down. #girlpower

above photo taken by me on vickie's AMAZING dslr camera. as if my desire to have that type of camera wasn't already intense - just look at the difference between my {really good!} point and shoot and hers, even on auto.

one reason i like going places with v, besides that she is ready to be weird and funny at any moment, is that she is taking pictures constantly. more than i do {which is saying a lot}. i LOVE this picture. tempted to blow it up on canvas and put it on our mantle. holiday 2012, we shall see.

our tree! it's not the regular pine, which we've gotten in the past. it's a leyland cypress. i googled, but still really don't know how to explain what makes it different from the normal christmas tree. we thought it was southern, since we had never seen that type in ohio, but wikipedia doesn't agree. either way, the needles are soft and it smells super awesome taking up seven feet in our living room.

a group photo! thanks to the random lady who shot that. it's a keeper.

more holiday photos coming later this week, including our decorated tree! tis the season, friends!

nashville flea market.

this weekend i did a whole lotta nothing. luckily, last weekend i was super busy, so you can enjoy my happenings from then, instead of me telling you about my epic afternoon nap yesterday. you're welcome.

last saturday afternoon was spent sweating soaking up the sun at the nashville flea market with vickie and courtney! this was my first time. i was super tempted by a bunch of different vintage items, and couldn't turn down just a few.

there was some good stuff. a b stamp came home with me!

there was some {realllly} scary stuff.

there was some bad stuff. {i bet my mom could set up an entire flea market stand with her beanie baby collection.}

there was the amusing.

and the just plain weird.

(although i'm totally tempted. i love socks. i mean LOVE.)


and there was, of course, the sweaty.

if you're here again next year, we'll see you then flea market.

korea house.

i pride myself on being able to say a few words in a variety of languages (italian, japanese, spanish, chinese, arabic... english), but korean is a no go. i really wanted to open with "hello!" in korean but had to look it up and that just seems so forced. {in case you were wondering, it's "anyong!"}

another thing that may or may not be forced? me dragging b to random asian restaurants across the city. most recently korea house.

bibimbap is my new favorite word. and, coincidentally, my new fav korean dish.

they start you out with a bunch of mini dishes. there were potatoes, squash and some dried fish among other options.

bibimbap!

b's came to the table boiling over the edges of the pot. i feel like you're at an authentically non-american place when you have a moment of fear for your life. just a bibimbap of boiling and then it was ready to eat.

look! it's brandon. how he has not been on the blog yet, i don't know.

saranghae friends! {goodbye in korean, duh}