The House of Soon

Meet the newest member of our household...

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:14:00 +0000

our new dog!

Hi, I'm Horlicks

(pronounced "Hollix")

I'm named after a malted milk drink kinda like Ovaltine but white.

We adopted this little bundle of fur from Paws in the City, an awesome organization that rescues animals from the City of Dallas shelters.

He was living on the street when someone rescued him so he's not too crazy about being confined to our small backyard. He snuck through the fence three times already! Other than running away, his hobbies include:

sleeping next to his toys

shaking his toys

chewing his toys

"Mmm... orange plastic tastes good."

staring out of the window

hatching plans for mischief

decorating the house while we're away

"They came from the closet and aligned themselves, I swear! See?"

and not obeying at bedtime

"But I d'wanna go in that dark room."

Dog ownership has been fun... so far. Any tips or advice on how to house train a rescue dog? Please? Anyone?

Camera Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:35:00 +0000

So back in January, Eric

bought a new camera

We tried it out Saturday night in some of our preschool classrooms at Milestone Church. Here are some of my favorites...

Happy February

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 02:14:00 +0000

SNOW DAY!!!!!

In Texas we revel in our snow days. They are few and far between. In fact, last year was the first time I've seen real snow in Texas... enough to build a snowman. And lo and behold, one year later we get another dumping!

So we grabbed our cameras

And ventured out into our winter wonderland

The temp was around 17 degrees so we didn't last long, but I'm sure we'll be longing for this kind of weather come August.

Our street. The neighbors taking pics too. Not a lot going on other than quick snapshots because it was so darn cold.

And the snow was covering ice from the previous day so it was quite slippery... but SO pretty!

Happy February!

A brand new year!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:45:00 +0000

But we certainly enjoyed this past one....

Highlights:

We started this blog so our friends and family could keep track of our whereabouts
It snowed, like, 12 inches in Dallas setting all kinds of records

Anna continued to improve her spicy food training

Eric ran his first marathon in Oklahoma City

Anna quit her job and became mostly grounded

We started an herb garden

Anna started a new job as the Preschool Director at Milestone Church in Keller, TX

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary in November

And celebrated a wonderful Christmas in Arkansas

Happy New Year and here's to a blessed 2011!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:44:00 +0000

Click here to view these pictures larger

A season of Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 01:14:00 +0000

We decided to stick around Dallas during Thanksgiving.

We were really brave.

For starters I had to make the phone call informing my parents we wouldn't be making the trip to Arkansas. Not only was I breaking tradition, but it was also forgoing the traditional Thanksgiving meal:

We weren't sure what we would do but after learning we had friends who were staying in town, we decided to host our first Thanksgiving dinner... potluck-style! Eric was excited to fix the turkey. Four grocery stores later (Korean, Tom Thumb, Sprouts, Costco) we were ready to start turkey prep. Eric's prepped around 20 turkeys so he's somewhat of a pro. As a bachelor he hosted many potluck Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Keeping with his tradition, the first step was to give the turkey a proper name. Having used up all the disciples and other literary figures over the years this year's bird became "Tony."

Here's Tony, the 17-pounder, after soaking in his brine-spa for three days. He's about to enter the oven.

But first we have to tuck him into his cheesecloth blanket.

Somewhere between prepping Tony I found time to make a few contributions... A pecan pie (my grandmother's recipe using pecans from the great state of Mississippi)

and a festive table setting (complete with name tags.)

During Tony's five-hour tanning session, he was removed and basted every 40 minutes. The last touch was a maple-ginger glaze before entering the fifth hour.

Finally, Tony was done.

As was Tony's stuffing (what wouldn't fit inside him so technically I guess this is "dressing" not stuffing.) Eric's made-from-scratch stuffing consisted of cranberries, maple sausage, apples, pecans, chestnuts, bread crumbs, celery, onions, garlic, etc.... I'm glad he made extra. *smile*

Eric carving Tony

This was a funny moment I had to include. I told everyone we were eating on my grandmother's china. This was the set she and my Pappy received when they were married in 1940-something. I looked over and Cobus was holding his plate verrrry carefully

My china holding the china. (He's from South Africa - "my china" is slang for friend.)

I'm so thankful! ...For friends, family and Tony.

And the dessert table. (Joanne's thankful for this too.)

We continued our Thanksgiving around the fireplace with hot rum cider, fun games, and our smallest guest (who finally woke up from her nap) who happens to be Lawrence's #1 fan.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as memorable as ours. We have so much to be thankful for!

Stop #3 on the "Our Lives, Pre-Dallas" express

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Soon) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:58:00 +0000

The last stop on our tour of cities we called home before moving to Dallas. To recap, we visited Indianapolis (Anna, '02-'04), Los Angeles (Eric '95 - '99) and finally, Nashville (Anna, '01 - '02.) We loved introducing each other to our old haunts and playing tour guide to places so familiar once-upon-a-time. Returning to a past marked with so many memories, so many firsts, and a few milestones then having the opportunity to see them through a matured and grown-up (somewhat) perspective is the closest I'll get to a time machine.

We planned our Nashville trip around the wedding of one of my dear friends. Laura and I grew up together in Arkansas and as soon as we finished college we packed our bags and headed to music city. We loved Nashville and the independence that came with living 500 miles from mom and dad. But a year later I was promoted and had to say goodbye. Nashville will always be a special place to me. After all, it was my first home away from home.

They were married in the garden at Riverwood Mansion in East Nashville.

The beautiful bride

Precious! (their momma is a long-time friend of mine)

the reception in the pavilion

In lieu of a guest book, we stamped & signed our thumbprints

.... and threw chamomile tea

The wedding and festivities surrounding the wedding took place in east Nashville. Very artsy. And quaint. Lots of coffee shops and art galleries. There really aren't any hotels in the area so we stayed at a bed & breakfast. We've stayed at a few b&b's, but this was the most interesting.

The innkeeper was an older gentleman with two dogs

Our room was right off the kitchen so we heard everything. We heard him banging around early in the morning. We heard him arguing with his daughter over the phone. We came home late one night and caught him in his PJ's. And we even saw his new underwear lying on the bar one afternoon. He was a renaissance man. Art covered the walls, including an original Picasso. He spent at least an hour with us every morning at breakfast telling us all about his life and travels all over the world. This was possibly the most entertaining accommodations we've ever experienced.

Nashville's grown mucho in the 9+ years since I lived there. We visited the new 12th avenue area and had gourmet popsicles at Las Paletas. I had rose petal (with real crushed rose petals) and Eric had the pineapple chili. They also had flavors like chocolate wasabi, tamarind, hibiscus and corn.

We went to dinner with the newlyweds at Rumors East. I will never forget the sweet potato soup and the cute lil' cast iron dish

and we spent a day with our precious friend, Cassia, who recently joined the Nashville Ballet Company.

We even made a stop at The Parthenon! Since we were in the neighborhood...

And that concludes our year-long tour. It's been a fun ride!

Out With the Trash

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:46:00 +0000

Six plus years ago I moved to Dallas after being offered a sales position with a company that manufactures polyethylene film products. Otherwise known as plastic.
Recently, I decided to hang up my sales hat, toss my Hilton HHonors Diamond card, American AAdvantage platinum status, and my 3 oz. or smaller containers of liquid or gel and move on to greener pastures. Although there's very little I'll miss about selling plastic and being on the road every week, there are some things I'm going to miss. Like:

and the sudoku puzzles in the back of the American Way magazine. I'll especially miss trips to fun places like Atlanta, Mississippi, suburban Chicago, and St. Louis. NOT!

I'll miss the people I worked with, the customers who've become friends, and I'll especially miss racking up all those airline miles that allow us free business-class trips to places like Singapore. *wink*
But no matter how much I'll miss the above, I'll trade it all to see this every night

Well, hello again...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:14:00 +0000

didn't think I'd be seeing you guys so soon. I mean, it's been what... six months?

It happened this weekend. My first week as the new Preschool Director at Milestone Church went without a hitch. I love my new job! Then Sunday came. The BIG day. Or as Eric likes to call it, Showtime!

I almost made it through the entire first service without tripping over myself. Then.... SPLAT. I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE WORN THOSE SHOES!

the culprits

But, alas, bad decisions reap consequences. I know most of you are thinking what everyone else has been asking regarding my decision-making skillz:

What exactly were you thinking when you selected those shoes out of your closet? Clearly, I wasn't.
Were you conscious? Not really. I hadn't had coffee. AND I was rushing.
Were you half asleep? Perhaps. It was quite early.
Was the light in your closet not working? Har har
Where was Eric and why didn't he put a stop to this? (yeah, ok, no one asked this. Really the only sliver of blame I could even attempt to re-direct to someone else.)
Doesn't your role require a lot of walking and handling little ones? Why, yes it does. And after all, this IS my most comfortable pair of tall shoes.

After the fall I walked around for a few minutes trying to convince myself the "pop" I heard when I tripped was merely an air bubble. And the pain was really more of an itch. Yes, despite overwhelming evidence I did not just break a bone. De.ni.al. [dih-nahy-ul]

But then I caught myself hopping on one foot and figured it was time to face the music. I sat down in a chair, and hark! My foot was slightly swollen

And despite my argument that anything can be healed with an Advil and Windex (what movie?), my sweet friend whisked me away to the ER

Thankfully, it was a clean break of my fifth metatarsal (the bone that goes up and connects to your pinky toe.) No re-setting, no surgery, no amputation. Simply an ice pack and 4-6 weeks in a boot. Breaks are common in this bone. Oh, wait, YES! I've done this before! How, you ask? Oh, same thing. Wearing a pair of wedges and tripping over my feet. But that was college. I've learned to walk since then... so I thought.

The doc tells me I'm going to live, but Eric went through my closet and wiped out all my heels. He told me that from now on I'm only allowed to wear these

So, am I the only klutz out there or do any of you share my shoe woes?

Stop #2 on the "Our Lives, Pre-Dallas" express

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:58:00 +0000

Hellllllllooooo, City of Angels! Thank you for welcoming me to your traffic-infested highways

405 - busiest in the U.S.

your delicious restaurants

your celebrity-filled streets

and waters...

your garlicky ice cream

your fine educational institutions (Eric's alma mater.)


Recognize this library from a hit movie? Hint: 80's. Who ya gonna call?


I found a magnolia tree in all this southern California west coast-ness!


I also found a felon...

and a cowboy

I enjoyed your diverse neighborhoods

Dim sum with friends

Skid row

and your lively suburbs

Old Town Pasadena

Venice Beach


Riding along the beach in Santa Monica

But most of all, I loved being with Eric and experiencing everything that made this town "home" for the first few years of his life in the U.S.

Until next time, L.A.!

My little guinea pigs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:25:00 +0000

Back in August I headed down to the Atlantic side of the Sunshine state for a little R&R. I had so much fun spending the weekend at the beach with my cuz and her family. We celebrated baby boy's 1st birthday!

I'm taking photography classes and figured this would be a good time to practice since I had two little test subjects. I loved documenting their little lives and personalities. I could seriously post an entire album of them, but I'll try and restrain myself to a few of my favorites...


Love love love that face. He is ALWAYS smiling


She loves her Lil' Buddy


Eat your heart out, Favre


I love the contrast between Lil' Miss Hawaiian Tropic and our sweet little southern tomboy


Shoe swap. Yes, he's wearing her pink shoe on his left toe


She is sooo NOT shy. Struck up conversations with folks up and down the beach. "Whassat? Whassat?"


I'm going home with Anna

He is so proud of himself for figuring this out. And for someone who's never worn shoes I'd say he's purrrdy smart!

Eric vs. The Squirrel

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:14:00 +0000

This entry approved by Eric. No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post.

Prior to renovating and moving into the Soon Mansion, my home had been occupied by 25 dudes over the past six years. (Shout out to all past roomies!) Eric often refers to me as roommate #26. In fact, I've been told some of his neighbors thought he was running a halfway house. I think the cops were even called once, but I never got the full story.

So apparently neither Eric nor his tenants were skilled landscapers. When I moved in, the back yard looked like a South African township

With lots 'o help from my dad we held our own HGTV Backyard Transformation

See? Doesn't it look pretty?

One of my favorite additions is our bird feeder & bird bath. We've had some beautiful guests including many of these:

Unfortunately, our hospitable environment attracted many unwanted guests

These menacing bullies have wrecked havoc on our bird sanctuary. With gravity-defying leaps, they pillage and plunder. They ravage and destroy and scare all the pretty birds away. "Pretty bird. Pretty bird." (What movie?)

We finally reached a breaking point last week. Our feeder broke from the weight of these pesky beasts

Exhibit A

AND - like thieves in the night they broke into our food supply!

Exhibit B

That was the last straw

We bought a new feeder

And hired security

We'll see who wins round two...

Stop #1 on the "Our Lives, Pre-Dallas" express

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:36:00 +0000

Man, I am waaay haaaaay behind in my posting so I'm hoping to catch up this week since I'm a stay-at-home wife (this week and this week only. More on that later...)

Eric and I kinda impromptu decided we would spend this year traveling to our old haunts re-visiting our pre-Dallas lives. We started with a Fourth of July trip to Indianapolis which is where I lived for three years before I made the big move to the big D.

The new Colts stadium. I miss you, Peyton...

I spent the first night and day with one of my favorite people, Cindy From Indy.

Cindy and me just before I moved to Dallas. She is one of my most special friends, and I miss her so much.

We had a fun night reminiscing with friends. I seriously can't believe it's been eight years since this small-town southern girl left the comfort of sweet tea and SEC for the corn fields of the Midwest. What a journey!

Cindy and Lisa - two of my first (and best) friends in Indy!

My first house! I lived in Broad Ripple which was such a cool part of town. I miss my little bungalow & neighborhood.

We spent the rest of our trip with my uncle Kim and aunt Krystal. In the true spirit of Eric's gastronomy we went for an Ethiopian food adventure at a place called Oak of Mamre. We had to call ahead and let them know we were coming so they could start cooking our meal.

We were the only four patrons... Please bring them more biz so they can buy real fish

Mmmm...

Dig in

Preparing our coffee that was thick as tar and filtered through horse tail hair. Neighhhh.

We spent Saturday riding our bikes along the Monon Trail. If you're ever in Indy, I highly recommend a run, bike, walk or roller-blade along one of the best trails in the country!

The Monon Trail. For all you Dallasites, it's like the Katy Trail times a thousand.

We rewarded our cycling selves with a L'Enorme order of pomme frites at the Belgian sidewalk cafe, Brugge.

Before heading home we toured downtown Indy admiring the fountains and statues in Monument Circle

Until next time, Indy-a-nappy-lis!

I shoulda known better

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:02:00 +0000

Many of you know Eric and are well aware of his passion for food. I especially loved this about him when we were dating because I had so much fun trying new types of food. Apparently, I harbored a very adventurous culinary side. I'll try anything once. Just ask those fried chicken feet or that boiled tripe!
Anyway, I'd spent the past 8 years (post-college) subsiding entirely on restaurant food and stuff that comes in cardboard boxes.

Anna's Pre-Eric eating plan:

I loathed the grocery store and would rather live off free packets of ketchup than make the monthly pilgrimage to my neighborhood Tom Thumb.
Then Eric came along...
Well, whatdya know? A passion for food equals a love for grocery shopping. I also learned that allowing a foodie into a grocery store unsupervised is dangerous. Like, really dangerous.

Therefore, over the past year and a half I've overcome my contempt for Tom Thumb, Sprouts, Albertson's, Fiesta and the Korean grocery store* and now accompany Husband on almost every grocery trip.
Now, after all that setup I get to the point of this post. Today I made a brave decision to stay home while he went on his Costco / Sprouts adventure. Beaming as he embarked on his path to freedom I yelled after him, "Hey, will you pick up some some crackers? I'm gonna make poppyseed chicken tomorrow night."
An hour later he came home with his loot. Among them, exhibit A:

So, does anyone have a good recipe or creative uses for Nutella or Ritz crackers?
Can you put Ritz crackers on ebay?

*All within a 3-minute drive of our house. Don't think for a second Mr. Soon wasn't strategic about Location Location Location.

Not our usual Saturday night

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:28:00 +0000

No, our usual Saturday night routine doesn't normally include a tux, sequins and a limo; however, Eric's boss was nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year award, and we were invited to tag along.

Waiting for our ride... fun with our camera's remote control

The nominee and his lovely wife

Little black dresses were the theme for the evening. And we didn't even plan it.

The ballroom

The nominee

Cute little yellow cowbells. More fun than clapping

We had a great time with Eric's co-workers and their wives. Congratulations to Jeff Hook and everyone at Fellowship Technologies!

Including my handsome Bond, Eric Bond. Shaken not stirred.

Whitney & Jason gettin' hitched

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:47:00 +0000

I love weddings just as much as the next person. Really. I do. Flowers, dancing, vows of eternity before God and a bunch of people you love, like & sorta-kinda know... A beautiful gown, cake and cake.

What's not to love, right?

Some are sweet, some are fun, some are both. Some are obligatory.

Some knock it outta the park like Mr. & Mrs. Loyd.
You may remember our trip to Arkansas for the New Year's engagement party shindig. Well, the beautiful couple tied the knot May 8th on Seacrest Beach in Florida, and it was a blast!

Arriving at PNS from all corners of the globe (er, East coast & Texas.) Heading to Seacrest Beach: six peeps, five suitcases, seven carry-ons and two fedoras all in one mini van.

Why, thank you. I'm glad to be here too.

Rehearsal dinner

Bridal Luncheon

Heading down to the ceremony

You can take the wedding party out of Arkansas....

Mr. and Mrs. Beautiful

The bridesmaids & groomsmen (I just love these colors!)

Handsome devils

Handmade by the bride's amazing, talented Mama.

Let's get this party started

See the starfish decorating the top and around the tiers? *Sigh* gorgeous.

Bunches of weddings, kiddos and life experiences later... we've come a long way since the good 'ole days in the Big Green Lima Bean

Happy Honeymoon!

Electric eels, sharks, and conch salad - our Bahamian adventure!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Every year one of my customers, a national restaurant chain, holds their annual convention in a fun and exotic location (hey, how else are they going to get folks to travel over a weekend to learn more about chicken?) Last year we met in Bermuda, and I went solo = no fun. So this year I had very little problems coaxing @ericsoon to tag along. The convention was held at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.

Day 1
View from our room

We quickly learned if a real Bahamian experience was what we were after it'd require leaving the comfort of our overpriced resort island. We decided to cheerfully and willingly forgo the $40 hamburger for some local island cuisine.

Day 2
The bridge escaping Atlantis

The other side of that bridge

Look real close... which one of these things is not like the other one?

Freshly caught conch. This is the end of their road. They are lying there waiting to be "conked" out of their shell, chopped up and tossed into a salad.

Said salad is delicious. We made multiple trips to the other side of the tracks to enjoy the Bahamian Conch Salad:

- Conch meat
- onion
- green pepper
- celery
- cucumber
- tomatoes
- lime juice
- wine vinegar
- orange juice
- Worcestershire sauce

Full meal: Conch salad, fish (caught, fried & eaten in under 20 mins), coconut bread, Sky juice (not for the low of tolerance)

Conch graveyard

After our Anthony Bourdain dining experience we ventured out and about Nassau and headed downtown to check out the big cruise ships. Some of the more interesting finds along the way....

Upscale island shopping! For all your jew-ellery needs

An exclusive Chinese restaurant

Cruise ship parking lot

Oh Yes, we did. Out of fear of blending in too much with the locals we decided it was time to redeem our tourist status and rent one of those scooters. Unlike the US, which requires signing your life away and sacrificing your first born before anyone'll rent you a motorized vehicle, the good people of the Bahamas place amazing faith and trust into the hands of their renters. With a handshake and a crash course in Scooter-driving: "Don't crash it," we were off. After a shaky start and two near misses we tooled around town like a couple of pros. And like all good tourists our look was complete with safety helmets, camera, and no sense of direction. Oh, and Eric had on his running shoes.

Stopped at a local beach just to check it out

Sexy scooter-driver showing off his winter glow

The Dig
After surviving the scooter as well as contact with the outside world we headed back to our Safety Zone. We grudgingly spent five grand on dinner for two at one of the Atlantis restaurants then visited the casino to watch other people lose money.

Sidenote: those Atlantis folk are tricky. From the hotel room one must walk through the casino to get anywhere.

All efforts were made to avoid temptation of video poker. One of us was not successful. (hint: it wasn't me.) We collected our winnings and decided to do something at the resort that wouldn't require cashing in my 401K. So we walked around.

Not knowing it even existed, we stumbled upon the lost city of Atlantis. Or at least a replica of what someone thinks it might look like. The Dig is an aquarium underneath the lobby of the Royal Towers. This is the world's largest open air marine habitat and represents the lost city of Atlantis. We spent an hour enjoying hundreds of different fish and sea things.

From normal-looking fish....

to freaky-looking fish

to just plain cool...

And cute. Why, hello, little sea horse

See Eric? He's day dreaming of how many meals he could make off Goliath Grouper

Then we were Finding Nemos...

"Just imagine... you and your Prince.... together.... forever."

To cap off our evening we headed down to the beach. Not that we could see anything, but we did get a great view of Atlantis at night. See that little bridge connecting the two towers? That's the Bridge Suite, and at one time the most expensive hotel room in the world. Nightly rate is $25,000. We really enjoyed it. *wink*

Day 3
We decided to check out all the fun water activities in the resort. I HIGHLY recommend this place if your adventure leads you to the Bahamas. There is no shortage of things to do, and it truly is a great family destination.

Predator Lagoon - We counted over TEN sharks swimming around in this pool. And who wouldn't want to float through a tube that flows through the middle of shark-infested waters?

We hung up our camera and spent the remainder of our vacation poolside, beach-side and food-side.

When work trips become fun trips

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:26:00 +0000

What's better than flying to Seattle for business? Turning it into a fun weekend vacation! Eric's best friend from Singapore lives in Seattle with his family, and we've been trying to plan a weekend to visit them for years. We finally made it happen. I also got to spend some time with one of my college roommates who lives in SEA with her family.

Andrea and her precious girls

1st stop. Eric can sniff out a Chinatown from miles away. We picked up our rental car and headed straight for the food...

He found the Asian bakery. Vacation or Food Tour of the Northwest? See the happy look on his face?

Fun with giant trolls

The Seattle tourist photo

Thus, no sightings of characters from the Twilight books

Engrish is everywhere.

Folks often tell me, "Eric is always smiling." Well, not when he's tired of having his picture taken. This is his "I'm expected to smile but I d'wanna" look.

Pig sooie

The original. Who'd a thunk they'd come so far?

Saturday Eric and Kwong embarked on a fly fishing trip north of Seattle. This was Eric's first fly-fishing adventure. He was devastated to learn they had to catch and release, but they still had a great time...

And, of course, what trip to the west coast would be complete without one of our favorite weekend activities... Dim Sum. We met up with friends for a feast of all our favorite breakfast/lunch items.
Fun Fact: Some say Dim Sum inspired the whole idea of brunch.

What I enjoy most about Dim Sum:
- the Chrysanthemum (just had an Anne of Green Gables moment) tea
- char siu baau (white fluffy buns filled with BBQ pork)
- dou fu fa (a silky tofu served with a sweet ginger-flavored syrup)
However, the best part of Dim Sum is enjoying it with a group of people. Otherwise you'll fill up on a couple of items and miss the chance to sample all the yummy goodness rolling around on those metal carts.

Yes, the picture below is indeed the foot of a chicken. Deep fried and covered in some kind of sauce as though enjoying a chicken's foot for breakfast is normal & fun. The more I learn of Asian culture I realize they're not so different from folks who grew up in the southern U.S. Those of us born south of the Mason Dixon know the rule well - if you can't deep fry it, spray paint it gold.

Gillian was one of the many friends of Eric who met us for Dim Sum. She's an old family friend who grew up in Singapore and is now living in Seattle. (He seriously knows people everywhere!)

Kwong and Noelle

Carrie and Naomi

On our way out of town we stopped for a tour of underground Seattle. There once was an entire city underneath the streets. The sewage conditions were awful so they built a city on top of a city. This is an old toilet.

Yep, under this sidewalk lies a city. Notice the purple tiles...

This is the view from underneath the purple tiles looking up at the busy streets of downtown Seattle.

Goodbye, Seattle. We enjoyed your rainy city!

Jenna's getting Maa-weed!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:19:00 +0000

We had so much fun celebrating the events leading up to and ending with the Wertz nuptials. Here are some of the highlights....

The bachelorette party.
Morgan, thank you for letting us use your lake house. Sorry for defiling your moose.

It's my bachelorette party, I can rub glitter on my face if I want to!

The couple's shower.
The home of Dallas celebrity chef, Kent Rathbun

Not only was the food amazing, but his penthouse apartment is like an art museum. We spent most of the evening checking out all the cool stuff. Our favorite was this chandelier

It's made from silverware and broken dishes.

The cake

You'll see lots of photos of cakes on our (my) blog. I am fascinated by beautiful cakes. (Prolly 'cause I like to eat them)

The rehearsal dinner.

If you haven't visited the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff you must put it on your to-do list. Not only for a fun night at a historic hotel and dinner at SMOKE, but also for one of the best views of downtown Dallas

The wedding day...
Started with a lovely brunch at Neiman Marcus cafe.
sidenote: Ladies, the path to the cafe leads you straight through the shoe department. You've been warned.

Followed by hair and makeup in the bridal suite of the Ritz-Carlton. Who needs a honeymoon when you're staying here?!

The beautiful bride

JAC's farewell

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:42:00 +0000

January. We bid farewell to JAC, as she heads home to the UK, in the most appropriate of send off's... a Rock Band competition. We were graced by the musical talents of Faby (Jenn's Fake Baby) in his Rock Band debut

"Ok, Faby. Don't mess up or your mom will take off your hat."

Faby has this wild uncontrollable red hair looks more like electrical wires than actual hair. Therefore, Faby always wears his hat... He gets embarrassed.

The Glamorous. The Flossy flossy...

Why, Britain does have talent!

Real live rock stars in my living room

New Year's Eve... Jonesboro or bust!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:14:00 +0000

We started the year in Arkansas with some of my best friends from college. My friend, Whitney, got engaged in the fall so her parents threw an amazing New Year's Eve engagement party. We stayed with Sarah & Ryan (college roomie & one of my bridesmaids) and had so much fun hanging out in Arkansas.

Sarah & sweet Baby Ensley

The Crip

Love me some Arkansas girls!

Eric's a whiz with the camera

Thanks, Sarah, for couch-sitting the Crip

Midnight!

Testing 1...2....3

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Soon) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:03:00 +0000

This is a test. This is only a test. beeeeeeeep.