Weekend Reads 2015 edition v4

Photo Credit: Moi

So much happening this weekend – I’ve got an all day training that I’m doing on Saturday for work so I gotta dial up my hidden extrovert behavior and then afterwards, recharge my batteries on my drive back to my house so that I can prepare to welcome over 75 people for my annual Mardi Gras shindig. The Mister is going to have a list of things to do while I’m at my training to get this party started. No worries, after chopping over 11 cups of onions, we can at least serve that for the party 🙂

It will be fun – what are you doing this weekend??

• Do you get stressed out when you have to book travel or just the process of travel? I am a planner so I like the actual booking of tickets and hotels – it’s a way for me to check things off a list but the actual act of packing and getting to the airport is what gets me a little stressed (my fear of running late!). So if you want some tips to how you can get yourself more relaxed while dealing with the process, here are a few websites that might help!

• Last week instead of doing a Weekend Reads, I showcased my dumpling adventure. To really get mainstream, dumplings are being featured in Rachel Ray’s January/February magazine. Here’s a little more history on these amazing pouches of deliciousness and a video on how those awesome Bob’s Shanghai 66 soup dumplings are made!

• As I head into Lent, I normally eat all of my favorite meat dishes before I give up meat until Easter. As a result, I usually head to a place for dim sum so that I can eat chicken feet (!!). Most people may not care for it because of the texture and even I don’t like it if it’s not prepared properly. If you can’t tell the difference between lo mai gai or har gow, here’s a beginner’s guide to dim sum that will certainly help when you’re figuring out what to eat when those carts go by!

• I’m always looking for ways for #livinahappylife and sometimes it’s a matter of attitude. Even if you’re able to take the good and bad in stride, it’s better to amplify those happier moments in life. Here are a few ways you can make the most of your own happy.

• My BFFs live in SoCal so whenever I find fun things to do in their neck of the woods, I hope that they’ll do advance for me. LA Confidential thinks that Pasadena is the heart of the trendy food scene in LA and created a list of places – what do you think?

• On Wednesday night I gathered around my TV and watched Fresh off the Boat, which is funny since the only other TV show that I watch in real time is Downton Abbey 🙂 I had already previewed the pilot episode (you can read my thoughts on it here and here) and the 2nd episode was a new one to me. Still hilarious and still poignant, the part that sticks the most to me was the timing of the circumstances. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and this show is set in the 90s, when I was already a working adult, although in my early 20s with still lots of room to grow. This show touches on Eddie’s experience of being an Asian American kid growing up in mainly an all white setting. Him being called the “c” word (if you don’t know the derogatory term, watch the 1st episode) in the mid 90s just shows that racism was still prevalent at at time even after an influx of Asians came to the country in the 70s. Assimilation and acceptance can be strange bedfellows but I like how Eddie has handled making his immigrant Asian parents happy while being his truest self. You can read more about Eddie Huang as well as the young actor, Hudson Yang who portrays him in this really great NYT article. I still have nightmares about doing math problems in the middle of summer break while my friends were outside hitting the jungle gym **SHIVER**

• With a possible trip to my second hometown of New Orleans, I might have to look into some of these delicious places, although I think I might be going during Lent = NO FRIED CHICKEN. **insert super sad face**

• Instead of #FloralFriday, I’m bringing have a #FantasticFriday – this baby goat video will certainly make sure you do!

Thanks for reading/sharing/caring! Have a great one!

MXM