Already feeling like home :)

Hi all!  I've been in Beijing for a week officially as of Tuesday.  Things have been going smoothly, although my Chinese could definitely use some work.  I was a bit afraid of the pollution/smog that has been reported in Beijing, but things have cleared it (some days, the AQI index is the same as Seattle's).  Work has been nice, people in Beijing are helpful, and my room mate and coworkers are also fantastic. Also, I have the next 7 days off, which isn't too shabby after one week of work :)

There are so many people in the city that it seems sometimes they seem to blend into one another, but everyone still retains innate characteristics of kindness, love, and stress (the latter more often than I'd like to see ;) ) And with more people here, these kind acts also seem more prevalent.  The lines between age, sexes, and ethnicity become blurred thoughtfully.  Of course, with more people there also comes a wider spectrum of mannerisms--some of which are negative, but as they-- say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think Beijing is pretty beautiful.

Thank you especially to my new lovely friends Ryan and Will for being so great during my first week here. I'm looking forward to exploring more of this city.  Also, for those of you who haven't heard I've acquired a dog and cat at our new apartment :)  This is Niu Niu (pretty girl) and Den Long (Lantern).  Niu Niu was 10 kwai (~$1.50) and Ryan found Niu Niu living in a spare tire as a kitten; she was so skittish at first, she enjoyed hiding in a hanging paper lantern for the first two months.  Here are some photos from my first weekend here!

Happy Lunar New Year!

♡  Daisy 

Isla (de) Camano

My boyfriend Robbie lives a ways up north in Island County on Camano Island.  Camano is only an hour away from Seattle, but the city is completely different.  There are only a handful of traffic lights here, and only one road in and out of the city.  If you want to gather yourself, this is definitely the place to go.  We came up here one last time before my move to China next Monday.

Here are some shots from his backyard overlooking sunrise and sunset.  I haven't edited them at all so what you see is really what you get :)

Dream On :)

♡ Daisy

Bestie's Birthday! Sitting Room

We celebrated my best friend Nika's birthday in November :) We've been friends for 17 years now, and I'm only becoming prouder of her each year.  She just started her tax internship at McGladrey--a multi national tax audit and consulting firm last week, and is currently doing training in Chicago.  WOOOOOOO PIGGIE SMALLZ.  Be ready for the most badass accountant we've seen when she's back.  (Her leather dress is only a glimpse of how badass she truly is).  Nika is a wonderful intelligent girl who has worked and continues to work her butt off to get to where she is today.  Happy birthday little pig, you'll be blowing down that wolf's house in no time.


Here are some photos from the The Sitting Room in Queen Anne.  The place is super cute with dim lighting so pardon the bright flash photos ;)  Afterwards, we walked over to the Ice Rink at Seattle Center (No photos however, we were almost too tipsy to ice skate...properly at least)

♡ Daisy

Happy Holidays :) HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Christmas & Happy New Year!  I can't express enough how much I love Christmastime.  This year, my roomie Anthony and I threw a small Christmas/ White Elephant get-together at our place.  Actually, it was more like an Ugly Sweater fry-anything-you-can-think-of-that-fits-in-the-fryer party.  We fried things including:

-Pickles (of course)
-Onions
-Ice Cream
-Oreos? (I think)
-OYSTERS!!!!!!! (AWWWW YEAH)

 My room-mate from college, Thanh Thanh had caught these a few months back and whipped 'em out of the freezer for this special occasion (we now call her OYSTER QUEEN)...in the best way possible.

Here are some photos from the night, pretty impressive how many bodies we fit in this apartment of ours ;)  Anyway, hope you guys had a great holiday season as well.  Enjoy!

 Prepping the paper snowflakes for our party!

 My handsome handsome boyfriend pourin' the moon shine

Leopold was a fantastic make-shift Santa for the night :) 

Much Love ♡ Daisy

Thanksgiving Times 3

Thanksgiving is not a phenomenal ordeal that happens in my family/families, but it is always such a warm and pleasant time of year.  The brisk chill outside is a warning to Christmas, and Christmas is definitely good.  I feel as though Thanksgiving is the journey part of the saying "Getting there is half the fun" (Fun being Christmas & New Years).  Thanksgiving is also awesome because of all the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes...god how I love potatoes ESPECIALLY if they're mashed.  I guess in general I just love to eat.

This year, I was fortunate enough to have 3 Thanksgiving meals prepared for me--all I had to do was bring the vino!  First off we went to my best friend's parent's house, where we had a wonderful vegetarian Thanksgiving with Tofurkey prepared in a slow roast marinated IPA (courtesy of Nika Lin).  Second, we went to my Uncle Charlie's Parents' (Bernice & Karl's) house for the traditional feast of home made everything including rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, beet salad, duck, turkey, and splendid finger foods.  Bernice & Karl's place is where I have been for the last few Thanksgivings, but this year I had one more stop.  Lastly, and definitely not least, I moseyed on over to my Dad & May's place with my sisters and friends.  He told us he had prepared the turkey from scratch...definitely believed him for a whole 10 seconds hah!  But he does deserve credit for the vodka infused plum liquer he and May had been prepping for months from home grown plums :)

To end the night, my best friend Nika & I hit the outlets for Black Friday at Midnight...I never buy anything but Black Friday Ritual seems to be the threshold to the holiday season; it's kind of like when Luke passes the threshold and becomes a Jedi but slightly less epic.

Anyway, here are some photos snapped throughout the night! Enjoy & Happy Christmas to everyone :)

 Delicious Tofurkey

 My grandparents  ♡ 

 Reeba (Bernice & Karl's Dog)

Uncle Charlie, Pete, and my cousin Henry all candid of course

 I also like dogs, I'm not a (completely) psycho cat lady

Plum infused creation/elixir/potion/liquor

Thank you for reading, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with Love
 
♡ Daisy