Happy New Year! Dan and I just got back to California late Sunday night after spending ten days at my parents’ home in Northern Virginia. We arrived early the morning of Christmas Eve, and I spent Christmas Day/my 28th birthday quietly at home with my family. It feels strange to think that this was my last Christmas and birthday without a child, and that future Christmases will probably be a lot noisier and hectic!

We had a memorable week spent with family, friends, and enjoyed a much-needed break from work during the holidays. My mom kept Dan busy half the time, enlisting his handyman skills to repaint the kitchen. (He did a great job and the kitchen looks like new! My mom is ecstatic.) Meanwhile, I indulged in stuffing myself with my mom’s home cooking, getting pampered by my parents, and treasured the time that I had to catch up with the friends back home whom I missed so much!

Two of my dearest friends and college roommates, Hanna and Yoon, threw us a baby shower the day after Christmas to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our baby girl! Since baby showers typically aren’t thrown until well into the third trimester and since I wouldn’t be back on the East Coast again before the birth of the baby, we initially hadn’t thought that we’d get to have a baby shower with our East Coast friends. We were so touched that they went out of their way during the busiest time of the year to still plan and organize a shower for us! Our friend Brian generously offered his house to host the celebration, and the decorations were absolutely adorable and the food was delicious! The girls planned some fun baby shower games and we were humbled by the generosity of our friends and by all the gifts. More than anything, though, it was just nice to see so many of our friends again, and we felt so blessed and fortunate to be able to celebrate the new addition to our family with them. Our baby (currently referred to as “eggplant“) is the luckiest girl in the world, to be surrounded by so much love before she even comes out!

Here are some photos from the baby shower…

What a set-up!
The adorable set-up! I couldn't get over how cute it was.

Classic Pooh + Burt's Bees diaper cake
Classic Pooh + Burt's Bees diaper cake! Yoon did such a great job making it!

beehive candle favors
Shower favors: beehive candles!

Guess Baby Allen's Arrival Date!
Guess Baby Allen's Arrival Date!

Cupcakes baked by Yoon and Hanna
Homemade cupcakes: double chocolate and cheesecake-flavored. Delicious!

Loved the set-up!
Loved it!!!

Pat and I with our baby bumps
Pat and I with our baby bumps! We're both expecting baby girls in April, only two weeks apart!

Thanks Greg for stopping by!
Thanks Greg for stopping by!

the spread.
All the yummy food!

guests snacking
Snacking around the table.

snacking around
More snacking! 🙂

Miwa, Elisa and Ted
The Dirty Diaper game! My sister Miwa, my brother Ted, and his girlfriend Elisa.

Jina, Jen and Luice
Jina and Luice won the game. I missed these ladies!

candy game
Matching the candy to the baby phrases.

guessing belly measurements
Guessing belly measurements

Thanks for coming, Jina!
Thanks for coming, Jina!

swaddling blankets!
Time to open presents!

for the little Hokie
The baby's first Hokie gear - a VT bib! Thank you Auntie Windy. 🙂

Dan feeling how soft it is.
Dan testing the softness of the fleece baby blanket.

They're adorable!
Adorable headwraps from Auntie Erri!

Thank you for coming!
It was Luice's birthday that day - Happy Birthday! 😀

with Audrey!
With 3-year-old Audrey. She's the cutest!

Liz and I again
So good seeing Liz again!

Missed these girls!
Ashly and Helly - I missed them so! Seems like yesterday they were just freshmen, and now they're all grown up!

me with Erri and Audrey
With Erri and Audrey. Erri is my closest friend who has kids, so she's been giving me so much priceless advice. I can't thank her enough!

Thank you roomies for the shower! I'll never forget it!!!
And of course... my lovely roomies! 501-A reunited! Thank you for throwing me a baby shower I'll never, ever forget. Love you girls so much!

For more photos of the baby shower, click over to the photo album.
(Special thanks to Pat & Theo for many of the photos!)

Some of my friends couldn’t make it to the baby shower, like my best friend Debbie, who’s back in Seoul with her family for the winter holidays. The night before we left for Virginia, we had received this very generous gift from Debbie and our friends Mimi, Michelle, and Stephanie, who all pitched in to get us the Beaba Babycook that I had been raving about a couple months ago! Dan and I were stunned when we received it, because although we’d put it on our baby registry, we were prepared to eventually buy it ourselves because it’s so pricey and we didn’t think anyone would actually get it for us. It’s such a great investment, and we can’t wait until the time comes for us to use it! 🙂

Beaba BabyCook!
The Beaba Babycook! Thank you Debbie, Mimi, Michelle, and Steph!