Last Saturday was our friends’ daughter Aubrianna’s first birthday party! The three of us were happy to go celebrate the special occasion with them, and they hosted a lovely party for sweet Aubri. Here are some photos from the party!
Mio reaching for a balloon at Aubrianna’s birthday party.
The spread at the party was amazing — so much good food! We all stuffed ourselves.
Yewon made mussels with garlic — heaven for a seafood lover like me! Mussels with marinara sauce, cheese, and hot sauce. Chinese chicken! California rolls made by Shin Nan. Everyone was impressed (or rather, aghast?) at how much Mio was constantly eating… lol.
In the Korean tradition of Doljanchi, there were items placed in front of Aubrianna for her to choose something that represents her future calling. (Very similar to the Japanese tradition of Erabitori, which we prepared for Mio’s first birthday.) Everyone watched with anticipation to see what little Aubri would choose!
Aubri was intimidated by everyone watching her, and burst into tears. After getting comforted by Mommy, she chose… the PlayDoh! …and then the toothbrush! Future dentist, perhaps? Celebrating with one of the prettiest birthday cakes I’ve ever seen! Yewon’s friend is a professional cake decorator and made this gorgeous cake for Aubri. The adorable birthday girl and her lovely mama! Daddy’s girl sitting in Dan’s lap.
Mio had a great time playing with the other kids at the party, and especially enjoyed indulging in all the delicious food offerings! Happy first birthday Aubri!
Instead of hitting the malls and going shopping on Black Friday, we spent the day meeting up with friends who were in the area! It was food-and-fun-filled holiday weekend — this is what the holidays are all about! 😀
Lunch date with Akiho at Sushi Yoshi. She has just finished her PhD and is now a licensed psychologist! We met up with Aiko, my friend of 25 years, and her husband Anthony. They were visiting from Boston and got to meet Mio for the first time. Hanging out at the park. I’ve known Aiko since we were 5 – I can’t believe how much time has passed since then! Later in the evening, we went to Honey Pig in Centreville to celebrate Liz’s birthday! With the birthday girl! It was our first time seeing newlyweds Luice and Jeremy since they tied the knot in August. They’re the cutest couple! Dan and Mio chowing down So much good food! On Saturday, Mio had a playdate with Joelle and Clara. Here are the cuties together!
And I shall conclude with our adorable burrito Mio!
On Christmas Eve, we went to lunch with a bunch of my girlfriends from college — we went to Bon Chon Chicken in Centreville. I’d heard of how great Bon Chon was from all my friends in Virginia and had to try it! True to its reputation, the chicken wings were some of the best I ever had! Great flavor but not too greasy! (I ate mostly the soy garlic flavor ones because the hot ones were too spicy for me… although Dan was all about the spicy ones!) It was great catching up with familiar friends… felt like I got transported back to the good old college days! 🙂
Delicious ddukbokki! (The chicken was so good, I forgot to take a picture of it...)
Mio is all smiles!
The girls surprised me with a birthday cake! Red velvet… so delicious!
Mio is dying to dig her hands into the cake...
It was great seeing everyone and catching up! Thank you everyone for the delicious birthday cake!
Later in the afternoon, Miyoung and Mike came by to visit us at my parents’ house. Miyoung and I had a great time having a couple hours of girl talk while our hubbies played video games together and Mio napped.
Miyoung brought by these lovely macarons… they were almost too pretty to eat!
Look at all the colors!
I love macarons!
They were so delicious... between me, Dan, and my sister, we killed them all before the day was over.
Some more random pre-Christmas photos…
Mio playing with a magnifying glass. This just might be my favorite picture of the year.
Huge box of chocolates from a family friend to our family. The box is bigger than Mio.
Mio gets to spend her first Christmas in Virginia! What will Santa bring...?
