i will take you down to chinatown

the bean and i went on an outing with lilcee & co. a little while ago that took us to some fun local spots.  we started with some delicious all-you-can-eat sushi in pasadena, where the bean was thrilled to satisfy their nonstop salmon craving.

our original plan hadn't really involved much more than sharing a meal, but as we chatted over lunch we decided to take it further and grab some sweets here:

the bean and i had never been to california donuts before despite rave reviews from friends at school, so i was pretty excited to give it a try.  we'd actually hoped to catch some of their "turning red"-themed donuts, but it apparently had been a limited run and so we ended up settling on some of their other delicious-looking flavors.

like, how cute is this?

it was tough to narrow it down, but we ultimately ended up with cookies & cream, snickers, pb&j and cookie butter.  and then we threw in a cute tote bag to give to the bean's friend who loves this place and was getting ready to move to texas.

chinatown is just a few minutes away, and since we were on a quest to find some confetti cannons for the bean we stopped in for a quick walkthrough.  i know i've been to chinatown before, but i really can't remember ever actually coming here before. 

we found the confetti cannons...along with some 4 for $1 "pow pows."  and of course we bought some, because why not?

little rides like this used to be outside grocery stores when i was little and i always wanted to try it, but was never allowed to.  and now that i'm a grown ass adult, i do what i want.  too bad my ass was too big for it, and i was pretty sure that i'd break the damn thing if i'd tried to drop a quarter in it for the actual ride.  so i settled for the photo op instead, as one does.

i love when old signage is preserved and kept in place even if the establishments are long gone.

we walked through this cute little shop:

then we took a selfie and headed on outta there.

chris tucker and jackie chan were here.  

oh - if you ever want some delicious cake, go to phoenix bakery.  i have such fond memories of birthday parties where they served this simple spongy white cake with whipped cream and strawberries and slivered almonds crusted on the sides.  so simple, yet so good.

lilcee said that they do night market-style events here in the summertime, so i'm pretty sure we'll come back for that at least once sometime soon.  stay tuned.

mayor hello kitty

today would have been my sweet friend tzeitel's 50th birthday.

i met her when we were in high school, right after she and her family moved to town.  she was a tiny tornado, full of enthusiasm and joy and optimism.  she had no trouble making tons of friends as the new kid, and i never knew a single person who had anything but love for her - then and now.

we lost touch over the years, but i knew she'd moved back to town after college and got involved in local politics.  she was the first graduate from our high school and first filipino-american to be elected to the city council, and i was so proud of her when she became mayor - not once or even twice, but FOUR times.  she worked with the local Y and held countless other positions, and she was well known for her love of her community and dedication to serving its people.  her husband proposed to her during a city council meeting, their wedding was in one of the local parks and they bought the house next door to her parents.  they have an 8-year-old son, and it was always obvious that being his mom was her most favorite title.

she battled lung cancer for three years, all the while still serving her community as best as she could, and was actually still mayor when she passed away in june.  the city held a memorial service for her last month, and it was absolutely overflowing with people who came from near and far to pay their respects to this amazing woman who'd shown so much strength and grace all the way to the very end.

it was incredibly bittersweet to see so many old friends from high school that day, and only TZ could have made that happen.  i like to think it was her final gift to us - to bring us together to laugh and cry and share our memories.  

TZ was also one of the biggest hello kitty fans i've ever met, besides myself.  heh.  and these were at the reception following the service:

her family threw a party this past weekend to celebrate her life and what would have been her milestone birthday - and i'm just guessing, but i'm assuming that this was among her last wishes.  my cousins were really close to her but had prior commitments out of town on the day of the party and so were not able to attend (nor was i).  and so instead i dropped these off in our place:

happy heavenly birthday, tzeitel.  we love you so much.

saving the best for last

i know i'm so, so, so behind on my posts here.  I KNOW.  but better late than never, right?

the day after my solo disney trip, we attended junior high awards night at the bean's school.  although this was their third year of junior high, it was the first and only time that we were able to go in person.  when they'd received the history award in sixth grade the ceremony was done virtually, which sucked.  oh well.

we'd received an email inviting us to come, but i didn't realize that that meant they were definitely receiving an award that evening.  i just assumed that all of the junior high families were invited to attend, whether it was for their student or to support their friends.  the bean had said that they'd be announcing this year's valedictorian(s) along with the other academic awards, so they wanted to go to see who was going to be scrambling to write a speech since graduation was just a week away.

i was so proud and excited when one of their teachers took the stage and called the bean up to collect the award for eighth grade english.  i know that's one of their strongest subjects, but it was still a really nice surprise to see her efforts recognized and rewarded.

and THEN...the vice principal stood at the podium and announced that there would be not just one, not two, or even three valedictorians this year.  there were SEVEN.  i don't even know how you would settle on such a number unless there truly was a tie between seven different students, although looking back and considering the group that had earned the honor it makes a little more sense.

the bean was, of course, the very last of the seven to be called up.  and of course, i let out a giant whoop and then immediately teared up as i watched them walk up to join the group onstage.

they're probably going to kill me for sharing these (again, because i definitely posted on social media right away), but come ON.  this definitely requires a blog post!

honestly, i'm still beaming with pride over this.  they worked so hard over the last three years, and it's been pretty awesome watching them learn and grow...especially through the pandemic.  such a great way to cap off ten amazing years at this school!

single rider

when i realized that i had one more chance for a solo disneyland visit before the end of the school year, i took it.  and so, like before, as soon as i dropped the bean off in the morning i made my way down to anaheim to enjoy a few hours of disney magic.  this time, my reservation was at california adventure:

because it was so early, the line for soarin' was really short.  i'm talking 10 minutes here, which you pretty much never see as the day goes on.  and so that was my first ride of the day.

i always wave to the polar bears, fully realizing that i probably look like a lunatic.  don't care.

as soon as i got back outside, i opened the disneyland app and placed a mobile order for breakfast and then took the long way around to kill some time until my pickup window opened.

i even had time to pick up coffee from the cappuccino cart.

my new favorite breakfast is from the pym test kitchen.  the gimmick here is that the food comes in crazy sizes, like giant pretzels or tiny eggs...which is why i love it so much.  because isn't everything extra fun when it's either oversized or miniature?

i even managed to score a sweet table under an umbrella with a perfect view of the live-action marvel show right outside.

from there, i headed over to the super-popular webslingers attraction.  they have a single rider line, so i got to skip the already-crazy-long line and was inside the building in no time.

yes, i took an embarrassing amount of stupid selfies.  what else is new?

i caught a glimpse of thor before leaving avengers campus, surrounded by lots of adoring fans (not including me, because if it ain't chris hemsworth it ain't happening).

next i hit up the single rider line at radiator springs racers, because why not?  and it's right outside avengers campus, so it was just what came naturally.

while i was in line, i caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the crowd and tried to get her attention to no avail.  instead, i snapped this to send her (which probably makes me look like a total creeper, but oh well):

the ride was a blast, as always.

and then as i started to make my way through cars land i spotted my friend waiting for the rest of her family to join her after the ride.  i hadn't seen ashley in - oh, i can't even tell you! - and it was really fun to catch up with her and chat a bit.

incredicoaster also has a single rider line, so that came next.

and so does goofy's sky school:

i browsed through the shops, stopping to try this captain america jacket on:

but made the (very wise) decision that not only did i not need yet another jacket, but that it really wasn't very flattering.  and so i put it back on the rack and went back out to grab some popcorn to snack on during my drive home.

another successful solo disney day, check!