Saschathon: My oh my, sweet potato pie~! Oh, and happy 2011.

Hi!!!!! I missed you. HAPPY 2011~! あけましておめでとうございます〜！ I'm sorry but for a while there, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series have my complete and undivided attention. I'm just warning you now, I might go M.I.A. again after this because I'm still working on the last book of the trilogy. If you haven't read it, do it. It's like Da Vinci Code + Sherlock Holmes + CSI + IKEA (as in the Swedish interior deco heaven) with some major Freudian slants. It's awesome. I could go on and on and on about the series but I'd rather start a blogger book club and then discuss so....go buy them and then we'll discuss, dahling. I'm stalling on finishing the books too fast because after I read them and watch the movies....I'll feel empty inside and it scares me just a little bit. Maybe I'll rebound with Harry Potter again.

Anyway, besides my major plug for Stieg Larsson (the author) and his legacy (the author died shortly after finishing the series...he never got to see how successful they were), I've been doing great. My other obsession has been sweet potato pie. I usually crave it right around Thanksgiving (because my mom made the bestest sweet potato pie ever in all history once and it's haunted me forever in a delightful way since then). A co-worker baked some and was nice enough to give me a slice (perhaps my not-too-subtle hungry-girl eyes were a hint for him to put it down and slowly walk away). But that had only whet my appetite for more. And then it happened. The other day, my mom baked her sweet potato pie--with a twist. It was in puff pastry. And she flavored it with a pinch of salt and maple syrup....sooooo deeeeeeelishhhhh..ousssss.... Now I'm going to have dreams about this pie forever. Just thinking about makes my mouth water and I literally just finish eating a piece! I

For Christmas I got Brent and sweater and shoes (I know! My Filipino and Korean friends gave me grief about it too but I couldn't help it...shoes makes him so happy). My momma, Junior and Salena flew off to Disneyland for the week between Christmas and New Years (they came back on 1/1/11) so I spent a lot of time with Brent and his family. On New Years eve, I went to Brent's family's newly renovated house (not quite done, but almost there). It was really nice. I'm excited to see the final results.

I realized that I didn't do a New Year's Resolution list last year so this year, I'd decided to make one:
-Be more organized (in my room)
-Get back in to dance
-Perform on stage more than once.
-Do at least 11 things that are out of my comfort zone.
-Blog more

I'd like to do a photographic year-in-review ala Sasch, but unfortunately A) I'm way too lazy and B) there are wayyyyyy too many pictures for me to sift through to create the perfect recap album. So instead, I'll do an extensive recap of Christmas, New Years and recent stuff...enjoy!

Salena and Mini Me (aka Lisa)at their first dance recital.

Brent and Angry Birds

Our first time at Soul @ Kaimuki...I had the gumbo and brent had a smothered chicken....it was pretty delicious. Especially the cornbread.

Waterfalls and clouds by the H3

We eat at Pah Ke's in Kaneohe.

Salena's leter to Santa. Translation: I want a "changing time baby" with all of the accessories too..Note to potential parents, aunties and uncles...DON'T buy the little girl in your life this creepy pooping, moving plastic doll...it scares me.