December 26, 2011

Birthday Bliss

For anyone who knows me, I love to make fancy affairs out of my birthdays. Though, every year, it’s the same cycle. I start off by saying, “I’m not going to do anything this year, let’s just do something low-key”. And lo and behold, by the time December rolls around, there’s a million ideas flying around in my head and it becomes anything but low-key. But with that, comes high expectations, and this year, I was completely blown away.

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes, or made the effort to be a part of the annual affair, with major thanks to some special somebodies for making it all happen and bringing it together  (you know who you are). All in all, I couldn’t have asked for or imagined a better birthday :)

Here are some of the highlights from the celebration …

Balloons a poppin’

Cheers to some bubbly

Let the photos begin!

Cutting the cake at Bravi Ristorante. Highly recommend the Butternut Squash Ravioli!

VIP booth at Pravda Vodka Bar which was a complete surprise!

Some of my girls @zhang_sophia, Ani, @sonyajain - welcome back Ani from NorCal!

Some of my boys @draganmilosav, Spiros & @dejanmilosav

More cake at Pravda

Friends from the ‘Loo – @ianchow, @zhang_sophia, @taimurmohammad & Rohit!

Everybody has a good time

<3 my girls

With my ride or die dancing partner – I appreciate you, always!

So great to see my Trip to China girls! @evayung22, @_aqq, miss bonbons, @andreakycheung, and @veeivee (not pictured here)

As for the actual birthday day coming up soon, looking forward to a quiet day with a family dinner as per usual, dining at my one of my fave restaurants in town. Feeling like having some peking duck this year, mm mm good!

Special thanks to my coworkers for helping me kick it off last week on my last day at work in the office at another one of my fave Italian restaurants – you guys are the sweetest!

PS. Feels nice to be back on my blog again :) Sorry for the long delay between posts! Been a wild few months. I’ve got a few posts lined up in my mind which I’ll be catching up on, including my recent trips to San Francisco and Los Angeles, Christmas festivities and a recap of 2011 and plans for 2012. Come back soon!

xo tine

October 30, 2011

#TinesSpooktacularNightIn

For Halloween this year, I decided to turn a night of dog-sitting into a small get together with a few of my closest and dearest. I always love any excuse to get us together, and what’s better than one where we can dress up and stuff our faces with junk food all night long? Muimui and Dai Gow got into the action as well, with Muimui and her chicken costume and Dai Gow as a giant pumpkin. After pumpkin carvings, the few remaining brave souls stuck around to watch Paranormal Activity, and I can probably say that’s the scariest movie I’ve ever seen in my life. Clearly traumatized and have gotten my quota of scary movies for a long, long time. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely gotta watch it.

Enjoy some of the pics from our #spooktacularnightin! What did you do or dress up as this Halloween?

August 3, 2011

Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake … for China!

If you’ve been following any of my tweets or Facebook posts for the past year, you would know that my latest volunteer venture has been with the Mon Sheong Foundation. They’re a Canadian, non-profit organization promoting awareness of the Chinese culture, caring for the elderly and providing leadership opportunities to youth. Supported by a strong team of young volunteers, I’m co-chairing our third Trip to China this year, leading a group of twenty youth aged 18 – 30 for an eye-opening experience halfway across the world! We’ll be visiting Shanghai, Xian (ancient city of China), Jinan and Beijing over the course of 15 days from August 18th – September 1st. The trip is all about taking Canadian-born-Chinese youth out of their comfort zones, and enlightening them through an entire program throughout the summer jam-packed with pre-departure workshops, Mandarin lessons, and a full-blown business challenge with all proceeds directed to restoring the Lord Mengchang Mausoleum.

Sweetest surprise ever from our participants presented to us at our Trip to China Appreciation BBQ!

Inspired by Impact Microcredit, our participants were split into teams and given $50 in seed money with the goal of turning that over 10x into $500 each. With the goal in mind, the five different teams have been working tirelessly to raise as much money as possible during the month of July. We saw events from painting studios, to photography lessons, to mix and mingle events, night out at the Comedy Club, Beach Volleyball tournament, bowling night, you name it – we got it! I learned so many new things such as how to 3D Chinese bead, got a chance to spend a day in the sun, painted two of my very own paintings and practically rekindled my love for perler beads :P July was not an easy month for the participants or the organizers but I’m so proud of everyone for pulling through the blood, sweat and tears (literally). We’ll be sharing the results with everyone soon but suffice to say, this year’s participants have already blown it out of the water with their dedication, commitment and team work!

Beach Volleyball Tournament Day @ Woodbine Beach!

Even though the Development Challenge is now over, our fundraising efforts are still going STRONG! We’re lucky to be teaming up with Amy’s Food Adventures, an up and coming foodie blogger based out of Toronto who makes absolutely delectable cupcakes. Amy has generously agreed to donate her time to help us sell cupcakes with 75% of the proceeds going to the cause and we can’t thank her enough! Described as Fluffy Matcha Green Tea Cupcake with a Honey Cream Cheese Frosting, or  Sponge Vanilla Cupcake with a Fresh Strawberry Frosting or even better, Moist Chocolate Cupcake with a Coffee Buttercream Frosting, how could you say no!? Try one, or try them all at only $10 for half a dozen order! For more details, check out our Facebook event at Cupcakes <3 China.

Cupcakes <3 China

If cupcakes aren’t your thing (who ARE YOU?!), we’re also accepting donations on our website at www.thecraize.com. Any amount and support is much appreciated!

14 days left until we go to China.. I can’t believe it’s almost here!!!

« Older Entries