My friend Deb and I flew up to Portland, Oregon, last weekend and stayed with my BFF Maya, and had an ah-mazing time.
We were incredibly blessed that it was sunny and warm (even hot at times) during our stay, despite the heavy rain the city experienced only few days prior. We were told that this was, hands down, the best weekend there in many, many month! Even the cabin attendant had to make a disclaimer that it’s not an April Fool’s joke that we can expect an unusually pleasant weather once we land in PDX.
We didn’t do much, other than eat good food and vegged out at home, which is exactly what Deb and I needed to relax and unwind. My favorite part of the trip, aside from catching up with my girl friends, is seeing rows and rows of Sakura trees and their lovely, pink petals dancing on the streets of Portland.
We went into this little speciality beauty shop called Blush Beauty Bar on the trendy NW 23rd Street (aka “trendy” third) and I fell in love with a bottle of this Cherry Blossom scent from Demeter. I’ve tried different Cherry Blossom fragrances, including ones from Jo Malone, Bath and Body Works and L’Occitane, but this has to be my favorite I’ve tried so far. It’s light and floral, and you immediately transport yourself to spring with just one spray.
And even more spring-y, are these designer chocolate bars from Moonstruck.
She even prepared us chocolate molten cake for dessert, with the center so warm and velvety, the melted chocolate just ooze out of the cake! Talk about a heavenly dessert!
My time is not considered great at 2 hours and 51 minutes, but I was extremely pleased with the result since all I wanted was to run under three hours. But more so than time, I was delighted with the way I felt during and after the race. My feet felt lighter than usual and I felt like I had some energy left even after I crossed the finish line, which made me believe that I can shave off a few minutes on my next 
I must be the luckiest person in the world. The luckiest, in that I did everything I wasn’t supposed to do when running a marathon, and still managed to cross the finish line injury free and still smiling.
My sister, who is also my personal trainer and my rock, suggested that I make a commitment and “marry” my body, just like I would with someone I love. This means that I would take care of it by loving every part of it, and feeding it with healthy nourishment – in both food and thoughts. With the marriage, I make a promise to be true, through good and bad, in sickness and in health, richer or poorer. And, especially after feeling the love it has for me, I can only say … I do.
Right after we returned home from a fun-filled weekend in Vegas, my boyfriend and I repacked our luggage to fly to Portland — this time for the 
I’m always intrigued by those “experimental” food blogs where authors decide to cook every single dish in their chosen cookbooks and document their endeavors on a blog. Perhaps the most famous is Julie Powell’s “
I sometime wonder what’s really behind my fascination with food. Some psycho-analyzing type would probably diagnose that I’m using food to fill the void in my life, which, I guess, can be partially true, but I think it’s more the things that are associated with food that makes me gravitate toward it. For instance, the conversation I have during a nice dinner get-together with friends and family makes me forget all the negative things in the world. And a glass of wine tastes so much better when shared with the loved ones. As long as I can remember, food have played a vital role in my family, and dinner was the time that we had to talk about our days and learn a thing or two about each other that we didn’t know before. I love dinner with my family.
Lavender and OliVE 