Christmas Recap 2015

Better late than never, amiright?

I'm about three weeks behind, but I wanted to get up a holiday recap before time totally gets away from me.

It goes without saying that Michael and I had the BEST time back home for the holidays. We hadn't been back to the States for a full year, so we were extra excited to spend time with our family and friends over the span of two weeks. Our trip included trips between Omaha and KC, lots of good food, snow(!), time with family, late nights with friends, holiday cheer and plenty of love and showering of baby D. 

A photo recap below: 

Snow!!! (Buddy the Elf voice). We had a surprise, very white Christmas Eve up in Omaha. Toto, we're not in Singapore any more. 

My family has made it a tradition to go to the Durham (where Michael and I got married, aww) over the holidays and check out the massive Christmas tree. The downstairs is also a train museum which my nephews love. 

Luke loves him some Uncle Michael - it's the sweetest. 

Selfie stick time over at my sisters casa.  

During my first weekend back, my godmother Lisa and friends Amy and Neely were so very sweet to host a baby shower for our girl. It was wonderful being able to see so many family members and friends from home over cinnamon rolls, mimosas and tiny little baby clothes (side note, wow babies need a lot of stuff). Thank you all for coming - it was perfect!  

My Millard West gals - 2 full babies + 3 halves :)

One cannot spend time in NE and without having at least one Runza. (Also Valentino's pizza - not pictured)

...to Grandmothers house we go... 

Sending Christmas Eve with my family, we made the pilgrimage out to Yutan, NE for dinner and church at my grandparents. With all of the extended family together for the first time and in a long time, we took the opportunity for a large family photo. How cute are we? :)

The whole Stamp crew of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses and great grand babes. 

Michael and I have also made it somewhat of a tradition to hit up Shirley's Diner for some good ole, down home Midwestern diner food. So. Good. 

Now, headed south on I-29 to Kansas City...

My first night in KC kicked off with a massive holiday party/30th birthday celebration/baby shower at the Duvall's. It was so fun seeing so many of our friends in one place and starting the holidays off with a bang. KKG love ---> 

A big shout out to all of our sweet friends and family friends who were so kind to give to our group gift. Baby D will be rolling around Singapore in style in her fancy new stroller ;)

Random dog photo. I love my Jack-in-law. 

Family photo on Christmas night. [Excels at self-timer photography]  

It's not a trip to KC without a visit to Ponak's. It's the best. Although it's admittedly not as great without the addition of their famous margaritas, it was still just as amazing as I often dream of. Mmmm I'm thinking about it right now... 

While in KC I had one more shower with my best college gals - feeling loved. 

Love you sistas! 

D-awwwww.... 

Annual holiday dinner with these wonderful people. 

Party crasher. 

And on our second to last night in the States we headed to Lawrence to watch the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse. One cannot visit Lawrence without a compulsory stop at The Wheel. Being 7.5 months pregnant at a bar is a tad embarrassing, but the Wheel is still awesome. (I think I horrified a few college students by accidentally bumping into them with my bump. Ew sorry). 

Hawks win! 

...and finally after two crazy, action-packed, amazing weeks in KC and Omaha, Michael, myself, baby, my compression tights and a huge bag of Cheez-its were ready for the long haul back to Singapore. 

We had such a wonderful time during our trip home. We were reminded just how lucky we are to have such amazing families and friends who love us dearly. We miss you all like crazy. 

We are planning on moving back to the States in the fall, so we look forward to the holidays being a little less hectic (and jet lagged) next year. Thank you everyone for all the love, hospitality and effort in making our trip home so insanely fun and memorable. 

Much, much love! 

XO,

CD

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The Weekender: Birthday 3-0

Greetings all! 

Just a quick weekend summary of our activities this past weekend. The highlight of the weekend was most certainly my birthday celebration - the big 3-0! EEK! The day was absolutely perfect, but definitely on the more low key side of things. If you can imagine, being 6 and a half months pregnant doesn't really scream 30th birthday rager ;)

 

We kicked off the weekend celebrations early with a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, BoCHINche, on Friday evening. It has become one of our favorite spots with its location just down the block, open fire kitchen and a to die for provaleta chesse dish that will change your life.

 

Saturday morning I was up early to attend a much anticipated Christmas wreath making class with the lovely and talented We Make Floral Magic. Going to a flower arranging course has been on my wish list for quite some time now, so I thought why not treat myself to some crafty fun on my bday.  

Two and a half hours flew by in a blink - I seriously could have stayed there all day it made me so happy. While I was thrilled with the outcome of my wreath and learned some great tips, I still plan on taking a more proper floral course. I feel like it's a good life skill to have, ya know? Classes are not that easy to come by here in Singapore.

Ta-da!

  

In true birthday fashion, I got to choose the cuisine and location for all of our weekend meals - including a Mexican place down the street that I love and Michael hates. What a good sport ;)

 

Thanks for the beautiful flowers mom and dad! <3

 

Come Sunday after candles, cake and presents it was time I pass the torch and attention over to Michael. 

For the third year in a row he ran in the Standard Chartered Half Marathon! You may recall that we did the race together the last two years (here and here), but in my current state I am semi-retired from the sport of running so Michael was on his own.

I cheered him on from the sidelines like a very proud wife. Michael did an awesome job considering the heat (90 degrees plus) and the fact he has been insanely busy at work and unable to properly train.  

Go, Michael, go!

The rest of the day was spent napping (for some reason I thought I earned a 2+ hr sleep as well), making dinner and recovering from a busy, joyous weekend.

Thanks to my wonderful, sweet husband and everyone for sending me so many birthday cards, texts, calls and notes on my special day. So much love. 

We leave for the States in 6 days and I'm no where ready! Tis' the season. 

XO,

CD 3.0

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Thanksgiving in Singapore

Greetings y'all! 

We had the most wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving here in Singapore last week. We certainly missed our families on what is arguably one of the best holidays of the year, but had a lovely time celebrating with friends in the Little Red Dot. 

Kicking things off on the actual Thanksgiving holiday, we hosted Michael's colleagues at our place for a casual American BBQ (we thrive at grilling, not full-blown Thanksgiving cuisine). 

We haven't made much use of our upstairs 'fratio', but with the semi-cooler weather that comes with the rainy season, it was the perfect evening to break it in.  

Grill-master Duvall :)

I unfortunately didn't get any photos from the gathering after the sun set, but we had a lovely evening eating good food, chatting and enjoying each others company. Humble brag: I like to boast that I am able to successfully host a dinner party without such modern necessities as a car, Costco membership and a dishwasher :-P

The rest of the weekend we were crazy busy bouncing between various activities, lunches and dinners. The highlight however was a proper Thanksgiving meal(!) on Saturday. This is sadly our third Thanksgiving away from home, so we were thrilled at the thought of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. 

A huge thanks to our lovely friends and hosts. Do you have any idea how hard it is to put on a classic Thanksgiving spread, complete with a turkey, here in Singapore?! It takes weeks of planning and sourcing and she, and everyone else who brought dishes, absolutely nailed it.  

Somehow Michael scored the honor of carving the turkey :)

Lovely group of ladies.

Cheese. 

We finished off the weekend by grilling (some more) and relaxing at home. We are definitely needing some extra rest before we head home for the holidays. And let me tell you, I'm really looking forward to some cooler temps. I spent this afternoon sweating in 91 degree heat while shopping for Christmas gifts. Oye. 

See y'all soon.

XO,

CD

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Weekend in Hong Kong

Hey all! 

Before things spiral out of control in the name of December, I wanted to provide a quick recap of our recent weekend in Hong Kong. 

Michael and I both love going to HK. Michael pretty much goes once a month for work, but it had been awhile since my last trip. It's such a crazy, buzzing city full of life and wild sights and sounds. It has a palpable energy not felt here in Singapore - it really reminds us of NYC (except, ya know, super Asian). 

The reason for the trip was a wedding of two friends of ours. They had previously gotten married in the Italian Apls, so the event in HK was more of a reception celebration. It was set at the beautiful Sheck O Country Club and the entire event was a beautiful celebration of love and friendship. 

A recap below: 

We stayed at The Pottinger, the most chic, charming boutique hotel ever. It's located in Central HK, just between Lan Kwai Fung and The Escalators - perfect for shopping, eating and wondering. (Side note: yes, I am carrying a bag full of Jenny Bakery cookies and yes, we waited in line for 35min to get them. I'll be writing a full review soon). 

The city was certainly not lacking in the Christmas decorations department. Even many of the downtown skyscrapers were totally covered in lights and decor.  

Stop for tacos, oops. The western food in HK is excellent, btw. 

A few outtakes for potential Christmas card photos. Michael, go stand over there! 

Are we done yet?

A couple pics from the wedding. 

After the celebration on Friday night we were invited to an intimate bunch on Saturday morning. We dined at Serge et Le Phoque which was out of this world insanely good. Highly, highly, highly recommend checking it out if you can.  

A stroll through the Wan Chai market after bunch. 

One final dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Posto Pubblico and that was a wrap on a lovely, exhausting, whirlwind weekend in HK. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving back home! I know we certainly have so much to be thankful for. We celebrated the holiday a bit with a casual BBQ at our place with Michael's office and we're headed to a proper feast on Saturday (no days off to celebrate here in Singapore!)

Only 2.5 more weeks until we are back Stateside! I hear the weather will be turning just in time for our arrival ;)

XO,

CD

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Babymoon: Koh Samui, Thailand

Hey guys! Don't think I forgot about you. All is well here in Singapore. The haze has finally lifted and things are progressing well with Baby D. Time is flying by like crazy, as it always does this time of year.   

The other weekend Michael and I took a much anticipated trip to the beautiful, sleepy island of Koh Samui, Thailand. With various obligations and plans from now until we return from our Christmas travels in the New Year (and I am no longer allowed to fly) we took advantage of one of our last free weekends and planned a little island get away - I suppose this trip qualified as our official 'babymoon.' 

Urban Dictionary defines a 'babymoon' as the following: Supplement to the honeymoon and baby shower. Mandatory vacation for both parents before the live birth of a child. Maybe a weekend, maybe a week. Requires the male end of conception to pay for all expenses out of his pocket. Travel, lodging, preferably at a seaside hotel, and gifts (to the mother to be, not the baby,) are an absolute necessity. Eases away the stress and woe of pregnancy. LOL

A photo recap below: 

This was our second trip to the island. We traveled to Samui back in May with the Duvall gals and loved it so much we decided to return. The flight is super short and the island has a much more laid back vibe than other places in Thailand we've visited. 

We stayed at the lovely Sixth Senses. We were even given a room upgrade because we were visiting during the low season. Woo! 

Michael most certainly enjoyed himself... :)

We pretty much spent the majority of our time hopping between our pool villa and the main pool, listening to tunes and playing the guitar, napping and hanging at the resort bar for cocktail/mocktail hour and a game of scrabble or jenga before dinner. Life is good. 

Outside of all that relaxing we did manage to head into town for a beautiful, local dinner on the beach.  

The popular Fisherman's Village is the perfect spot for strolling, light shopping and some fresh local cuisine. We treated ourselves to the best mango sticky rice of all time from a small cart on the street. There's nothing better.  

More snaps from around the pool. Michael was such a good sport - the wrath of taking unflattering photos of a pregnant woman in a swimsuit is no joke ;-)

MUAH! 

Having had a very successful journey into Fisherman's Village, we decided to venture out again to nearby Chaweng Beach. Spring breakers take note, this is where you want to be in Koh Samui! Tired pregnant ladies? Not so much. We took a long walk on the beach and had some laughs, but quickly scurried back to the sanctuary of our resort. Wow, are we getting old or what. 

Thanks again for the magical stay, Koh Samui. I have very found memories, photographs and about 85 mosquito bites to remember you by. 

Coming up: a quick weekend and wedding in Hong Kong, the big 3-0 and just a handful of short weeks before we journey home for the holidays! 

So much love. 

XO,

CD

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