The holidays are here!

It's finally December and we can officially start celebrating the holidays like normal people, and not freakishly overzealous holiday people! Who am I kidding -- I've been using Eggnog flavored creamer, Sugar Cookie and Eggnog flavored teas (yes, teas. And they taste as weird as they sound), a gingerbread candle, and soaking up all the other holiday flavors (and hoarding pumpkin spice creamer) for weeks now. Above is the Bath and Body works candle I've been obsessed with for the past week or so. The peppermint scent (which I usually dislike) isn't strong at all and it smells more like an everlasting delicious mug of hot cocoa or a batch of chocolate cookies baking in the oven. Try it out, it's my new favorite holiday scent!

I'm a little sad that I'm going to be missing the traditions of Dec. 25 and NYE here at home this year, but I'm also excited to go back to China for winter break! It'll be the first time I've been back in two years (in winter nonetheless, we usually only go back in summer), and I'm looking forward to seeing my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins & spouses again as I get older and prioritize them more each year. I also take it for granted that my entire family here (mom, dad, sister) can go too because there was a chance my dad wouldn't have been able to go back with us this year! My sister and I have gotten older and started living our own lives in the past few years which makes it increasingly hard to travel together as a family, so I'm still thankful we're still able to go back together this year (albeit all taking different flights, landing in Beijing on different dates, sigh). And also looking forward to doing nothing but eating, shopping, and getting pampered every day!

What else have I been up to? Trying to focus on school even though it's my least favorite topic -- cardiology. It's basically a repeat of last year now with all the drugs added in. Something about the heart just doesn't interest me as much as the other systems. Maybe it's the instructors, maybe it's the language they use (everything is a variation of increased/decreased contractility, inotropy, rate, force, volume, etc). Ooh, I just realized it all has to do with very physics oriented terms, and I hated physics! That's it! However, I did shadow a cardiologist today at the Asian American clinic we go to, and you can't deny that you're indispensable to your patients when you're a cardiologist.

I'll leave you with some pics we took over Thanksgiving break with my dad's new DSLR camera. He got hooked when he tried my uncle's and then decided to order one himself before Thanksgiving. After seeing the new James Bond flick and pregaming the big meal with our own mini-Thanksgiving lunch, we decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, dress up, make ourselves up, and do a photoshoot like our favorite bloggers! Enjoy.

 About 80% of the pictures were of my dog. But doesn't Charlie look so majestic here? Like he's on a Scottish moor? 

 Frolicking in the pine trees in our backyard, pretending we're in an AE ad. 

 "Pretend like you're emerging from the woods and see something scary!"

Yoyo's breakfast cookies

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies (no flour or added sugars!)

These are the perfect breakfast or after dinner snack. Made with oats, pure pumpkin, applesauce, and mashed bananas for sweetness, they have no added sugars or flour. Add protein powder or flax seed for extra nutritional punch and lasting power. I grab one of these on my way out the door, and there's no need to make oatmeal and clean a bowl. And if I make the patties bigger next time, they'll fill you up until lunch! The best part, they're only about 120 calories each. 

Ingredients:
-2-3 medium bananas, mashed
-2/3 cup pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
-1 dish of unsweetened applesauce (about 1/3 cup)
-1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter
-1 3/4 cup oats
-1 scoop Vanilla protein powder
-1 tsp vanilla abstract
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 T pumpkin pie spice (or a couple shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg)
-4-5 chocolate chips for the top of each one

Mix all the wet ingredients together, then add the oats and mix until everything is covered. Let the mixture rest for 10-20 minutes. Then form patties with your hands (cookies will not spread very much, so form them as big as you want to eat them.) Put 4-5 semi-sweet or white (or whatever flavor you want) chips on the top of each. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Mine were perfect at 25 minutes. Let rest on cookie sheet for 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool. This batch made about 14 cookies that I've been nomming on for the past week! The perfect protein packed grab-and-go breakfast.

Wedding weekend

This weekend I went to the wedding of one of my childhood friends, Rachel. We've known each other since 5th grade, when our parents first dragged us along to that Asian  party where all the kids were relegated to the basement. We spent that night eating, playing cards, Mafia, charades, the Sock Game, pushing each other off the couches, and laughing the night away. I still remember that night more than 12 years ago, because it was the start of a friendship that now feels more like family. We would see each other every holiday season, with Thanksgiving at their house and New Year's Eve at my house, adding/subtracting some new kids every year, but up until college, it was always the core group of my sister and I, Rachel, and our friend Andy J. After we all went to our respective colleges, our group sort of fragmented, but we would still see Rachel almost every year at Thanksgiving, which I now always associate with her house and catching up with her again.

When she wasn't at her house for Thanksgiving, she was at her then boyfriend Robert's house, and last year she and Robert got engaged! My family and I had the privileged of attending her beautiful wedding in Long Island yesterday and I could not be happier for my childhood friend who's a married woman! When I saw the gold band on her finger yesterday, I had to pinch myself that this girl that I grew up with is now married. But such is life, right? This was actually my first ever wedding, and I get the feeling I'm going to be spoiled for every wedding I attend afterwards. Not only was it my first wedding, it was my first Jewish wedding, which now I realize is very different from a traditional (aka everything I've seen on TV) Christian wedding. No exchanging of vows, no "you may now kiss the bride," no "I now pronounce you man and wife!" But nonetheless, it was obvious there was so much love between the bride and groom. I only hope I can be so lucky to find someone like they've found each other.

After the ceremony, there was cocktail hour with heavy hour d'oeuvres (including Peking Duck, assorted stir fries, sushi, egg rolls, spare ribs, bao zi, jiao zi, all sorts of Asian goodies) before we all proceeded into the banquet hall for the reception, which was absolutely gorgeous. Sky high autumnal colored centerpieces decorated the tables with floating flowers and candles surrounding them. Once we found our tables, we were ushered to the dance floor, where the party started right away! I had expected a formal dinner first followed by dancing, but I think this was a really good idea in that they staggered the dancing and three courses so we weren't stuffed to the brim by the time it was time to get on the dance floor (even though I was already stuffed from appetizers, oops). Surprisingly, they started out with the traditional Jewish dances (the Horah) and the whole lifting of the bride and groom on the chairs, which was a blast! Throughout the whole night, I had SO much fun, even though I knew like, 5% of the people there (I only knew a couple family friends there, the rest of the guests were mainly the bride and groom's extended family and their friends from Yale). I literally I can't imagine how fun a wedding would be with people I actually knew!

Here are some pics from my phone. My dad finally bought a fancy DSLR camera, so there are better pics from him, but these are all I have now.

 Driving past NYC on the way there

 Waiting for Rachel to walk down the aisle

These centerpieces probably cost a gazillion dollars each

With the beautiful bride! So much love.

After the wedding, JJ and I couldn't help fantasizing about our own weddings (our parents were like, can you just have a combined wedding plz?), but Rachel's wedding has done nothing but to build up our expectations for future weddings and spoil us for life :) All in all, I had such a fun weekend venturing into the world of weddings and celebrating such a happy occasion. I know Rachel and Robert will have a happy life ahead of them (even though I will miss her at all of our family gatherings). Mazel tov!