Happy 2012!

Happiest happy new year!

What an eventful year 2011 was for me: I tried my first case in the clinic I was in at law school, I graduated law school, I moved to California with R, I took and passed the bar, I was sworn into the California State Bar making me an actual real lawyer, I got a new job, and I started this blog.  Whew.  I’m excited to see what 2012 brings!

The end of 2011 was lovely.  R and I had a special first Christmas Eve dinner together.

Roast crispy duck with soy sauce, honey, molasses glaze.

The combination of a very long trip to Best Buy on Christmas Eve and a still partially frozen duck even after it had been thawing in the fridge for three days pushed back dinner to 10:30pm.  R was such a gentleman though and didn’t complain one bit even though I know he was probably starving.  I followed the instructions from The Hungry Mouse.  It was good, but some parts were a bit dry.  The legs were awesome though and now I got a big jar of duck fat in the fridge I’m dying to cook with.

Duck, fresh French bread, roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar glaze and dried cranberries. Not pictured: duck pate

I also made some pate with the tiny itty bitty liver that came inside the duck and some brussels sprouts with a balsamic vinegar glaze and dried cranberries courtesy of the Pioneer Woman’s recipe.  I liked the flavor, but next time I think I’ll just saute them in a hot pan like R normally does.  They are far less mushy that way.

Christmas morning, we were off to visit our families: me to the Midwest and R to the East Coast.

I still think it’s neat to see how the landscape changes while you’re in the air.

Leaving the ocean.

Canyons.

Mountains.

Flat (It's not much to see from the air, but I still love the Midwest)

After watching a bunch of episodes of Hawaii 50, The Good Wife, and Once Upon a Time (and eating a delicious cheese plate and drinking some decent white wine) courtesy of Virgin America, I was home.

Sweet home Chicago.

I got in some serious relaxation and family time.  Unfortunately, I got pretty sick, but it wasn’t so bad when I had my folks to take care of me, lots of Korean dramas and movies to watch, and this didn’t hurt either:

Portillo's Italian Beef.

The week went by quickly and I was kind of a sappy mess saying goodbye to my parents.  I was back on a flight and had a ridiculously long layover at SFO.  It wasn’t too bad because I kept myself entertained with the Chrome book that the Google reps at ORD were lending out for free to use inflight and return at SFO.

Chrome Book that I rented for free to use free wifi while onboard and at the airport.

I kept myself entertained in other ways too.

Beer and interesting conversations with strangers at Cat Cora at SFO.

What happened here??? This scene was even more haunting after those pints.

Finally landed in LAX and meet up with R and my friend G who is staying with us for January.  After a long travel day, we were beat and ended up ringing in the new year with wine and pizza.  It was pretty perfect.

The next day we continued the new years celebration with a delightful brunch at Geoffery’s Malibu right on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) with some of R’s friends.  Food was tasty, bloody marys were spicy and delicious, and the view was unreal.

Crab cake benedict.

Spicy and not too thin. Just how I like 'em.

Ocean view, blue skies, sunny 80 degree January LA weather.

R decided to take advantage of this unseasonably warm weather and the lovely gift he got from his family (and G’s hearse-like rental car) and get the charcoal grill he’s been wanting since moving out here.

R on 'cue duty.

We feasted on marinated kalbi and samgyeopsal.

K bbq goodness.

New Year's Day dinner.

And, of course, it’s not a new year unless you eat your rice cakes to get a year older.  I still don’t really understand how to calculate Korean ages, but everyone gets a year older on new years day and you eat dduk gook to symbolize that.

Dduk gook.

It was a lovely evening with R and G and a wonderful first day to the new year.

January is going to be super busy and super fun.  With G here for the month and our friend V here for this first week, I’m sure we’ll be having lots of delicious adventures.  Will also be starting that new job and buying a car and maybe going on a couple weekend adventures with G while she’s here.  And on top of all that Michigan is playing in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday!  I am just dizzy from all the excitement.

As challenging as some of 2011 was, I am so very thankful for all of God’s blessings this past year and am excited to see what He’s got planned for 2012!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and the happiest new year’s. Here’s to a memorable 2012 that’s full of happiness, joy, and love!