A Nonsense Christmas

December 12, 2024

Last week I won tickets to attend a special screening of Sabrina Carpenter’s Netflix Special: A Nonsense Christmas! I applied but didn’t think I’d actually get it because my answer for wanting to attend was so lazy: “I love Sabrina Carpenter and think she’s hot!” Alas, I got in and was able to take my sister with me. I mainly wanted to go because I had an inkling feeling that she was going to be there at the screening, especially since she had just finished her North American leg of her tour and had said during her NYC performance back in September, “I live here now.” I gambled and long story short, I made out on top because I just died when she came out to surprise us! Everyone in the room was screaming and it was just amazing to be in the same room as her.

We got into the city just in time that evening as her priority line for the event opened and was checked in within 10 minutes of arriving. The lines looked long but they moved fast and efficiently as they scanned our tickets, gave us cute seating cards, wristbands, Sabrina Santa hats and glitter dusted popcorn! There was a cute little photo op set up in the lobby but unfortunately they weren’t allowing us to take photos as we walked in, claiming we would have time at the end but then they rushed us out at the end too so honestly why did you even have that set up? They should have had it set up outside instead for people waiting on line to have something cute to do. They rushed us into the theater which, while it had ample seating for everyone, was a very small space to sardine us all into. I’m so used to being spoiled to stadium seating movie theaters with reclining seats and ample space. Being all bundled up because it was so cold, I felt so squished in my seat with all my layers and winter wear. It was hard to move in and out of our seats too, because every time you want to get up, the whole aisle has to get up too for you to move. I got up a few times because the screening didn’t start for an hour and a half so everyone was still standing around taking photos. Luckily the girls in our aisle were really sweet and didn’t give us a hard time. They were up and excited too! Honestly the fans I talked to around us that night were all really sweet and excited to be there. Everyone was also dressed really nice too due to the dress code on the invitation requiring you comply or not be let in, although I’m not sure why they did this since it’s not like anyone was really checking what you wore anyway and we were all just going to sit in a dark auditorium to watch a movie. The promotion for this event advertised photo ops but there weren’t any, lol. I guess they just wanted us to look nice to represent her fanbase but after attending her concert, I can tell you they always dress up.

The event was supposed to start at 7:15pm but didn’t start till about 7:35 when the producer came out to talk to us and then she said, “I wish I could thank Sabrina herself…” and then the door opened and a lone security guard came through and we all felt so let down and then literally a second later, she came walking through and everyone started screaming through the roof. It was insane. I was so happy. She talked to us for a good few minutes giving us background info and inspiration behind the making of the special and then she kissed us all goodbye. Man. In retrospect, I should have left the theater when she did and followed her all around NYC that night, lol. We found out she kissed a fan outside and a few people got selfies who didn’t get into the screening so I’m not sure who’s luckier, them or us.

But honestly, I’m very happy because in the course of a year, I was able to see and be in the same room with her 3 times after becoming a fan last year. It’s crazy. Govball, her NYC concert and now this. It’s insane. Last year she was just a suggested artist on my Spotify and this year she BLEW UP. She’s doing amazingly successful and I’m so happy for her because given all that’s been doing this year, she’s working really freaking hard for it so it’s kudos to her for it finally paying off.

Sometimes I feel like if I just got my shit together and started pushing myself to my potential (even though I don’t want to), I could and would be much more comfortable and financially secure. But I always ask myself is it worth the risk of my sanity and well-being? I did the workaholic girl boss thing when I graduated and it honestly brought me no joy or fulfillment of anything. Just more feelings of stress and anxiety. I feel much happier now where I’m at, but I still stress over (albeit different) a lot things. It’s a pick your poison but for now, I do enjoy my peace of mind and better quality of life for lower effort.

But I digress!

Back to the special. It’s almost an hour long and it’s filled with Sabrina singing her own Christmas songs and covering some classics. There are a bunch of duets and a few little skits, but for the fashion lover in me, the wardrobe is what got me. She’s absolutely stunning in everything she wears. From her cute little Marilyn Monroe-esque opener, to the cute little bodysuits, to the sparkly dresses. I wish I could buy all her bodysuits, especially her glitter ones from her tour. I also LOVED that she had Chappell Roan guest duet Last Christmas with her. I honestly didn’t care for the skits as I feel like a boomer who just didn’t get some of the humor. It would’ve been cuter if she had done a continuous skit that connected the entire special but they’re all individrual skits in between songs and sets so it felt a bit random. I was there more for the outfits and the singing but overall I thought it was cute for a Christmas special.

I hope she dose more screenings and events like this in the future and I am manifesting it into my future to run into her one of these days in NYC. I am so jealous of everyone that gets to bump into her or run across her. Although, watch when I finally do, I won’t recognize her because she’s dressed like an average New Yorker in wide leg jeans and oversized hoodie and sunglasses. That’ll be my luck. But I really hope I can meet her in person one day and get a selfie. I love this bitch so much.

Mười Năm

November 9, 2024

This Halloween was our 10 year wedding anniversary. It’s crazy to think it’s been 10 years now since our wedding.

When I originally planned our wedding, it wasn’t really a thought in my mind to incorporate a tea ceremony, or any Vietnamese traditions to be honest. It was an added expense and I was already trying to cut costs where I could to keep the main parts I wanted. I had a very stereotypical modern American wedding and that was expensive enough. My parents also didn’t pressure or even mention that they wanted any Vietnamese aspects included. They were mostly hands-off on the details with the exception of the guest list. I had to fight my mom a lot on that since she wanted to invite the entire neighborhood and all of Vietnam and all their children. I was trying to keep it to people I directly knew and would actually keep in touch with post wedding but allotted both my and his parents some room for invites for their own family/friends. The problem is his family is Irish/Italian which means big families, and my family is Vietnamese meaning they’re absolutely obnoxious as interpreting weddings like house parties where you can bring anyone and everyone. In the end, the wedding was relatively small compared to the grandeur of American weddings but still bigger than a small intimate affair.

In retrospect, I still absolutely love everything about my wedding, but wished I had pushed to do a much smaller affair. And simultaneously, given how much fighting was had between my mom and I, I know it would’ve been a much more arduous fight that I wouldn’t have the energy for.

In 2018, we vacationed in Paris for a week and took the opportunity to do a shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower in our wedding attire. It made me realize this was actually more what I wanted. I just wanted gorgeous photos of us in the most romantic place in the world and all we really needed was each other. If I had to do it over, elopement I would say, is the more romantic and cost-effective route. Although at the same time, I still would want my closest friends and family there. So I don’t regret anything about my wedding because I’m glad all my favorite people were there to celebrate the day with us, and many of them I truly still keep in touch with to this day. I would have liked to have had a destination wedding, but that’s also a big commitment to expect your closest friends and family to fly out and spend that kind of money to attend your wedding. So I guess looking back, it worked out. I had my big wedding with all my family and friends, and still was able to have my dreamy intimate photoshoot in Paris.

This got me thinking a few years ago when I saw other Vietnamese ceremony photos on the Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits where Asians from all over the globe share their lives and stories. It made me regret not having a tea ceremony a little. But then I realized it wasn’t that I really wanted the tea ceremony because I remember why I chose not to do it. I didn’t want to wake up any earlier than I already had to, to get ready the day of. I didn’t want to spend more money on more wedding outfits, an entire morning ceremony because it does cost a lot with all the different gifts and the food involved. What I really wanted, like Paris, was photos of us in traditional Vietnamese outfits. So I thought what if we just did a photoshoot? It was perfect. I got in contact with my wedding photographer whom I’ve become good friends with and stayed in touch with the past decade as well. I still absolutely love my wedding photos from him to this day because he has the extraordinary magic touch to make us look good in every single photo somehow. Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of the photographers I’ve shot with over the years, but there are a small few who have the magical ability to create photographic alchemy. With Steven, I rarely have photos I want to skip or delete. He somehow knows all my angles, the perfect lighting no matter what time of day or conditions we have to shoot in, the perfect touch, how to capture the little details, everything. So it only made sense since he was there from the very beginning at our first couples’ shoot together; our engagement shoot. It was from that shoot alone that I knew he was a wizard. I remember receiving my photos and going crazy about them and immediately using them for our save the dates and our wedding invitations.

I reached out to Steven last year about this little project and he was totally down to help set this into motion. Then I got lucky earlier this year when my mom decided to go to Vietnam for Lunar New Year. I asked her to have the custom outfits made for us and she was able to commission them in time and gifted them to us upon her return. She even had a little hat made for Banh Mi, which probably was the oddest request for the little shop she used, lol. And then this summer, I was able to find the perfect location and secured a permit to shoot this project, at the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Staten Island.

The unfortunate thing was, the day of the shoot, somehow we hit an insane amount of traffic trying to get there, which forced our already small window of time to shoot at the garden to be even more limited. We were supposed to have 2 hours, but unfortunately we ended up only having 15 minutes left before the garden was to close. Luckily, between the really nice staff there allowing us an extra 15 minutes, and this not being our first rodeo (we’ve done so many couple shoots over the years now and have nailed down our go to couple poses and luckily my husband is a natural at this lol), and Steven having an extremely amazing eye for the shot and talent, we were able to work quickly and kill the shoot. I finally received the photos back last month and was trying so hard not to post them right away because they were meant to be posted our on our wedding anniversary. It was really hard holding these back because they came out so phenomenal. I’m so happy we were able to execute this project and I’ll treasure these for years to come. Who knows what we’ll pull off for the next milestone anniversary? 😉

If you’re looking for amazing engagement, wedding, or any couples photography, Steven of Sage Studios Photography is your guy. I wish he lived closer to me because I would work with him all the time if I could, but maybe it’s good because my husband would probably cry if I made him do all these shoots more often than we already do, lol. But I’m thankful I’m married to a good sport who believes in happy wife, happy life and entertains all the silly ideas and shoots I always want to do. I got lucky and he entertained me with not one, but TWO shoots this year and I can’t wait to share those photos soon too since that was also another shoot I’ve been excited to do for a while.

Studio Sukoon

October 18, 2024

Last November at Anime NYC, I stumbled upon Studio Sukoon, the cutest booth selling these kawaii fruity pebbles scented candles. I bought a cute little bunny and a cute cake candle and it’s been in my bathroom since because I love the way it smells and how cute it looks. A month later, I learned they offered a candle making workshop for decorating gingerbread house candles but unfortunately I couldn’t make any of the dates. Recently this year, they started offering more classes to decorate cake candles and this fall, they’re offering a new pumpkin cake candle class so obviously I signed myself right up!

As soon as I saw the instagram reel on the seasonally offered exclusive, I knew I had to do it. And since my Disney World vacation was cancelled last week due to Hurricane Milton wreaking havoc on Florida, my October calendar suddenly freed up and I was able to do more fall activities that I’ve been wanting to do, like this class and signed up for the first one offering the new pumpkin candle.

We showed up 5 minutes late due to traffic but still made it to the class without missing any crucial information. We had enough time to pick out all our pieces, learn how to practice pouring our wax a drops and practice a few times before finalizing our candles and still have extra time left over before the class officially ended, so honestly you have more than enough time for your session.

Upon entering the studio, there are tables set up with all the tools you need ready. You have your tray to collect your deco pieces, tweezers, a revolving cake stand, silicone practice cake base, cup of wax, and even a little sample sheet with designs in case you need some inspiration. There are also shelves with premade candles for sale, displayed to give you more ideas. If you're drawing a blank, I'd recommend watching their Instagram reels and tagged photos for ideas from previously made designs from past visitors.

First you’ll head over to the shelves with the bottled scents. You can smell each one and decide which one you want for your candle. There were various scents available from cozy warm fall scents to fruity, fresh cotton and floral so there was a nice variety.Then underneath that shelf, you’ll pick your candle base. For this session, there were pumpkin bases and round cake bases available. The pumpkins were available in two shades of orange, a pastel orange and one a slight tinge darker (probably due to mixing different batches). The round cake bases were available in a wider range of colors; pink, yellow, green, blue and purple. They were set up in an aesthetic rainbow order for you to pick from. I picked the princess peach scent to go with my pumpkin candle even though they did have a few fall scents to choose from but unfortunately I’m more of a fresh light floral scent girly than warm fall smells. Odd, I know. I’m not that crazy about pumpkin spice scents and flavors as much as I love October and Halloween.

Once you select your scent and base, you can return them to your table and grab your tray and head over to the tables with trays and trays of candle deco pieces. You can pick as many as you’d like, and your tray even comes with a circle template so you can brainstorm how you want to arrange the pieces as you try to select a theme/design to put it altogether. The circle template was meant more for the cake candles so I found that I may have overestimated how many I could fit on my pumpkin candle. But no worries, it’s always better to have extra pieces so you can improvise as you decorate.

After you have all your pieces picked out, you can return to your table and watch a small tutorial from Jessica, Studio Sukoon’s founder, on how to mix your scents with your wax and know when the consistency is right and ready to pour on top of your candle, and how to create that “drip” effect. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time. You get a silicone cake mold to practice on and the wax stays just the right consistency just long enough for you to get a few practices in before you decide to finally pull the trigger on your actual candle. If you don’t like how your drips are coming out, simply take your popsicle stick and scrape it back into your cup, mix it up with the remaining wax and try again. If your wax starts to solidify too much, just raise your hand and Jessica will be right over to help soften the wax up.

When you’re finally ready to commit to your candle, the fun part comes into play. You pour, pour, pour, and then use your popsicle stick to guide the drips as you rotate the cake stand. Once the drips are to your liking, grab your tweezer and decorate that baby up with your deco pieces! You can always get up and get more pieces too if you think it’s just not enough. I decorated my pumpkin with just a light drip effect and a pastel Halloween theme. I wax-glued a cute little pink hat to my cute trick or treating ghost, added a matching pink gravestone, cute bunny (because duh), mini pumpkin, pink hearts in the middle with some candles surrounding it almost like a witch’s love potion/spell being cast. I accented the back with some cute leaves sticking out for a pop of fall color. And then I added a pink bow in front because why not, lol. I was going to add stars and cake swirls but then realized it would’ve been way too busy (I know, I know, who am I kidding) and the drip effect wouldn’t been seen as well anymore. In the end, I think my cute little design makes for a cute Halloween. Very demure. (It's since replaced my bunny candle in the bathroom and I love how it looks to add a seasonal pop of personality that's more to my touch than the regular basic girl pumpkin spice fall decor.)

At some point, Jessica will be around to help “glue” your candle to a base to place inside a clear box to help transport home after your done. The glue is just more wax, to help keep the candle in place but not affect the design of your candle.

As soon as you’re done decorating, you can let it cool and enjoy this time to take as many pics as you want of your creation, and browse the rest of the store. I ended up buying cute little mini versions of our candles because they were just so cute.

I do want to note that this was not sponsored, my sister and I booked and paid for this experience on our own, and I do want to mention that it is a bit pricey at $65 per person for the class, but when you get there, you’ll see why. The price includes the cost of materials of the candle you’re making and unlimited pieces to choose from and use to decorate (you don’t have to pay per piece as it’s all one inclusive pricing), the scents provided, and the packaging to help transport it home safely in while it dries without touching anything. You’ll see the table where Jessica pours all her love into as she handmakes all these pieces herself and it’s a LOT of work. From mixing all the colors and testing scents and making all the deco pieces from all the molds and hand painting all the tiny details, it’s a one woman show and you can tell it’s a labor of love. While being a pricy experience, I would definitely recommend it and plan on going back again for another holiday session.

What I love about this unique experience is you get to bring home your own custom creation and every candle is unique. I haven’t seen anything so cute like this anywhere else. There’s so many combinations of colors, scents, designs and even the drips are unique to each maker’s skill level. It’s a fun activity to do with friends and family or even a cute date night. I made this part of our sister date night and it was a lot of fun learning to do this together. I also love knowing that through these classes you’re supporting an AAPI female-owned small business with eco-friendly sustainable practices as they re-use, recycle and upcycle all of their materials, as well as donate a portion of their earnings monthly to animal rescues/shelters. The class is offered several times throughout the month, with weekends always selling out so if you’re interested in doing this, I suggest signing up asap. I’m excited to sign up this December for their gingerbread house workshop and finally get to check that off my bucket list!