Partner In Crime's 21st

Last weekend I visited one of my close friends, Huyen, in Chicago for her 21st birthday and to simply get away from Minnesota for a bit. It was quite an eventful weekend. 

I took the megabus for the first time. It did not have wifi but it has a plug-in at every seat, which is great since my phone's battery dies quickly. My butt was very numb and aching on this 8 hour drive. I used my vikings blanket as a cushion for the last couple hours. I arrived at Union Station at around 6 am and I had to take the taxi to her apartment. We took a little nap. Then we went to eat Dim Sum at Shi Wuah in Chitown. Next we went to her friend's condo which was where the party was going to be at. It right by Lake Shore in downtown and her friend pays $1500 a month! Rich kid. Huyen and I walked all the way to Pinkberry for the most delicious fro-yo EVER! Oh my god I am craving it so badly now. We got ready for the party and then headed to dinner at Bucca. I met some more of her friends and they turned out to be super friendly. You never know with greek people. After dinner we went back to the condo to celebrate the birthday with drinking. 

 It was fun hanging out with my cousin Christine again. Huyen knocked out by 10:30 pm with 6 shots and we got there at like 9:30...?? FAIL. Christine and I went downstairs to have a smoke with John. He went to get more cigarettes from his car. 20 minutes passed. 30 minutes passed. 40 minutes passed. We decided to go upstairs and wait for him. We came upstairs to chaos. People were puke-drunk, sprawled on the floor, freaking out about a lost phone. I took care of these people, good way to kill a buzz by the way. We cleaned up the puke and the party room. John got lost apparently haha. Albert, who was drunk, was trying to find him by talking to him on the phone. 2 drunks on the phone, of course that convo went in circles. We still had 6 full bottles left. 

Saturday we got lunch at Cafe Hoang. Then I got Durian bubbletea from Joy-Yee. We drove Huyen's boyfriend, Kelvin, back home to Buffalo Grove and had dinner there. More rich people lol. The steak was amazingly good. We went back to the city and hit up the hookah lounge with Brian and Albert. We reminisced on the stories from the night before. Very funny doing so. 

I was suppose to leave Sunday morning, but Huyen convinced me to stay. I slept in to miss the bus and ended up having to pay for another ticket home later that night. But it turned out to be worth it. I ate her parents' cooking. Then we went shopping at 2 outlet malls, Gurnee Hill and Pleasant Prairie. I got my cartilage pierced, bought shoes, and a coach purse. It was an additional 50% off for the purse, and then an extra 30% off; I couldn't help myself!!! We had dinner at Lao Sze Chuan for Hotpot. I met up with My-phuong after while I got fro-yo at Joy-yee Plus. I was really glad I got to see My-Phuong before I left.

Here's what makes paying for another ticket home worth it. Just as we are about to head to the Union Station, Huyen's car dies. Not only that, her car doesn't have a manual trunk opener or a key. There is a button in her club compartment and it only works if the car works. So someone else could not drive me to the bus stop. FML. My bus was leaving at  9:45 pm and it was 9:15 pm. FML again. None of us knew how to exactly jumpstart a car. The first car, we could not find the battery at all. After a while, we realized hey we can use Albert's car. So slow lol. After all the commotion, I had less than 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. Of course, Albert's GPS took us in a circle before we were moving in the right direction. One bad thing after another right?? I believe I got to Union Station at 9:45 pm, Thank God they were running late. I made it onto the bus barely. Because I made it, looking back at it all, it was hilarious. Just my luck. 

Like I said, it was quite an eventful weekend for me but I had a lot of fun and I met a lot of really cool people. Good Ol' Chicago.

UNAVSA

I recently attended the UNAVSA, Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations, conference in Denver, Colorado. It was a great experience. I met a lot of people from all regions of the country; New Orleans (they are crazy wild!), Oregon, Oklahoma, California, Virginia, Canada, much more! They asked me if I knew what a beach looked like -__- midwest myth I guess lol. I also was on staff for entertainment committee, I learned a lot. Downtown Denver is so clean and the weather was super nice. The closing ceremony was bittersweet. We sat in a giant circle with an inner circle and started singing "Stand By Me" together when it played on the sound system. We were all super bummed out to have to go back home. I miss the conference. UNAVSA will be in Minneapolis next year, so excited! :D

Super delicious burger from Cherry Cricket

Went to Coyote Ugly

2-4-1 yummy fishbowls!

Exploring Denver

Blew up 200+ balloons for the dance

Before the dance with Double D

After the Dance

I met My-Phuong, love her!

Tuuuuuuuurtle family

Midwest buddies

Really yummy Pho; Pho 95

"Show me your ass" - Mooning Moments

"My-Phuong, will you marry me?" - she said no haha

Rest stop - Midwest driving back together

Right before the Wolfpack split up

Hates The Sounds That Goodbye's Make

July

We went to my cousin's in Apple Valley to celebrate Independence Day. There was so much food! Super yummy food! We were out on the lake for like 4-5 hours. We had so many water toys, floats, and boats this year. I got really, really tan, yay! My cousin Hiep got epic fireworks. The craziest thing happened. One of the fireworks tipped over and blew up at us. It was so scary!! It was like in a movie, everybody was running for their life. Poor Wonder got burnt on his stomach and Michelle had her hair burnt. But overall we were all okay thankfully. Now, Wonder is foever scarred with my love Haha. Besides that little incident, it was such a fun day.



On actual July 4th day, we went to go see fireworks at Stone Arch Bridge. My first time. And then we went back to the condo. We watched The Hangover and ate pizza.


The second week of July was a farewell week for me because Michelle was going to Korea for the rest of summer and Wonder was going to Malaysia for good.

Tuesday- We went to Bdubs, Psycho Suzi's, and Karaoke. I lost my check card that night.

Wednesday- We went to Sally's for free drinks hour. I got really drunk somehow with a terrible hangover the whole next day.
Thursday- We went to the Library Bar and Sathya's. I made Wonder a photobook as his going away present and it turned out really nice! I put a sweet quote on the cover "Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. Goodbyes are before meeting again. Meeting again is certian for friends." It's so cute. I ended up going to the 3:15 AM showing of Harry Potter. I was super sleepy at first but the movie got so interesting. It was so good! So sad that it's all over now ;(

Friday- We went to Elixir. I got a Pink shirt. I had a lot of fun dancing.

Saturday- We had one last dinner gathering. And then Michelle and Han left for Korea.
Sunday- Went to Bdubs and watched Women's soccer. Then we had dinner with my bro at The Loop.
Monday- Wonder and I went to lunch together at I-Moto, or in Wonder's words E-Moto. LOL I helped him pack a little bit. Then we went to Sally's for Wonder's final gathering. He gave me a kiss goodbye and that was that. It is what it is.

Let's look back at the first 6 months of my 2011.


Celebrated New Year's with a party bus for the first time.
30 people + 3 bar stops + lots of liquor + pole dancing + shirts getting ripped off + a super fun experience = $27!!



I moved out on my own to Jefferson at Berry. I live with Ilene, Cherie, and Daisy.


Went to Gala with John Ballerstatus. Huyen came to visit too. Someone stepped on my foot on the dancefloor and it is still healing!



I celebrated my 21st birthday. I went all out with the drinking, TOO MUCH ALL OUT. 10 shots plus beer&barcadi in less than 30 minutes and I am a shorty. My good friends took care of me. I made it into my bed at the end of the night, well my friends carried me there. My hangover lasted for almost a week. Learned my lesson. But go big or go home right?

Before and After


I performed in the Tet Show, Vietnamese New Year show we put on every year, with VSAM modern. It was really fun in our colorful outfits.



I went to Charles' birthday at 7Sushi Lounge. Too posh of a scene for me. Charles group spent $1500 on drinks before I even got there. Afterwards, Michelle, Han, Wonder, and I got 40 piece chicken nuggest and 5 large fries. Gotta love the simpler life.



I booked a bus ticket and visited Iowa in Iowa. It was probably the most spontaneous thing I have done so far. New beginnings.......maybe.


My brother celebrated his birthday at Whiskey Park. I rode a mechanical bull for the first time. We played tippy cup. And I got to see my hubby's awesome dance moves....not really, but Wonder dancing like crazy.



I celebrated St. Patrick's day at Burrito Loco. They served lucky charms instead of popcorn. And we got bead necklaces, just by asking ;)


VIA-1, a Vietnamese conference, was in Urbana Champaign Illinois this year. It was okay....I met more people than last year I guess. I did get to perform at the banquet with VSAM modern. That was a rush.



Michelle had a hotel party for her birthday. We wore matching skirts. She made a womp that was super strong. And of my course my wonderful hubby attempted to make me a pizza with the dishwasher haha



MAASU was next. A spring conference for the Midwest asians. I was group leader, we were Electabuzz! Traphik, Lil crazed, and J. Reyez performed together at the end of the banquet. Everyone rushed to the stage. It was so crazy.



In April, my family lost our dog Ruby. She ran away and we found her a couple days later laying in a median on Canterbury Road. I think she froze to death. I cried for about 2 months. It's kind of like losing a kid. I really adored her. I miss her so much every day.



I played for PSA this year for Ricebowl, flag football tourney. It was raining and freezing the entire day. Only towards the end of the day did the sun come out. We were one game away from the championship. We lost to KSA, with people from MAAC. I have always hated KSA.



My dad graduated with his associate's degree! Really proud of him.



Michelle' friend, Hannah, came to visit from Boston. We went to Stone Arch Bridge, the walkout at the Guthrie, and shopping in uptown.



I attended a little banquet for the Asian Business Council my siblings are a part of at Target Corp. It was held at the IDS tower; 50th floor! It was an amazing experience. It gave me an inside view on Target and how they are really trying to make changes and make a difference culturally. I met two designers, Dao-Yi Chow and Richard Chai. Chow is chinese who has worked for Ecko, Vibe Magazine, and Sean Jean (P.Diddy). He opened his own line called Public School. Chai is Korean who has worked with Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. His own line is called Richard Chai Love. Both their stories were so inspiring and I knew where they were coming from when it comes to family. Not every asian wants to follow the Medical and Law route. But we all want to make our parents proud and not have all their sacrifices for us go to waste. It was really great to hear from these two very successful designers with similar background as me. The food served was so amazing and delicious!! Love culture!



Celebrated Dan Doan's birthday. It was the most fun and the most hilarious Tuesday night I think I have ever had. Dan was trying to teach Andrew how to pronounce his Vietnamese name, and Andrew was hella struggling. So Funny.



I took summer classes. This is the first time ever doing school in the summer. I did not enjoy it very much, not surprising of course. But it felt nice to have that in my schedule versus just working a part-time job all summer.