my drink of the summer: strawberry coconut negroni

+ getting sappy about my parents and their travel dreams

i always joke that one of my dreams is to ‘retire’ when my parents retire so i can travel with them. there’s so much of the world to experience and limited time to experience it together.

now and then, i feel this slight tinge of guilt. i’ve had the opportunity to see and experience many more places than they have and none of that would have been possible if it wasn’t for them.

my parents didn’t really start traveling until i was in college. thoughout my childhood, a mix of my mom’s chronic health conditions, time, and money prevented them doing so. while we would do roadtrips here and there, flying internationally was too $$$. over the last few years, my mom’s health picture has improved a little, they no longer have to financially support two kids, and with airbnbs and budget travel airlines, i feel like the financial options for traveling have also expanded.

one of my parents’ hobbies during the pandemic (and even now!) was watching youtube videos and guides of different cities and countries. my dad has this thing where he plays cctv videos from random cities (i didn’t even realize these videos existed lolll) in the background while he works or cooks just to get a glimpse of different palces. he can’t wait to retire and visit these places. i really really hope that he has the opportunity to experience all of this.

i think their generation was very much raised with the mentality of work + grind until you retire, and then you get to do all the fun things. i’ve tried to get them to do more pre-retirement and it feels like it’s finally working! whenever i see them these days, they’re always talking about future travel plans. there aren’t words that appropriately describe how happy i am that they’re finally starting to live out their dreams :’)))))

noodlings of the week

• cooking: lol we’ll go with a win and a non-win. win: i finally made my friend’s strawberry coconut negroni recipe and it was 11/10 (recipe below!). non-win i tried a gochujang-preserved lemon salmon dish and uhhh it was a solid 5/10.

• eating: my friend daniel of fish sauce boogie hosted his first popup this week and everything was so freaking good especiaaally the bò né toast with chuck roast beef, beef jus, tomatoes, pork pate, and miso aioli. i’m also now obsessed with the bon jerk snacks pork jerky and want to find it to incorporate into supper club dishes

• drinking: my other friend sunny developed drinks for the fish sauce boogie popup. we ordered all of them to try. my fave had crab, chili, cognac, citrus, fish sauce, mezcal… sounds wild, was delicious.

• wearing: this nike bodysuit has been one of my favorite purchases — i love that it’s sporty-casual but still has a fun design element to it

• doing: believe it or not i’ve gone golfing 3 times this week.. once on my own! without boy! that was a first. i even dragged my parents to the driving range at mariners point in san mateo (my first time there) and really liked that range! it’s spacious and has those fancy ball trackers. 

strawberry coconut negroni