A 79th B-day, Homemade Cake, and Citrus Orgy

Happy 79th Birthday, dear and lovely Grandma! I wonder whether or not I'll be back home next year...

*interruption by the realization that I must go knead my dough*

Wow, here I am seriously considering whether or not to partake in "Senior Ditch Day - YOLO" tomorrow. Me, being the "good girl" and never having had done anything "YOLO"-inspired ever, wonders how exactly to carry this out. Do I have to call in sick? Do I come to school for a couple of minutes to turn in whatever is due?  But would that actually defeat the purpose? I laugh at myself.

Well, I can justify my ditching tomorrow with the reason being that I need to catch up with my schoolwork. That makes perfect sense right? I have no insidious and rebellious motivation behind "ditching." I might not even be technically "ditching," but simply taking an extra day to do schoolwork, which I would be doing anyways if I were at school sans passing periods, commute, etc. So this would actually be a more efficient alternative to going to school, right?

Ahem, now, anyways, back to the post. Senioritis has many benefits, and I actually attribute my recent mood of introspection and general happiness to it (as well as the creating the time to bake, etc). First of all, although we started the day a bit late because I stayed up pretty late/early (midnight creativity strikes again!) painting my grandma's birthday card. Although we arrived near our reservation time at 12 at Gourmet Village, no one was there, but they all trickled in over the course of the hour. When they arrive, my family remarked on how different I looked--more grown-up (did you do something with your eyebrows?), making me beam, "I am an adult." Laughing, I greeted my family, although sadly sans three of my UC-attending cousins. 

Little cousin shows off his towering height!
Well, as towering as a  5-year-old can be...

Cider + pretty-sure-it's-illegal soup, anyone?

Lobster noodles, squishy noodles. Same difference.

Most beautiful 79-year-old ever.

Peking Duck Sandwich, a delicious classic.

The catfish greets you. 

Some sort of lettuce wrap with diced vegetables and duck?

With crisped rice vermicelli noodles--love that!

Catfish deconstructed?

Big smiles all around!

Feeding little cousin a chocolate leaf while he gives a peace sign
and his mother gives him some remark.

My cakes--sliced! The top cake is a "Happy Mother's Day" cake topped with
chocolate-dipped strawberries and red frosting. Sliced is the toasted coconut
 cake, which, sadly, ended up far too dense.

I thought the food orgy was over after we all left the restaurant, but apparently not. My father decided to spontaneously pay a visit to my grandfather in Milpitas, and the warm weather definitely made it enjoyable. And maybe the bountiful amount of citrus fruits and flowers did too?

Ok, so I'm being a little vain in the car, but
hey, the qi pao is so pretty, and this is the first opportunity I've had to wear it in a year!

Driving on the highway is something that probably won't occur frequently next year...

I was pretty surprised at the dark background
that was the result of a late afternoon shade
over the rosebush!

This is that > rosebush.

My mother and grandfather enjoying a small talk.

Dad is taking a nap in Milpitas.

Young leaves of the lemon tree make for a
refreshing Burmese-style salad

This lilypad-esque leaves do too!

Another patch of tiny flowers peeks
through the ground.

My uncle worked tirelessly to pick
garbage-bag-full quantities of fruits for us!

All sizes of oranges are visible, and I
saw quite a few mutant ones.

Oranges make mom smile.

Apparently my fascination encompasses
 every little thing.

The sun is so bright. Those miniature petals
 that were falling everywhere turned out to
be bugs upon closer inspection...

I wish these sort of trees grew in our backyard!
 I'm so jealous!

And these, too.

Thick-rinded, not too sweet--just the way I enjoyed them.

And presently, I'm preparing to bake of batch of these. And my parents are currently up because they want to spend some more time with me, something they regret that they didn't do with my brother...