Wii Are Family*

Growing up, my parents were never really into games. They of course did other things with us like build model rockets and do art projects, but when it came to board games or video games, it was usually just my brother stealing money out of the monopoly bank and I. This is why I was skeptical when my mom kept saying that she wanted the Wii. Would my parents actually play it?

Well the answer turns out to be yes. We got my mom a Wii and Wii fit for her birthday, and it has brought out the competitive side of my parents I never knew existed. After I, the non-engineer of the family, set it up all by myself, we played Wii sports for a good part of the afternoon. In fact, my dad wouldn't let me get back to studying until he finally beat me in Wii bowling (which he won fair and square, Doans don't quit).

At first I thought Wii was a ridiculous name for a gaming system. However, when we are at a point in time when everything seems to becoming more "I"--with the iPhone, iPod, iTouch-- I am glad some technology is promoting a community experience, especially amongst families and across generations. I can't wait to see if my grandma will play against my little cousins at Christmas.

*Apologies for the corniest blog title ever. I couldn't resist.

Turkey Talk

After doing family law cases over the summer and this semester, I am especially thankful for a 'normal' and fun-going family. In addition to copious amounts of food, another Thanksgiving tradition is catching up with my not-so-little-anymore cousins and watching Mighty Ducks with my twenty-two year old brother.

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Cousin Thomas: This is just her 13th birthday. Imagine how bad she will be when turns 16.
Me: Are you going to have a super sweet 16?
Cousin Michelle: Haha. Do you watch that show too? Those girls have such big houses.
Me: That's because they live out in the middle of nowhere.
Michelle: Yeah, like that girl who lived out in the farm . . .
Me: And had the fairytale princess party!
Michelle: Yes! What other shows do you watch? Do you watch Paris Hilton's Best Friend?
Me: Michelle, I have standards.
Thomas: You guys are ridiculous.

So I am not sure which is worse. That my twelve-going-on-thirteen year old cousin watches My Super Sweet Sixteen or that I, someone twice her age.

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Andrew: Kristina, what's that quote from the Mighty Ducks? Soft hands . . .
Me: I cannot remember.
Five Minutes later
Me: I don't think there was a catchphrase. It was just something about soft hands, not shooting the puck but sailing it.
Andrew: It was 'Soft hands, Fulton; concentration not strength.' Germaine tells Fulton that when Coach Bombay runs the play with Fulton for the playoff game.
Me: Oh, I was thinking just of the original practice when Bombay said it.
Andrew: No, you're a horrible Mighty Ducks fan.

This conversation of course prompts my brother to put in our Mighty Ducks DVD so we can watch it for the 100th time. Yes, we do own the trilogy DVD set.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful that I am able to come back home every year for Thanksgiving to cook with my family, for good health, for wonderful family, friends, and boyfriend, and for only having a semester left of school.
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I am also documenting our family staples for Thanksgiving so I can have all the recipe links in one place, and if I ever need to host Thanksgiving, I know what I have to live up to:

Alton Brown's Good Eats Roast Turkey
Martha's Chestnut & Apple Stuffing
Andrew's Green Bean Casserole (adapted from French's Fried Onion recipe)

Trinh's Mashed Potatoes
Mom's Spaghetti Squash Salad
Martha's Cranberry-Orange Relish

Martha's Roasted-Vegetable Salad with Warm Roasted Garlic Dressing
Dad's Pecan Pie (adapted from Karo's recipe: 1/2 sugar, double the pecans)

Add my grandma's Vietnamese specialities (ground shrimp on sugar cane, sticky rice, and more) and you have a lot of food. At least leftovers are good study food for finals.

Turkey Travel: By the Numbers

2: Number of hours my 20 minute flight from DC to Philadelphia was delayed.

5: Number of hours to fly across country, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

4: Number of hours it took to drive 40 miles, from LAX to Valencia.

1: Number of celebrities on my plane. This time it was Tommy Lasorda, former manger of the Dodgers.

2: Number of dollars for a beverage on US Airways.
0: Number of movies they played on my 5 hour flight.

Despite a long day of traveling, I am glad to be home and grateful that I even have the ability to make the trip.

Clinical Highs & Lows

The reason I like to document my experiences in the law clinic is because it is such a crash-course learning situation. Even though I've worked in many legal settings over the past two and a half years, there is something different about entirely having your own clients, especially clients who can not normally afford legal representation.

Being the type to take cases to heart, this has been a real roller coaster in emotions particularly in these last few weeks as we are wrapping up cases and having to say goodbye.

There have been many moments of futility and frustration. From the times when you get belittled or flat-out ignored by opposing counsel, to finding out about trial the day before. And there there are many moments of pride and accomplishment. From the times you meet your client's family and come up with a good solution, to speaking infront of court the first time, to helping your client find a suit for his job interview.

Quickfire Challenge

One of my favorite parts of Top Chef are the quickfire challenges because they challenge chefs to improvise, and quickly put together meals with, often, items that we can find in our pantries.

After watching for many seasons, I have tried to pick up on strategies and apply them to instances where I feel like I have no food. It is actually funny to realize how much food you really do have in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry when you force yourself to use what you have. Some of my favorite creations have stemmed from banning myself from going out and buying more stuff (especially this summer when it felt ridiculous to drive my gas-guzzler SUV to the grocery store a few miles away to pick up an ingredient).

Today on my way home, I didn't want to eat out or buy groceries a few days before leaving for Thanksgiving. So I ended up making spinach-pesto penned with grilled chicken with what I had in less than 20 minutes. Beat that Rachel Ray.

The spinach-pesto turned out great because the moistness of the thawed-out spinach meant less olive oil and it was a cinch to make in my baby cusinart. I may even prefer this to regular basil pesto. Though I never measure anything, here's my guess on the recipe:
-1 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
-3 tablespoons minced garlic (I love garlic)
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
-1 tablespoon dried basil
-salt and cracked black better to taste

I feel like I should audition for Top Chef now. I could have that "dropped out of law school to pursue her dream" story-line. Just kidding mom and dad.

Only in DC

Only at a DC party would you meet a Log Cabin Republican political operative who helped run the campaign against your classmate's dad, who is a Congressman from the great state of California.

Only at a DC party would there be someone, like aforementioned political operative, go around to the 75+ people at the party and be able to identify their Congressional district based on what city they are from.

Only at a DC party would you run into the Daily Bruin editor who endorsed you for student government elections, interviewed you about bi-partisan dating for her dating column, and is now working for the Washington Post.

Only at a DC party would you meet someone who quit his job and would rather work at a Hollywood video at night so he could spend the day looking for non-profit jobs.

Only at a DC party would you meet someone from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, and not a single person who actually grew up in DC.