A Chinese Wedding by the Bay

My uncle got married!!! My Dad's brother, Uncle Eric, has lived in the Bay Area nearly my entire life and somehow I've never been to visit him. I can remember him coming for Thanksgiving every year with tales of some new exotic place he'd visited and I would beg him to tell me every detail of his travels.... perhaps he had quite a bit to do with my developing wanderlust...

Uncle Eric & his bride Sue

Anyway, Uncle Eric finally decided to marry his girlfriend of 16 years and of course I wasn't going to miss this. I suppose it's never too late, right?

Oh happy day!

Katelyn took this pic..

Roses, orchids, wine, & RC Cola. Amazing.

Sue grew up in southern China.... the wedding was a crazy fusion of Chinese and American traditions. Her son, Tim (I have a new cousin!) became a Justice of the Peace for the day. Apparently in California, such things are possible. Anyway, in a private ceremony, Tim married his mom and my Uncle Eric. He offered to marry anyone else who was looking to get hitched, but husband hunting has never been on my agenda so I declined. The reception was held at their favorite Chinese restaurant, which happened to be a seafood restaurant complete with tanks and tanks of live seafood just waiting to be eaten. Doesn't get more fresh than that!

Tim, Sue, Uncle Eric, & my brothers Karl & Kevin

here fishy fishy...

Deadliest Catch, anyone?

Catch of the day...?

Sue's group of girlfriends pulled together and basically did all the work setting up each table with elaborate place settings and centerpieces and she was quick to put my dad & brothers to work with opening wine bottles before guests arrived.

OK boys, let's open some more wine

Dad & Sue

Once the evening got started, every guest posed for pictures with the bride and groom and headed to their table. We had an emcee who sort of guided us through the evening with introductions, jokes, stories, and songs. Most of the guests were Asian, but several tables looked like the united nations and the more wine that flowed, the more cheers and toasts I heard in different languages and traditions.

Sue wore three dresses, one to represent the past, one for the present, and then of course the future. The first dress was a traditional American style wedding gown, followed by a purple dress she had made in Hong Kong, and finally a floral black and red gown. She looked amazing in all of them. Of course, I spaced out and never took a picture of her third dress. errghh.

The menu was very pescetarian friendly, as it was a seafood restaurant, but there were a few dishes I'd actually had back when I ate meat and was traveling in China. I have to be honest, I spent most of my time in Beijing and the food was pretty awful. For anyone who has been to China, you know that General Tsao's Chicken and Beef and Broccoli are as American as Apple Pie and any Chinese take out is a faaaaaaar cry from the real deal in China.

However, the food at the reception was amazing and authentic. I'm not sure, but I think the style was southern Chinese food and it was much different than what I had while in the North. I of course didn't try the duck and pork (been there, done that..), but thanks to my experience traveling in Asia I wasn't put off by the presentation of the fish: whole body you just kind of dig into with chop sticks. I also knew what to expect with the texture of the sharkfin soup. The seaweed salad was the best I've ever tasted!

Sue serenaded her groom with a Chinese love song and before long, she invited all the ladies to join her (karaoke style). Typically it takes a few songs for people to start dancing at most weddings, but as soon as the first dance was over with, people bombarded the dance floor and it didn't clear out until hours later.

Sue's niece later told me that this was the first wedding she had ever attended that included dancing... but everyone was so enthusiastic you would have thought it was an age old Chinese tradition. It wasn't long before I kicked off my 4 inch heels because it's pretty awkward being the giant white girl on the dance floor.

Aunt Sue & Me

All in all, it was a spectacular wedding and I was very sad when it was all over. Sue was a gorgeous, gracious bride and her family and friends were very kind and welcoming. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Chinese wedding, do not pass it up!!

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Project Paraben Free

There is a ton of controversy swirling around parabens which are basically preservatives [antifungal / bactericidal agents]. The big corporations say they are perfectly harmless and there is insufficient evidence to suggest otherwise. The tree hugging granola crunchers say they are a terrible poison that should not be legal. There are many who think that the government agencies in charge of keeping our food, medicine, and cosmetics safe are in fact turning a blind eye to mass poisoning thanks to the big companies habitually lining the pockets of those in charge. I do love a good conspiracy theory, but Blumtastic is not a place where I'll be blogging politics.

So what is a cosmetic loving consumer to do? I'm not the kind of person who reads a headline or hears a news story and believes every word. I stand by the work published in peer reviewed journals written by people who have dedicated their lives to finding answers. That said, how many of us subscribe to a scientific journal? How about a medical journal? And how many of us catch snippets from a 24 hour news channel or browse news web sites? Marketers know it's confusing and journalists know sensational scary news sells. 

I could spend all afternoon citing analysis reports from The Archives of Toxicology and the American Journal of Medicine, but I'm saving all my research paper energy for actual graded assignments. If you're curious, look it up for yourself... what you find will astound you. Basically there is still a great deal to learn concerning parabens, but we do know that they affect reproductive health, growth and development of both babies and adults, and mimic estrogen. Some people even suffer from paraben allergies.

To me, the fact that there is a correlation between breast cancer and parabens is enough for me to eliminate these unnecessary chemicals from my life. Tiny amounts of parabens have been found in tumors, and as I said before, parabens have been known to mimic estrogen. Scientists have not figured out the physiological link that explains the what and why, but I suppose I'm just not in the mood to cross my fingers and wait for them to tell me it's all a big coincidence.

Everything from toothpaste to spray tan to shampoo and lipstick contain parabens. Start reading your labels... you will be shocked. As part of my 101 in 1001, I am ditching parabens altogether, which unfortunately isn't easy. I've spent hours reading labels and I'm sad to report that the local drugstore and corner market don't have much in the way of paraben-free anything.

I do think it's interesting that many companies seem to want to jump on the pink ribbon bandwagon and throw money at "the cause." They offer everything from pink ribbon nail polish to free pink ribbon tote bags with purchase. Revlon even sponsors a Breast Cancer Awareness Run/Walk and advertises such nonsense as "shower for the cure" gel and "kiss for the cure" lipstick... first of all, an undisclosed portion of proceeds goes to breast cancer research. Uhhh I'd like to know just how much! Avon calls their little marketing project a "Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade." Yet both Revlon and Avon openly use parabens and other chemicals that are linked to cancer.... as do the majority of cosmetic companies.

I came across the book Toxic Beauty by Dr. Samuel Epstein (thank you Amazon, for knowing what I'd like to read) and I ordered it on the spot. I'll keep you all posted on every tid bit of beauty health I learn from this book just as soon as I get my hands on it.

For now, though, I will share with you the few paraben-free brands I've found and love. I'm having a hard time finding decent haircare products...

If you're not choosy about what you're feeding your body (and that most certainly includes feeding your skin), then I hope you consider reading some labels sometime soon. If you're a natural product-loving granola cruncher like me, then for goodness sake recommend products! I'm still actively phasing out all the crappy paraben products, so let me know what to replace them with!

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Dominion Riverrock Filthy 5K Mud Run

What the heck is Dominion Riverrock? Weeeelll it's a 2 day outdoor lifestyle festival that just happens to take place a few blocks from where I live. Kayak acrobatics, freestyle bike competitions, music, food, beer, and yes, a mud run. There was even an above ground pool for an air dog competition. I think I spent close to an hour just watching dozens of dogs jumping off a platform into a pool over and over.  Some confused pups were trying it for the first time and it was hysterical to watch! Too bad my mutts want nothing to do with water beyond drinking it.

One of the great things about Richmond is that we have a gorgeous riverfront with the backdrop of the city skyline. I live smack in the middle of downtown, but when I walk my dogs it's not uncommon for me to see bald eagles, otters, snakes, racoons, ducks, geese, opossums, herons, etc. The James River Park system is amazing, and anytime I feel like ditching sidewalks for river rocks, I can take a 5 minute walk and do just that. The woods are so thick you're completely unable to tell you're in the middle of the city... I love it!

Friday I participated in the MGD 64 Filthy 5K Mud Run, which was a blast! I was MAJORLY disappointed that yet again I had camera problems. After charging not one but 2 batteries overnight, my camera worked for about 30 seconds... it's an Olympus Stylus Tough (aka me-proof), which means I could have taken it with me through the mud, dropped it in the river, and tossed it over the finish line and it would have been fine. I was so pumped about being able to snap pictures during the race and I ended up with zero. So all these are from image searches. UGH!

A bunch of military guys in their fatigues ran in the 5K which I though was great. There was a chick in a wedding dress and a few tutus and clown wigs here and there, but my favorite getup was a girl dressed in all white spandex running gear with bunny ears on her head band and face paint whiskers... she ran alongside a guy in a dark green sweatshirt and pants with a big rubber garbage can lid strapped to his back painted like a tortoise shell. OF COURSE my flippin camera failed me and  I nearly tossed it in the garbage I was so irritated. These would have been suuuuuch great pictures! OK I'll stop whining about it now I swear.

Anyway the trail involved running across an overpass, through some gorgeous trails at Belle Isle,  rock hopping, and even running waste deep in the James. It rained all day, so the trail was extra muddy and the rocks were super slippery. I remember the smell of honeysuckle following me almost the whole time, which was kind of nice considering things like BO, mud, and fish from the river were what I was expecting to smell. The finish line was basically just a mud pit with dozens of people belly crawling in it... and let me tell you, this was some COLD mud.

We won't discuss my race time...worst ever! I blame my waterlogged shoes. After the race I enjoyed my free beer (Yuengling...not MGD 64.. I was stoked we had a choice!) and walked around all the vendor's booths, stages, and event posts. Luckily there was a bag check and a wash off station, but I ended up jumping in the river to rinse the mud off like most of the others. I was still filthy, but something about walking around covered in mud with a beer in my hand made me happy. I finally headed home and was able to get a lame picture of the remnants of my mud bath.

Can't wait for the next mud run/obstacle course! They're soooo much more fun than other races. : )

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