Tag Archives: dinner

Another IAP Hangout (or The Entire Team In One Place)

Posted on February 17, 2015 | 1 comment

I love that the Inside Acting Podcast is doing more and more hangout with our listeners! It was great when we had our Chipotle meetup, but not everyone was able to make that one. So we scheduled another dinner meetup for this past week.

The dinner was at Native Foods, which is a vegan restaurant very close to my house. At first, I wasn’t planning on eating there because it was going to be on the last day of my cleanse. But I did a lot of research on their menu and discovered 2 things that were actually cleanse-friendly (most of their food has soy in it which was not allowed on the cleanse). So I decided that I would celebrate the end of my cleanse with a meal that wasn’t prepared by me (the first meal like that in 28 days!).

I ended up getting a salad which was ginormous and super delicious! I was only able to eat about half of it, so a friend of mine ended up eating the rest. It felt so decadent to eat something that someone else made. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that way about a restaurant meal before because I used to eat a lot of prepared foods (whether it was delivery or frozen meals from the store).

When I got to Native Foods, a couple of people were there. But before we knew it, we had about 25 people there! We took over a majority of the seating inside (we gave them a heads up about our group and they said “bring it”). It was so great to reconnect with old friends and to meet lots of new people. And everyone is so amazing and awesome!

And within the 25 or so people who were there, the entire team behind the podcast was there! I don’t believe that we have all been in one place at one time, so of course we took a team photo.

IAP Team Photo

I ended up being at Native Foods for almost 5 hours. Time flew by just chatting about random stuff with everyone there.

I’m so happy that the podcast is now becoming a more social thing. And if you are interested in finding out more about our future hangouts (we’ve got a couple of ideas in the works right now), I recommend joining our email list. We send weekly emails and include any podcast events in the emails.

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Vegan Portabella Mushroom Pizza (or Testing Out A New Recipe)

Posted on February 10, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve been eating a lot of the same things for dinner while on the cleanse. While it’s great because I’m getting the right number of calories and nutrients, I know that I can’t keep this up for forever.

I’ve tried doing a little experimenting with my food and it’s all been pretty successful. But I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.

I had seen portabella mushroom pizzas on Pinterest a lot, but I’ve never been motivated enough to try them. I had to make them with soy-free vegan cheese (made from peas) to make this cleanse-friendly. But I will totally make this again with real cheese!

Portabella Mushroom Pizza

What you need:

Mushroom Pizza Ingredients

Portabella mushroom caps

Pizza or marinara sauce

Cheese

Whatever toppings you like (I had olives, onions, garlic, and spinach)

What to do:

Preheat your oven to about 375.

Clean and prep the mushroom. Clean off the outside with a damp cloth and then remove the stem and gills from the inside. I used a spoon and it worked pretty well.

Step 1

Put the mushrooms on a foil-lined baking sheet. I saw online that by making little cups for the mushrooms to sit on, they wouldn’t get as soggy.

Step 2

Take some of the pizza or marinara sauce and spread it on the mushroom.

Step 3

Cover the sauce with the cheese and then add your toppings.

Step 4 Step 5

Once the oven is at the correct temperature, stick them in to bake. I kept mine in about 15 minutes and I think they could have used a bit more time. But a good judge is once the cheese is browning and bubbly, it’s ready.

Step 6

I made a few decisions with my pizzas that could be considered mistakes (too much sauce, not enough toppings, not baking them enough), but honestly it was still very yummy! With a few adjustments, this recipe will definitely be in a regular rotation at my house.

I’m still so shocked that I’ve gone from never really cooking to cooking every day (and making up my own recipes!). This is such a positive change in my life and I’m looking forward to continuing it even after the cleanse is done this week.

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Honey-Dijon Pork (or Inventing My Own Recipe)

Posted on January 7, 2015 | 1 comment

Since I was getting a little bored with basic chicken every week when I did my bulk cooking, I decided to spice things up a bit this week. I did a lot of searching online for ideas that seemed yummy and easy.

I found a lot of great ideas, but they all took so many ingredients! So I decided to take the ideas that I was finding online and simplifying them to make it something that I wouldn’t have to buy a ton of ingredients for.

And this is what I came up with.

Honey-Dijon Pork Chops

What You Need:

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Dijon Mustard

Honey

Garlic

Pork Chops

Here’s What To Do (it’s seriously so simple!)

Put the pork chops in a zip bag.

Measure out about 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard and pour into the bag.

Measure out about the same amount of honey and pour into the bag.

Finely chop some garlic (I used 2 cloves because I love garlic!) and put that into the bag.

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Zip up the bag and let most of the air out. Then massage the mustard/honey/garlic mixture all over the pork chops.

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Put the bag into the fridge and let it sit for about an hour or two.

When you are ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 425.

Take each pork chop out of the bag and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Pepper the top and bottom on each pork chop.

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Cook in the oven until they are done (for me it took about 25 minutes).

Take them out of the oven and set them onto a chopping board or other surface to rest (you don’t want them to stay on the hot baking sheet or they will continue to cook).

Since I was doing this for bulk cooking, I portioned out my pork into my dinner containers (I forgot to get a picture of how beautiful they looked before I cut them up).

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Seriously, that’s it! They were so delicious, flavorful, and juicy! When I made them, I used closer to 1/2 cup of the mustard and honey and that was way too much. There was so much marinade on the pork when I removed them from the bag that I had to wipe them off a little.

I’ve had this for the past 2 days so far, and I’m really enjoying it! You can probably use the same marinade for chicken and maybe for fish as well.

This will totally be a part of my regular food planning from now on and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have!

Seriously, I can’t believe how far I’ve come in my cooking over the last month. I started out scared to cook at all and now I’m creating my own recipes!

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Garlic Parmesan Salmon and Asparagus (or Getting Over My Fear Of Cooking)

Posted on December 9, 2014 | 2 comments

I’ve mentioned my fear of cooking before. If it’s something I’ve made a hundred times or is really easy, I’m totally down to cook it. But if it’s something new or using my oven (which is always tricky to use), I’m pretty hesitant.

But for the Orangetheory Nike ID Challenge, one of the required photos for the Instagram portion was me with a homemade meal. And while I could have made something I’ve made before or even taken a photo at Thanksgiving, I took advantage of this and decided to challenge myself.

I had pinned this recipe a while back because it seemed simple and would have an easy clean up. I was right on both counts. So here it is for all of you.

When I made this recipe, I doubled it so I would have leftovers for the next day. I highly recommend doing that.

Garlic Parmesan Salmon and Asparagus Foil Pack

What You Need:

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6 oz portion of salmon

7 asparagus stalks (tough ends cut off)

1 Tbsp whipped butter

1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic pressed

2 tsp lemon juice

Ground pepper to taste.

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Put all ingredients except for salmon and asparagus in a bowl and mix them to make a paste.

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Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet large enough for the salmon (I made my foil twice the size of the salmon to be able to fold it over).

Arrange your asparagus in a row on the foil.

Place the salmon on top of the asparagus.

Coat the salmon with the paste you made with the other ingredients.

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Cover your salmon tightly with the foil. I added a second piece of foil to make sure that all the seams were tight.

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Bake in the over for about 30 minutes. Unwrap, plate, and enjoy!

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Seriously, that’s it! So easy and since it’s wrapped in foil, the clean up is pretty much non-existent. When I reheated the second piece of salmon the next day, I did it under the broiler so the top would get nice and crispy. I would recommend doing that to everyone. It made it much better!

I’m slowing getting used to eating fish again. I was having sensitivity issues with it for years, but I’ve finally outgrown it. I’m discovering which fish I like and what I don’t. I’m not a huge salmon fan, so when I make this again, I will likely use something I like (I’m a fan of tilapia and cod). And you could use the paste mixture on chicken, but I don’t know how chicken does in a foil pack. But you could definitely bake it with the garlic and parmesan!

This was so easy and delicious that it inspired me to try to cook some more! But I’ll have more about that another day.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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67 Years (or Celebrating An Anniversary With Fondue)

Posted on September 10, 2014 | 1 comment

This past Sunday was my grandparents’ 67th anniversary. I’ve been lucky enough to get to celebrate with my grandparents on their anniversary a couple of times. For their 50th and 60th, we had big events (their 50th was in Africa and their 60th was a family party in Portland). This year, we were doing a low-key dinner in San Diego.

That morning I went to breakfast with my parents and Krystle (and Tucker of course) and then we did some walking around at the seaport. Then Krystle had to get to the airport so she could get back to San Francisco. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to stay for the dinner because there weren’t that many flight options for her.

After saying goodbye to Krystle, my parents and I headed back to the hobbit house where we got all of us stuff together to go out that evening (and I packed my car since I’d be driving home straight from dinner).

We got to my grandparents’ place around 1pm and spent the afternoon talking. We asked my grandparents what their big memories were from their wedding and I asked my grandparents how they met (I had never heard that story before). It was really cool to get to hear them tell it and my mom actually took video of it so we can share it with other family members who couldn’t make it out to San Diego that weekend.

We all got ready to go to dinner and then we drove over to the place where the restaurant was.

We went to The Melting Pot for dinner. I had never been there and had never really had fondue before. My only experience with fondue was a single serving of goat cheese fondue that came with some bread at a restaurant once. But this was nothing like that.

We all decided to get the 4 course dinner (it was actually cheaper than getting 2 courses on our own). Between the 6 of us at dinner, we selected 2 cheese fondues to start with, then we each got our own salad. The main course was interesting. We each got to choose up to 3 meats and then as a table we got to choose 2 different cooking liquids. Then you had to cook your meat in the hot cooking liquids.

While it was fun, it was a little messy and crazy at times. All of us lost at least one piece of meat in the cooking liquid because we had so many fondue forks in the pot at one time. But it was pretty yummy.

After the main course, we were all stuffed. But we still had the dessert course to go. As a table we selected 2 types of chocolate (I don’t really remember what they were but they were both dark chocolate). Then they brought over a selection of cakes and fruit to dip into the chocolate.

The plate that my grandparents got had 2 candles in it for their anniversary.

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I tried a little of the dessert fondue, but I was only able to take a few bites since I was so full from the other courses.

Before we knew it, dinner was over. My mom and I left a little early so we could get our cars (we didn’t want my grandparents to have to walk too far to the car and it was parked in a parking garage). When my mom and I got our cars back to the restaurant, everyone else got into my mom’s car so they could all go back together. I said goodbye to everyone and made the 2 hour drive back home (no car breakdowns this time!).

I’m so lucky that I got to spend time with my grandparents on their anniversary. Since I live pretty close it makes it easy enough for me to come down to see them. I don’t think I’ll make it down again before Thanksgiving, but November will be here before we know it!

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff

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San Diego Weekend (or Spending Time At A Hobbit House)

Posted on September 9, 2014 | Comments Off on San Diego Weekend (or Spending Time At A Hobbit House)

This past weekend my grandparents celebrated their 67th anniversary. My parents were going to be in San Diego with them and they invited my sister-in-law and I to come down too (my brother is currently working in Africa so he couldn’t make it).

Everyone else got there on Friday, but I had to work on Saturday morning. So I headed down after my short shift on Saturday morning (fortunately, my drive was much less crazy than my last trip to San Diego). I got down there around 2pm and headed to my grandparents’ place first.

We all visited there for a little bit and then we headed to the dog park nearby so Tucker could get some playtime. I didn’t take any pictures there because I was more concerned about not getting knocked over by the dogs there (there were a lot and they were all running around like crazy). It was very hot but we were able to find some shade so we all sat there and watched all the dogs having fun (my grandparents really seemed to enjoy the dog park too).

Next, we headed to the rental house my parents got for the weekend. My mom warned me ahead of time that it was a little bizarre, but that doesn’t even begin to describe it.

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We all referred to it as the hobbit house. Each section of the house was its own pod/hut. When you walked in the front gate, to the left of you was the pod that had the master bedroom and bathroom. To the right was the pod that had the living room, kitchen, and second bathroom. Through the backyard and up some outdoor stairs was the second bedroom where Krystle and I slept. Yes, that meant for us to use the bathroom to get ready for bed, we had to leave our room, walk outside and down some stairs, through the patio area and then into the house.

It was seriously weird, but I was only staying there for one night so it wasn’t a big deal.

That evening, my mom and dad made a steak dinner for all of us (which included my grandparents and my aunt). We just had a relaxing dinner and caught up on each other’s lives.

Then we moved over to the outdoor patio was and my dad build a fire in the outdoor fireplace.

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A little while later, my aunt took my grandparents back to their place and my parents, Krystle, and I all decided it was time to go to bed. Krystle and I chatted a bit at night discussing our next New York trip and how weird this house was.

Overall, it was a great afternoon and evening in San Diego and I was excited to spend the next day with my grandparents as that was their actual anniversary.

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Continuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure)

Posted on August 19, 2014 | Comments Off on Continuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure)

On Friday evening, I got together with my birthday twin Joanna. It had actually been a while since we had seen each other.

But besides wanting to hang out again, we had a birthday tradition to uphold!

It was time for our free birthday meal at Truxton’s!

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This might be one of my favorite birthday traditions. Joanna and I have been doing this for years, and both of us look forward to it each year.

Truxton’s really does have one of the best birthday deals around, and it would be a shame if we didn’t take advantage of it.

So when Friday came around, I was ready to have an awesome meal (I had also saved up my calories so I could afford to have a meal like that).

Since we knew that our meal was going to be free, we both ordered without looking at the prices. I got a 1/4 chicken with some garlic fries (and they were super garlicky) and Joanna got the salmon.

While we waited for our food, we spent some time just catching up on each other’s lives. Since we are both actors, we both live pretty crazy lives. We both are always changing things around like our day jobs, representation, or other things like that.

Both of us have had some changes in our lives, so it was nice to have the time to fill each other in on what’s been going on. Since right now we only have 2 annual traditions (birthday and Christmastime) and somehow we never have the time to get together, over dinner we also decided that we are going to add a fall and spring tradition hangout. Right now we only know what we are doing for fall (Disneyland), but we have some time to plan out spring.

After dinner, we ordered our free desserts. We always get this one ice cream dessert that comes with churros so we only had to decide on the second dessert. We opted for a giant freshly baked cookie.

We each had 1/2 of each dessert, and I have to say that saving my calories (and working out like crazy at Orangetheory) was totally worth this splurge. It was so yummy!

When the bill came, we had a bit of a laugh at the difference between what Joanna’s meal would have cost versus my meal.

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Thank goodness it was all free! And since it was free, we were able to leave a nice tip (we left $30).

All in all, it was an awesome evening out. Not only was it a free meal, it was a meal with a good friend who I don’t see nearly often enough!

I’ve still got a few more birthday deals that I’m planning on taking advantage of, but my birthday month is going to be over before I know it!

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Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Saving

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Long Lake And The Best Caesar Salad In The World (or The First Day Of Adventure In Tahoe)

Posted on June 25, 2014 | Comments Off on Long Lake And The Best Caesar Salad In The World (or The First Day Of Adventure In Tahoe)

While this trip to Tahoe was a relaxing trip, we still went on little adventures each day. On our first full day there, we did a little hike (although my parents called it a walk) to Long Lake.

This is a hike I’ve never done before and my parents warned me that the first part of it is extremely steep (going down at the beginning and going up when you are coming back). I figured that I could do it, even though I knew I’d need to take some breaks. Besides my usual hip issues, I also had to deal with being at altitude. This seems to affect me a lot. I’m not sure if that’s a weight related issue or the fact that I never spent too much time in the mountains so I never acclimate to it.

The drive to the start of the hike was a bit off-road, so that was a fun little adventure. Tucker was sitting in the back with Kate and I and he had a few moments where he fell off the seat. He decided to sit on the floor after that.

The first part of the hike was crazy steep and I took at least twice as long as everyone else to get down, but I did it and I didn’t fall. The rest of the hike (which was about a mile) was up and down and there were a lot of rocky sections. I was careful and managed to not lose my footing at all.

I was a little out of breath when we finally make it to the lake, but it was totally worth it!

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We brought a little picnic lunch to enjoy on the rocky beach there so we set up a little area for us and enjoyed the amazing view.

There were some other people there and most of them also had dogs with them, so Tucker was running around greeting everyone and trying to get all the dogs to play with him. We don’t know if Tucker can really swim yet, so my mom got into the lake and tried to make him swim by throwing sticks for him to retrieve.

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Tucker got in the water and he did put his face in, but he refused to swim. If a stick went out too far, he would just watch it and hope that it would come back to him.

After spending a nice relaxing time at the lake, it was time for us to do the hike back. For some reason, I got extremely light-headed and my vision started to get blurry as soon as we starting walking again. I have no idea what happened (maybe dehydration?) but I took it slow and it seemed to get a bit better.

After the hike, we spent a little time at the hot tub in the condo complex before getting ready to go out to dinner.

I had requested to go to Cottonwood because it really is one of my favorite restaurants in Tahoe. My family has been going there for as long as I can remember, so it truly is a Tahoe tradition for me.

We enjoyed a nice dinner which included the best caesar salad ever. We get this salad every time and it’s so yummy and garlicky!

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And as it says in the Cottonwood menu, the salad is traditionally eaten with your fingers (they are full leaves of lettuce so it’s easy to pick up). I absolutely love it!

I didn’t really get any pictures of the rest of the meal. I was too busy enjoying time with everyone.

After dinner, we just hung out at the condo and watched some tv and read. It was such a perfect first day in Tahoe and it got me ready to have a day on the lake the next day!

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Margaritas and Mexican Food (or Girls Night Out!)

Posted on May 7, 2014 | Comments Off on Margaritas and Mexican Food (or Girls Night Out!)

My Girls Night Out group hasn’t had a get together for a long time (pretty much since the Magic Castle). Life kind of took over and we just couldn’t seem to organize another gathering.

About a month ago, we agreed that we would meet up for dinner on Cinco De Mayo. I wasn’t in charge of planning this gathering, but I was super excited to see that El Cholo was the restaurant that was chosen! I usually go to the one in Santa Monica, but this one was in Koreatown. It was still pretty easy to get to, and I lucked out finding some free street parking a block away (valet is not in my budget right now).

I had seen many of the girls from the group more recently than the Magic Castle outing, but we all hadn’t been together for almost 2 years! So of course, as soon as we sat down, we had to get a group picture!

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Of course, we all had to get drinks as well. I got the Borderline, which is a half regular blended and half strawberry blended margarita.

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And for my meal I got a combo plate that had an enchilada and a pork tamal on it.

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The food and drink were great, but the best part of the evening was the company. I’m so lucky to be in such a great Girls Night Out group. Even though it had been a while since we were all together, once we were sitting down, it was like no time had passed.

We updated each other on our lives, shared crazy stories (I’m such the loud laughing from our table annoyed the tables around us), and just had fun being together as a group.

I’ve agreed that I would help to plan our next outing, which will be going to the Hollywood Bowl. Some of the girls in the group have never been to the Bowl, so I think that it will be a perfect Girls Night Out event. We just have to figure out what show and when.

Even though the specifics of our next gathering aren’t figured out yet, we did promise that we would make Girls Night Out happen way more often. And I’m super excited for that!

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Passover (or A Family Reunion A Decade Overdue)

Posted on April 17, 2014 | Comments Off on Passover (or A Family Reunion A Decade Overdue)

Monday evening was the first night of Passover. Even though both of my parents are Jewish and I went to Hebrew school for a few years, I don’t really celebrate any of the Jewish holidays. I went to a Passover Seder a few years ago that a friend did, but she and I were the only Jews there.

A little over a month ago, my mom was talking with her cousin who lives in LA and somehow I came up in conversation. My mom mentioned how I still live in LA and her cousin had no idea. I had seen her years ago, but she just thought that when I finished college I had moved away. So as soon as she realized I was still here, she invited me to Passover dinner.

I was really excited to get to see my second cousin again. The last time I saw her was right after my hip surgery, and I hadn’t seen her siblings (my other second cousins) in possibly over a decade. That’s a little ridiculous when we all live in LA.

I was a little nervous when I got there because I wasn’t sure how it would be with family who were practically strangers to me. But as soon as I walked inside, I was welcomed with open arms. My cousin Wendy, who was hosting the event, was so happy to see me again. She was asking me all about my life and as soon as other guests arrived, she made sure to introduce me to them right away so I didn’t feel left out.

My second cousins Randy and Craig were also there with their families. I had met Craig’s wife before but I don’t know if I had met Randy’s wife in the past. And I had never met any of their kids before, so I got to meet 4 new third cousins that I didn’t know existed!

Dinner was great. I was seated next to cousin Wendy so that was very nice. And I got to catch up with all the other family at the table. Also, pretty much everyone there was either in the entertainment industry or knew a lot about it so that dominated a lot of the conversation.

We did a semi-traditional Seder. We went over the Seder plate and the plagues and said some of the prayers, but we didn’t do a full Seder. But that gave us more time to catch up.

I had also brought the wedding album my mom made of Ross and Krystle’s wedding, so all my second cousins wanted to see that and see other family members (they haven’t seen anyone from my section of the family for a very long time).

Before I knew it, it was time for all of us to go home. I exchanged numbers and email addresses with my second cousins and I’m hoping that I can get to know them even more and make sure that it’s not another decade before I see them again.

But before we all said goodbye, I made sure we all got a picture together so I could show my mom.

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It was really an amazing evening. I feel like I’ve gotten to reconnect with a section of my family that had been lost to me in the past. I know it’s nobody’s fault that we all fell out of touch and hadn’t seen each other in forever. But I’m going to make it my responsibility to make sure that I get together with them more often now.

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