Taking a stroll down memory lane 🤸🏻♀️ The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do since I was 7 years old was work at the Olympics, and to get to do five Games in my 20s (two as a journalist, two in media ops, one volunteer) was all my dreams realized, and then some.
My career’s taken me in a different direction in my 30s, but I’ll always be grateful for younger me who shot for the moon and said “why not?”
Friends in Paris, hope you’re having a blast and know I’m looking for you in every mixed zone shot! Can’t wait until the next time we have a late night in the media tent 😌
“There’s a defining scar in my father's heel. It’s deep and dry and cracked—and self-inflicted. The mark is a remnant of his six years on a Communist labor farm in his youth, when one night he purposely took a scythe to his flesh to cause enough injury to be granted rest, despite not completing his daily quota.
As a result, decades later, even two grains left behind in a rice bowl would lead to a lecture on how many years my dad spent hunched over in the rice field—and out would come the heel of proof. Now 40 years removed from the farm and a college professor close to retirement, he still shows off the scar on his foot as a physical reminder of how far he's come.
To this day I associate rice, that comforting Asian staple, with hardship and sacrifice.”
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I’m on @food52 (!!) sharing my dad’s story on life and loss during the Cultural Revolution, surviving a Communist labor farm, and forging a new life in America. Link in profile 🥟
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(Swipe for a photo of how grateful baby me was for all his sacrifice 😬) #fathersday #food52
I love working for a woman-made gin and I love the women of Chicago hospo 🖤
some snaps from our industry trip to CDMX last month (film shots by @claire__witt )
Two weeks ago, we lost my mother-in-law, Dian. The shock is still present and the grief is deep. It was an honor to help write her obituary, and in doing so, I learned even more about her tenacity, joy, and just how much she *loved* - love as an action, not a verb.
She was truly a creative force, a community stalwart, and as the priest said very officially at her funeral: “a hoot”.
Her absence is so loud. And the holidays will never be the same without her elaborate tablescapes and hyperspecific wreaths. But she raised three incredible kids, who are all amazing spouses and parents, and her legacy is one of charity and community.
When it comes down to it, the only onlyyyy actual things that matter in life are 1) the love you share, and 2) the time you spend on the people who matter. If you drink, please have a bourbon Manhattan for Dian 💐
attempting to catch up on 2025 posts with 11 days left in the year. we do this every year, it never works, but like any good adhd-er I swear this time will be different! (it won’t be, but I’ll try)
Jan 2025: Montreal! 🇨🇦
(apparently this posted without sound but trust that in slide 9 the train was very loud!)
They say your zodiac year isn’t actually meant to be good luck, but will be a year that challenges you and forces growth instead.
Halfway through the Year of the Snake and I think we could certainly call it a year of challenges and growth, among other things.
While I’m no longer with Ming River, I’m proud of the work I did to build baijiu as a category in Chicago. Grateful to everyone who took my meetings to yap about a Chinese spirit, let me run staff trainings & masterclasses, hosted pop-ups and happy hours and dinners with me, and gave baijiu cocktails a chance on their menus. Not to mention everyone who came out and supported all these events and menus! There are too many of you to tag, but y’all know who you are. The Chicago hospitality community is unmatched and I’m honored to be part of it.
Sharing some Lunar New Year activations I’m proud of from earlier this year, and closing this chapter. Excited for what the second half of the snake year brings 🍊🌸
This is your reminder to turn on live photo so you can relive whole days 🥹
Our 2nd wedding anniversary was two weeks ago but I got overwhelmed going through the 3600+ photos I have from that week (especially now that loops are an option)! Forever grateful for everyone who came down and got silly with us in New Orleans, and to @urbancyclist17 for making every day since as special and light and full of laughter as this one was 🪩✨
got my first tattoo in shanghai, my second tattoo in edinburgh, and now have a third tattoo from chicago thanks to @ludlowliquors ’ hong kong night market 🏮👫🏻
That time @known_terroirist tagged me in to talk about @mingriverbaijiu on daytime tv to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month 🎥 Huge thanks to Chiyo and @spotlightwgn for the opportunity (and the new reptile friends 🐍)!
