Erica's birthday Dallas, TX trip.

This is 34. 

By the way, my birthday was over two weeks ago (12/14). I've always blogged waaaay after the event I'm writing about happened so I decided to continue with the tradition. LOL Actually, I started writing when we got back from Texas--quick notes, half formed paragraphs and pictures--but then I got super busy with last minute custom orders and Christmas festivities. (Merry belated Christmas guys; I hope yours was delightful! 🎄) Then when I had time again earlier this week, I wondered why I was even doing this. Who reads this stuff? If I'm writing it for myself, to preserve my travels and memories, will I even read it twenty or thirty years from now? I have so many journals and photo albums that I never share with others or revisit myself. But, whatever, I'm waiting on dinner to finish cooking & for a tv show to start so I might as well just finish this blog post, too.

My mother-in-law travels with her boyfriend for all their special holidays (birthday, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, etc.) At first I found it weird because those are days you should be in town celebrating with friends and family. But, then Wes & I started skipping out on holidays, too, and it was probably the best decision ever. Well, maybe not the best decision ever but still a pretty darn good idea. I have very limited family and only a handful of individuals who I would consider friends (and who would be kind enough to call me a friend to them... that's the tricky part... you can say you have X number of friends but how many of those people could turn around and claim you has one of their friends, too?) Anyway, I could host a birthday party and invite a bunch of people over or grab drinks with coworkers or go to a fancy dinner with family. Or, I could do what I want on my birthday with just me & my husband. Sorry friends & family--you can call me a selfish b*tch if you want--but I chose the latter.

On my actual birthday, we went to WAGU Japanese BBQ for dinner. It's one of those places that has a mini grill attached to the table for you to cook your own food. Maybe it's because I enjoy cooking  anyway but I absolutely love those restaurants. Sure, I'll pay extra for the privilege to cook my own food!! The menu consisted of various cuts and types of meat. I don't remember everything we got but I do remember the delicious wagu beef (also Wes's favorite) and duck. The next morning, we headed to Texas. (I swear one of these days, we'll take an actual vacation that requires a plane and time zone change but for now, we're enjoying our little driving-out-of-town getaways.)

Yes, I insisted we take a selfie inside the IKEA cafe. We were holding delicious cinnamon rolls but my arm wasn't long enough to get both us and the desserts in the frame. 

The main reason why we went to Dallas was not for my birthday...it was for Wes to go to IKEA to buy an entertainment center for his game room. We tried to buy one in town but he couldn't find one he liked. Then the IKEA fall catalog arrived. LOL I enjoy wandering around IKEA so I completely agreed that this would be a fun way to spend the weekend. We actually didn't even buy the entertainment center he saw in the catalog. It didn't look as great in person. So he got another one that was almost too long to fit in my car. Well, it did fit in my car but it blocked all my blind spots. (And I'm a stressed out driver as it is, there was no way I was driving around Dallas with zero blind spot for the remainder of the weekend.) The hard part was maneuvering both of our seats and the entertainment center at just the right angles to not block the back windows. It took a few tries but we got it to fit comfortably and we headed onto our next destination.

This place boasted an impressive brunch menu, with congee (my favorite) and a Thai omelette that Wes really wanted to try. The next time we're in Dallas, it'll have to be on a Sunday between 10am - 3pm.

Which was food. YES!! Always food! 😋 I'm in charge of planning out where we eat when we travel and the last time we took a trip, I totally bombed in restaurant choices. I had to redeem myself with this trip. And, I'm happy to say that I did. We went to Malai, a modern Thai Vietnamese fusion restaurant. It was so good all around- the food was excellent, the atmosphere was hip and the staff was very nice. The restaurant has its own brewery and one of the featured beers was a Thai-P-A (get it... like an IPA). We started with this sticky rice ball that was wrapped in banana leaves and some spicy eggplant dipping sauce. I've never had sticky rice served that way before and I really liked the chunky sauce. Wes got Chiang Mai Noodles and I got the Shrimp Pad Thai. I enjoyed mine especially because it didn't have very many onions or bean sprouts (two ingredients that I usually pick out of my dishes). I also liked that the portions weren't huge so I could actually finish my meal without feeling too full. It was a little spicy but that was my fault for not having our waiter fully explain the spiciness scale.

Day two, we headed to an Asian strip-mall in Carrollton. Along with Wes's entertainment center, we initially ventured down here to purchase some guardian lions. You've seen them in front of Asian restaurants... those giant jade or marble lions that flank the front entrance. We decided that we wanted a pair for our back patio. Because I am an Asian stereotype and I'm not mad about it. Speaking of being an Asian stereotype, every time we travel anywhere near a 99 Ranch Market (which until now, I thought was pronounced Ranch 99), I must go inside to admire the foods of the motherland. Wes likes it, too, so its not just me being weird. Unfortunately, we weren't able to buy any of the delicious awesomeness (but you better bet that I hit up each and every single one of the ladies handing out free samples LOL) because it was a warm day and everything would have spoiled in my car on the drive home. When will our Asian supermarket expand to 99 Ranch size?? Oh and we didn't find any of those lion statues. We thought that they might only be sold in the spring and summer time since they're outdoor decorations.

I was actually so excited to go to the Asian supermarket that we got that waaaay too early (apparently stores open later on Sundays...😒) The only place open when we arrived at the strip-mall was the bakery. Last spring, a fellow student in my sewing class told me about 85°C Bakery Cafe. He said it was the best Vietnamese bakery and he and his husband stock up on treats every time they go to Texas. I was intrigued. The best Vietnamese bakeries that I've been to were in Houston. Okay, Joshua, you win... 85°C Bakery Cafe was outstanding! I got an egg tart and Wes got a coconut croissant. I also got the salted caramel latte, their seasonal special, which was not such a good idea. It was all salt and no caramel. I wanted to buy all the pastries but, again, it would have all spoiled in my car on the drive home. After breakfast, we wandered into Kinokuniya (a Japanese bookstore that we first visited in Sydney, Aus several years ago... our first trip together... do I have a blog post about that vacation somewhere?) and Diaso (an Asian version of the 99¢ store, only nothing was 99¢). Wes loved Kinokuniya. I'm not a fan of anime or manga but it was still neat to look at everything that was in there. I enjoyed browsing Daiso more. There were so many crazy things in there. Like odd little gadgets and cutesy items that you can only find on the streets of Chinatown. I bought some llama shaped post-it notes and ankle toe socks. 😆

Our last stop for the weekend was Hi, Sweetie for rolled ice cream. I first heard about Thai rolled ice cream on an episode of The Splendid Table podcast last summer. Ever since, I've been wanting to try it. We were going to go to a restaurant that had it when we were in Kansas for the Goo Goo Dolls concert but it ended up being way out of the way so we skipped it. 😔 It took quite a bit of driving around an enormous shopping center but we finally found Hi, Sweetie and it was well worth the confusing drive. I ordered the Oero mint chocolate chip ice cream. The chef poured some milk and an Oero onto a freezing cold surface and swished it around until it froze into ice cream. It was so rad. I was watching like a wide-eyed little kid. It was also pretty and it tasted good. Several other patrons came in while we were there and I stayed by the ice cream station and watched him make each order. He probably thought, "Yup, this one is definitely a tourist." Hahaha. 

Anyway, that concludes my birthday trip. Year #33 had its ups and downs (as all years do, so why am I typing such an annoying cliche?) I am looking forward to my thirty fourth trip around the sun. I hope for lots of laughter, light and love. I plan to continue growing as a person and travelling to eat all the yummy foods! As I sit here on New Year's Eve with my personal reflections, I wanted to let you guys know that you are enough. It took me thirty three whole years to figure that one out. I am a socially awkward, proud Chinese girl, with a face that inspires a makeover, who will never have children, am overly passionate about my small business (RagsReborn Gifts), has a hard time making new friends and, despite all that, I AM ENOUGH. So, please please remember that you, too, are enough just the way you are. Happy New Year, all, here's to 2019. 🥂

RagsReborn Gifts says goodbye to 2017.

Hello, everyone! I hope we all left our troubles of 2017 behind us and are welcoming 2018 with open arms!

I finished my 2017 craft show year several weeks ago but wanted a little more time for reflection so I'm writing this a bit late. Last year was pretty darn good for RagsReborn over all. My #1 highlight was that I finally got into The Santa Market... and had an awesome time!! The show coordinators and volunteers were great, there was busy traffic all day, my sales were amazing and the show lived up to all its hype; all in all, it was my best show!

This show raises so much money for charity and I love being a part of this kindness!

After reviewing all my craft shows from last year, I would say that 2017 was the year of criticism and the year of risk taking. Both were scary challenges but both also helped me grow as a small business owner and a human being. And that's really what challenges are all about; you cry & have sleepless nights, then you work harder & come out the other end much braver ... and then you take that attitude into the next challenge and do it all over again. I think that actually sums up everything about owning a small business.

I am well aware that shoppers and other vendors gossip behind my back, but I've never had anyone openly share their negative comments to my face... until last year. The bulk of the criticism centered around two things - my items look too handmade and it is evident that I am a self-taught sewist. And because of that I 1) should not be charging so much for my product and 2) do not belong at large professional events. To paraphrase, "If you're going to do arts 'n crafts at home with your grandma, go back to small church craft shows and only charge $3/item." First off, I would like to defend myself and say that I am proud of RagsReborn. I personally feel as if the company has come a long way in three short years. But on the other hand, I know that I don't work out of a professional studio and it is pretty evident that I like to blend loud colors & weird patterns so my pillows don't exactly fit into what's "mainstream," and if I want to actually have customers & make money, maybe its time to be a little more hip and in tune with what shoppers prefer. Hearing other vendors' and shoppers' opinions taught me to stand up for myself but also humbled me. I am obviously biased about my products but it wouldn't hurt to work on my people skills and take a few sewing classes, and I plan to do that this year. Being self-taught will only get me so far and I know I still have a long way to go.

On to risk taking... I've been too afraid to sign up for large craft shows ("artisan pop-up shops," as they are often referred to as). I think its because my first craft show ever was the Indie Trunk Show and it was a complete disaster. The booth rent was entirely out of my price range and I looked completely out of place...talk about items looking "too handmade". LOL Those are still things I struggle with but last year, I decided to give large craft shows another chance and joined the Revolve Productions line-up. I participated in four of their events and guess what, I didn't do too poorly! Everyone measures success a little differently and I'm not ready to share my sales figures publicly but I will say that I was able to hold my own at each one of these larger events. Tobi and Revolve Productions is a delight to work with. Each one of their events was heavily advertised and they carefully selected the vendor line-up to ensure a wide variety of products. I am so glad I participated in their Wanderlust and Sleigh Bells Market shows, and look forward to doing so again. I also took another risk by introducing new items into my product line and that was the best decision I ever made. (Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to do so and sorry I didn't listen to your suggestions sooner.) Stuffed animals-especially the baby elephants-were the best sellers of the year. With that in mind, I plan to go into 2018 with new items & ideas, higher quality products and you'll continue to see RagsReborn at smaller community craft shows as well as high-end pop-up shops.