The stuff that fills me up.
Real estate and operations are what I do. Travel, cooking, gardening, and a house full of animals are who I am. This page is the other side of the business card.
I collect stamps.
Exploring new places resets my thinking in ways nothing else does. Every trip — whether it's a week in Tokyo or a weekend in a new city — comes home with me in how I see problems and people.
My kitchen is a test lab.
Vietnamese food is my anchor. Growing up, the kitchen was where culture lived — in the smell of pho broth that simmered for hours, in the ritual of rolling fresh spring rolls, in the way a bowl of bún bò Huế could make everything feel okay.
Beyond Vietnamese food I'm an enthusiastic experimenter — if something catches my eye on social media, there's a good chance I've tried to make it by the weekend. Results vary. Entertainment value does not.
Cooking is how I decompress. Recipes are just systems you can eat.
My dad's garden lives on.
The happiness in his eyes when he is in his garden — that's where my love for this started.
My dad is a gardener. Not a hobbyist — a real one. Rows of vegetables, careful attention to what each plant needed, pride in the harvest. Watching him out there taught me something about patience and care that I carry into everything I do.
I grow vegetables — tomatoes, herbs, peppers, greens — things you can actually eat. There's something grounding about putting your hands in soil and waiting for something to grow. In a job where results are often intangible, the garden is wonderfully honest.
Minnesota seasons make it a short window. That makes it sweeter.
The crew.
My house is never quiet and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Massie
Small in size, enormous in personality. Massie runs the house and knows it. Brave, opinionated, and completely convinced he's the biggest dog in any room.
Baylor
Big, goofy, and made entirely of love. Baylor's approach to life is enthusiastic and undiscriminating — everyone is a best friend, every moment is the best moment.
The Flock
Yes, I raise quail. My 16 Coturnix quail are endlessly entertaining, surprisingly chatty, and bonus — they lay the most perfect little speckled eggs. A hobby that feeds you is a good hobby.
The blog.
A place for longer thoughts — recipes that worked (and ones that didn't), garden updates, trip recaps, and whatever's on my mind between transactions. Written like I talk: direct, a little detailed, occasionally funny.
Travel
What I ate, what surprised me, and what I brought home (besides jet lag).
Cooking
Recipes — Vietnamese classics, social media experiments, and honest reviews of both.
Gardening
What's growing, what died, and lessons from the dirt.
Real estate + ops
Practical takes on the market, systems thinking, and what I see in the field.
