Music & Mahjong
It’s funny to look back and realize that it’s only been a year since Alex and I started playing mahjong with all our friends and just over a year since we bought a record player and started collecting vinyls. In that time, these two interests have become such big hobbies in our lives. It was only fitting that I combine them for my annual birthday party this year: my Music & Mahjong Party!
I got free 45s from Beaker’s Records, custom-drew some labels, and made record sleeves for them, which I mailed to the guests as invitations.
We organized all of our ~100 records that we’ve accumulated in the last year for a record-listening station.
Guests could select a record from the collection, sign up on the clipboard, and then take their turns playing their selections for everyone.
The decor included drawings from my custom San Francisco-themed mahjong set that I’m making. More on that to come!
I also commissioned some adorable mahjong tile cookies, Made by Milan.
And guests could play to win this black mahjong set!
Babies and doggos were also along for the ride!
We had three different mahjong sets at the time, and funnily enough I’ve already managed acquire two more sets in the months since then… plus my handmade San Francisco set is nearing completion. Some might say I have too many sets, but they are all unique and have such interesting stories!
We have played many many games of Taiwanese mahjong at this point — and taught many many people. But this was our first time figuring out scoring! I printed scoring guides for everyone, and we kept track of who had the most points at any time in the day to determine a winner for our black mahjong set.
Guests were invited to come all day, any time from 11am on. Alex was on meal duty, with an order from Pizza My Heart for lunch and later, Taiwanese food for dinner.
Babies all enjoyed a naptime too.
These two are almost the same age! So cute.
The Yee Los got me a olallieberry pie from Avila Valley Barn all the way down on the Central Coast. So wonderful! And delicious!
After a few rounds of mahjong, Cassie emerged the clear winner with a more than 50-point margin on everyone else. This travel set goes to her! So she now also has three different mahjong sets, two of which were from me, haha.
Thank you everyone for coming and playing music & mahjong with me! Such a wonderful way to kick off another trip around the sun.
And thank you for these adorable gifts too.
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.
