Browse Author: beakatude

She’s FOUR already!

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Today is KK’s 4th birthday and it’s hard to believe that so much time has already passed. Our first-born is quickly becoming a little lady. Jes was having a hard time with this milestone since it was the age in which he had his first memories as a kid. It was a big deal to him. I’m sentimental about everything so I usually take her birthday off to spend time with her and also reflect on my life as a mom. This year was no different. I took the day off so that I could be at her school to celebrate her big day with her friends. Jes and I also parlayed that into a day in which we could spend some time together without the kids. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to just hang out alone and we made it worth our while with a walking food and drink crawl along The Embarcadero.

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The morning started with Mirian coming to watch Peanut while Jes was on a work call and I took KK to school. The birthday girl had a little extra hop to her step this morning as we walked hand-in-hand. Then, on my way home, I stopped at Safeway to pick up her birthday cupcakes.

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Jes finished up his calls and then we headed out to drop off the cupcakes at school on our way to lunch.

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Our first stop was La Mar. My first drink was sweet and refreshing.

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Lunch consisted of cebiche, causa, and empanadas.

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We then made a stop at Hillstone for a quick drink at the bar. Jes had a martini and I have a nice cold glass of white wine.

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Coqueta is a restaurant that I’ve always wanted to try but was too expensive and not very kid-friendly so it was perfect for a day like today.

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We sat down by the open window for a cocktail and some pricey skewers.

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Before heading back to KK’s school for her cake party, we stopped at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. It’s a 21-and-over kind of place so we just HAD to go there today.

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This was the meat platter that we ordered with the wine.

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By then, we were pretty relaxed and happy. Heh heh.

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After KK’s school party, she asked to leave school with us. So we took her across the street to Waterbar for their $1 oysters. We scored a table on the patio with a view of the Bay Bridge and she scored a dozen oysters.

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It was so nice to have a day to spend with my best friend and co-pilot on this crazy ride called parenthood. This relaxing day as just the two of us was long overdue and sorely needed.

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Happy 4th Birthday to our Kumquat. We hope you have a fun-filled year as a 4-year-old.  And please, don’t grow up too quickly.

Family Time in Cerritos

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We flew to Cerritos for a long weekend to spend time with the family and to get our taxes done.

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Peanut was up early every morning and luckily there was a Starbucks and donut shop that we can walk to.

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It was nice seeing Jason, Jia, and the twins again. We’ve missed them so much since they moved.

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We also went to Brother and Joy’s new house. The kids broke in their newly renovated livingroom with lots of noise and drool.

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The girls had so much fun together that we left KK there to spend the night. She ended up asking for me in the middle of the night and Brother slept in the room with her that night while Alice went to sleep with Joy.

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On one of the mornings, I went to the Farmers Market to pick up hula popcorn for KK. Yummy.

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On Saturday, we threw a small birthday lunch with just the family at Sweetee Thai where she got her own fresh coconut and her favorite Tom Kha soup.

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After her birthday lunch, some of us took a walk to the park. It took us across the 605 freeway, which was pretty cool (and a little scary).

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On Sunday night, KK had another birthday celebration and we got a rare family photo together.

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The kids had a fun time in Southern California and luckily they’re good travelers.

worst. headache. ever.

It all started on Monday afternoon when I felt a headache coming on. So, I popped two Advil and went on my merry way. Later that night, the headache came back but kept moving from one side of my head to the other with no relief from Advil. The next morning I was a wreck and could barely get out of bed. I later threw up and I knew I was doomed for the day. I took the day off work and spent literally the whole day in bed. Any time I felt good enough to be upright, I tried to drink water and get a small bite to eat. Unfortunately, it would all come back up 30 minutes later. So I just stopped eating and drinking and that made my stomach feel better.

The next morning wasn’t any better so I made a 9:15 am appointment to see a doctor. I tried my best not to Google my symptoms since it would just make me think I had meningitis or something terrible. It took all my energy to get on the train and walk to the doctor’s office. I was in no condition to drive. He examined me and said I had a really deep sinus infection and needed antibiotics. He also saw pus in my nose (eeeew!) and I was very dehydrated. So, I took my prescription and headed home. Once I got off the train at home, I crossed the street and puked into a ziploc bag that I had in my bag. Gross. I looked like someone who had too much to drink the night before. Talk about walk of shame! The rest of the day was home in bed rolling around trying to find a position that made my head hurt less.  I tried to sip water as best as I could without throwing up. I made to the end of the day but then a huge one came on and Jes looked at me like I was dying as I was walking out of the bathroom.

Earlier in the afternoon, I walked my butt to Safeway to pick up my prescription. As I’m leaning on the counter trying to keep myself upright, the pharmacy tech said he couldn’t release it to me without a pharmacist present because I had never taken that medication before. It was 5:00 and the pharmacist wasn’t going to return until 5:30. I almost cried but just turned around and went home. Jes went to pick up the Rx later around 6:00 and there still wasn’t a pharmacist!! They finally let him sign a waiver and handed it to him. Why didn’t they offer ME a waiver?!

Anyway, it’s 5 am the next day and my headache is almost gone but the pain in my neck is still there. I have a heavy feeling in my stomach and I’m afraid to eat breakfast. My last full meal was Monday night. It’s now Thursday morning. Why am I not starving?! Thank goodness for ginger ale and saltine crackers. They have been my best friends for the last two days but even those have been puked up too. These antibiotics better get to work soon because life cannot be put on hold for me much longer.

morning updates

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Ever since I started working again, Jes has been taking KK to school and picking her up everyday.  There are some mornings when she’s really good and will get dressed on her own and stay out of trouble while he’s on a call and Mirian is taking care of Peanut and Andrea.  Some mornings, she’s been an emotional rollercoaster in the morning. One tiny thing will set her off and she’ll give Jes the silent treatment on the train ride to school.  It’s usually because Jes said “no” to something ridiculous like she wants to wear something inappropriate for the weather outside (like rainboots when it’s 70 degrees and sunny outside) or she didn’t get to press the elevator button. I usually get an update after drop-off and today was pretty funny. It also shows how some mornings just don’t go as planned.

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This morning, I had bought doughnuts for my co-worker’s going-away breakfast and brought back doughnut holes for KK. She got two balls and some milk while I was packing her lunch. Unfortunately, I forgot to give he the yogurt too and she ended going on a snacking frenzy while Jes wasn’t paying attention.

Back to Tahoe

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With so many dry years, we just had to get up to Tahoe once this season to see the snow. Unfortunately with two small children in tow, we didn’t make plans to do any skiing/snowboarding. Instead, we booked a suite at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel through the HotelTonight app for $139 and headed up on Saturday morning for a 24-hour turn-around trip. The drive was easy and took about 3.5 hours not counting a stop at McDonald’s and a gas station. When we drove on Hwy 50, there wasn’t much snow. However, it was good to see that the creek was full of water.

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Once we got to the summit, there was some leftover snow from the last storm. KK said it looked like North Mountain. Then down by the lake and Heavenly Resort, there was absolutely no snow in sight. So depressing. It looked like Spring!! So we checked in, changed into our snow pants, and headed back up to the summit. We tried to go the Adventure Mountain for some sledding but it was at capacity by the time we arrived.

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So we kept driving and found a sno-park with lots of snow. It was just enough snow for KK to play and build a snowman. We played right next to the car and didn’t have to do any trekking.

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Thank goodness since Peanut is not a lightweight baby. It’s crazy (and sad) that KK is almost 4 and this is her first experience with snow.

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For lunch, we went to Verde Mexican Rotisserie that had a really good guacamole and my fish taco was stuffed to the top and really tasty.

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In the afternoon, we went to Happy Hour at the hotel. They were serving $2 drinks and had free snacks and drinks for the kid.

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Before dinner, I took my little girl ice skating for the first time. What made it even more special was that it was snowing. We both had a good time and I managed to stay up on my skates even after a few drinks. Heh heh.

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The next morning, we were surprised to see that the snow had stuck and it covered the whole parking lot and our car.

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It was a nice change from the spring conditions we had the day before.

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Another extra perk at the hotel was free breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, and all the other usual breakfast buffet items. That was great considering both kids were up early and I was starving.

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Before heading home, we took KK outside for one last play in the snow. I love how simple it was for us to find snow just outside of the hotel and KK was pleased as punch.

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Our drive home was a little sketchy but we managed to get over the summit with just our all-weather tires on our 4wd car. We thought about pulling over to put on our chains a couple times but we lucked out with adequate road conditions and lots of trunks in front of us crushing the ice in our path.

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Our last stop was in Placerville where we found a place called Hog Wild BBQ. It’s a no-nonsense BBQ joint that makes a tasty brisket with a gorgeous smoke ring on the meat. The pulled pork and ribs are also really good. It’s definitely going to be added to my list of places to eat on the way to Tahoe next time.

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For such a quick trip, it was very doable. So glad we had clothes for the kids and it was nice to pull out our old gear again after so many years of being in storage. Maybe next time we can figure out a way to get on the slopes. I’ve been itching to break out the skis again and can’t wait to get KK on skis too!!! Let’s hope that El Niño keeps going for a little longer this season.

Also, thanks for the tip on the hotel, Ranee! It’s crazy how cheap it is considering you get a 1-bedroom suite with kitchenette, free breakfast, and it’s literally next to Heavenly and the casinos. You can’t get much better than that!