Jason’s Birthday Weekend
This weekend, Jes’ parents came up to visit. It was to celebrate Jason’s birthday and to hang out with their granddaughter, of course. I just love their expressions in this picture. They were so happy to see her when they arrived at the CalTrain Station on Saturday morning.
We took them to the Ferry Plaza for brunch and we lucked out with some really nice weather.
For Jason’s birthday dinner, we drove down to Woodside to eat at The Village Pub. This is my crudo appetizer. That clear liquid off to the side was actually a gelee. Neato. KK ate all the pickled veggies off my plate.
Speaking of KK, she got her first fine dining experience and it was such a success. I mean, we’ve taken her to places with white tablecloths and stuff but this was one of those drawn out fancier dinners. We even ordered her very own dish, a very tasty mushroom consomme. She loved it and I only got a few sips of the broth and one of her dumplings. I have to say this was one of my prouder moments with her. The server was so impressed by her behavior that evening and treated her with a scoop of ice cream. I was pretty impressed too.
I ordered the kale and ricotta ravioletti. It was really good and I totally forgot that it was a vegetarian dish.
This was Jason’s birthday souffle and present – a toy replica of his current Mustang in the same shade of blue and everything. He said it will go well next to his Cobra.
And here are a couple pictures that KK took with my phone. It’s fun to get a little view of her world.
This morning, the whole family came over and we took the bus to Chinatown.
We feasted on noodles and porridge and then had a little birthday cake complete with a candle.
Back at home, we all took a nap and then Jesse started preparing the crab that had been given to Jason and Jia from their landlord. He’s a crabber and drops off live crab every once in a while. Jia was home alone on Thursday night so she put them in the freezer and we ate them today.
This time, Jes boiled them in some seasoned water and then made a side of mashed potato and grilled corn. 
Yum yum!! Three crabs and the sides fed all 7 of us very well.
Happy Birthday, DiDi!
This weekend we celebrated Alice’s 1st birthday at Liberty Park. 
The room was really nice and it was located right next to the playground.
It was so nice to catch up with the family and lots of Brother’s friends.
Alice actually slept through most of her party but she woke up in time for he cake.
Happy Birthday, Alice!! It was fun celebrating with you all weekend!! KK loved having cake or ice cream every day of the 4-day weekend!
This evening, we celebrated Mommy’s birthday, which was last week. Before dinner, we stopped at Huntington Beach Pier. 
It actually felt like fall this evening – especially after a morning of rain and the puffy clouds were still lingering above in the clear blue sky.
The waves were pretty high so it was fun to watch the surfers play too.
This is the Albacore Mediterranean: albacore tuna, fried garlic, jalapeno, and ponzu.
For dessert, they brought out ice cream with a giant sparkler on it.
We flew down to Southern California this morning and went to the Halloween Festival at Regional Park this evening. Instead of Trick-or-Treating, KK played games and received candy from each of the booths.
For some reason I seem to appreciate this more than going door-to-door begging for candy. It was also just the right amount of activity for our little piglet.
Ah…another year has passed and I have one more year left in my 30s. Luckily I had a wonderful birthday weekend of celebrations. On Friday evening, Kumquat and I went out for Happy Hour. It’s still so much fun to dine out with her and today was especially fun.
As if 2 hours at HH wasn’t enough, she also made it through a late-night dinner at a fancier-than-usual restaurant. I had a tasty mushroom risotto with fresh uni on top and Ozumo still does their raw fish and scallops well. Jes and I were thoroughly impressed by KK’s ability to keep it together so late and felt so lucky to have been able to enjoy an old dinner spot again.
On Saturday, we went out for brunch at my favorite place in SF – the Ferry Plaza. We also walked around the city for a bit before heading home for naptime.
For dinner, we went to Harris’ for some prime rib and steaks. This picture doesn’t really do it justice but oh well. It was delicious but Lawry’s is still #1 for me. 
Thanks to Jason and Jia for the yummy dinner!!
On Sunday morning (my actual birthday), I had lots of birthday texts, phone calls, and Facebook posts to keep me busy. I also wished my dear brother a Happy Birthday over Facetime.
I also went out for a solo run and finished 3.9 miles in a faster-than-usual time. I guess running with a stroller does help make you a better runner. I felt pretty good and I think I’ve gotten stronger over the past month.
During the day, I took care of my usual Sunday chores and then we went shopping for tonight’s dinner. The girls came over for hot pot and it was a long-overdue and fancier version of McWino. There was no McDonald’s this year but there was still plenty of wine.
I had a really nice birthday weekend and look forward to this coming year. I feel so blessed to have my health, my awesome family, my wonderful friends, and a job that I don’t hate. Cheers!
We had a fun time in Southern California this past weekend and Kumquat was a great little traveler both there and back. 
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