Browse Category: yum

Jason’s Birthday Weekend

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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.IMG_9783

We took them to the Ferry Plaza for brunch and we lucked out with some really nice weather.

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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.IMG_9809

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.IMG_9815

I ordered the kale and ricotta ravioletti.  It was really good and I totally forgot that it was a vegetarian dish.IMG_9821

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.

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And here are a couple pictures that KK took with my phone.  It’s fun to get a little view of her world.IMG_9830

This morning, the whole family came over and we took the bus to Chinatown.

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We feasted on noodles and porridge and then had a little birthday cake complete with a candle.IMG_9843

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.IMG_9851

This time, Jes boiled them in some seasoned water and then made a side of mashed potato and grilled corn.  IMG_9853

Yum yum!!  Three crabs and the sides fed all 7 of us very well.

Happy Birthday, DiDi!

12th Anniversary

We took advantage of having free babysitters and celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday night at Lawry’s.  It’s one of our favorite places to eat and to celebrate special occasions.  IMG_9613We got there about 20 minutes early so there was time for a drink and some meatballs.  Yum.

IMG_9614Then at dinner, we didn’t have to order anything extra – we just got the prime rib with the creamed corn and mashed potato.  Perfect.

IMG_9615For dessert, the waitress brought out two helpings of their English trifle with a candle lit in each one.  That was sweet of her.

IMG_9684We also got a bonus dinner together on Monday night after we came home from LA.  As we were walking to Marlowe, KK fell asleep in the stroller so we tucked her under the bar and had a quiet dinner together.  I had a tasty drink called La Cuchilla, which had grapefruit juice, soda, and tequila.  I’m sure there was other stuff in it too.

IMG_9682 IMG_9683We also shared the mushroom soup and giant prawns with a spicy cocktail sauce before the burger came out.  What a fun evening.  KK also slept through the night without a peep out of her for a total of 12 hours!!!  She must have had some major catching up to do on her sleep from the weekend.

Belated Celebration

IMG_9764This evening, we celebrated Mommy’s birthday, which was last week.  Before dinner, we stopped at Huntington Beach Pier.  IMG_9528It 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.

DSCN3435The waves were pretty high so it was fun to watch the surfers play too.

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For dinner, we went to Sushi on Fire where they hooked us up with complimentary sake, appetizers, and mini ice cream for the kids.

IMG_9536This is the Albacore Mediterranean: albacore tuna, fried garlic, jalapeno, and ponzu.

IMG_9567For dessert, they brought out ice cream with a giant sparkler on it.

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October

Is it really October 26th already?!  Didn’t I JUST celebrate my birthday?!  Well, this has been a busy month at work and at home and has likely resulted in the sprouting of 4 grey hairs on the top of my head this month.  *sigh*

The rate of blogging on beakatude hasn’t been as frequent as it used to be.  It’s been so bad lately that I felt the need to recap some highlights from this month before it ends.  I’ll be traveling down to Cerritos for Halloween/Alice’s Birthday and that will require an entire post or two all on its own.

Let’s start out with some tasty eats from this month:

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These are the mini waffles and 6 fried chicken wings that I had Little Skillet.  Actually, they opened up a bar/restaurant right next door to the window and called it Victory Hall & Parlor.  They serve the same menu but now there’s plenty of places to sit and you can order a drink too!

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Ah…this is an old favorite and still as good as the first one I had.  It’s an open-faced smoked salmon sandwich from Cap’n Mike’s Holy Smoke at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.  KK likes it because she gets all of my capers.

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For brunch one morning, I had this Crab and Avocado Eggs Benedict from a food truck called Benedict Arnold’s.  It was parked at the SOMA StrEat Food Park on the morning we were there waiting for our car to be serviced by the Costco Tire Center.

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It’s been nice and warm this month and we had dinner outdoors one night at Sauce, located in the Belden Place alley.  These are the tater tots: made of pureed potato with bits of bacon mixed in, rolled into balls, and then fried.  Reminded me of miniature potato croquettes.

OK.  Now for the rest of this month:

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As I had mentioned, we had a warm first half of October.  It was warm enough to take a dip in our pool.

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Fleet Week came and left.  I saw the Blue Angels fly over the Bay Bridge one evening as I was driving home from work as they were practicing for the weekend show.  We missed the show this year (on both days!) because it coincided with KK’s nap.  Oh well, at least I got to see them from our condo window every once in a while.

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I did a lot of running this past month and enjoyed a few solo runs in the wee hours of the morning.  This morning was particularly neato because the fog was rolling over the bridge near Treasure Island.

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This is my favorite photo of the month.  It looks staged but it was completely not.  I was just able to press the button on my phone at just the right time.  I also love the fact that KK can pump a swing now.

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For Halloween this year, KK is going to be Piglet from Winnie the Pooh.  I decided to make her costume and was able to whip it out during her nap on the day I stayed home to take her to the doctor for her check-up.  Here’s my pattern for the body.  It came out a little long but I managed to tweak it just fine.  You’ll see the final product a little later this week.

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Sleep deprivation has also been a theme for this month.  KK has been going through some weird sleep patterns this month and she kept me up every 1-2 hours all night for the past 3 days.  Luckily she sorta figured it out last night and I got to sleep in 4-hour chunks.  Woot!

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And finally, the Giants have made it to the World Series again for the third time in the seven years we’ve lived here.  IMG_9261

This was the scene around the 7th inning last night before the crowd rushed out.  The energy is actually pretty fun and the rowdiness has been peaceful so far (because they’re winning).  I’m rooting for them to win the whole thing just out of fear that my neighborhood will be rioted if they don’t.  Go Giants.IMG_9260

Some people at work don’t believe that I live RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from AT&T Park when they ask me where I live.  This is the view from our front door and that’s Willie Mays Plaza right out front.

And of course, this month will always have significance to me because the anniversary of Koa’s passing, which also falls on the same day of KK’s half-birthday.  I’m glad I took that day off this year.

So there you have it…most of October in a nutshell.  Before I can even catch my breath from this month, it’ll be Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then 2015 in a flash.  I’d better stop once in a while to appreciate the things around me.  Luckily, I take photos of everything to remind me of how I’m spending my time and energy.  My memory is certainly not as good as it used to be.

My 39th Birthday

IMG_8409Ah…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.

IMG_8427As 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.

IMG_8480On 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.

IMG_8490For 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. IMG_8496

IMG_9729 Thanks to Jason and Jia for the yummy dinner!!

IMG_8502On 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.IMG_8506

IMG_8511I 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.

IMG_8533During 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.

IMG_8544I 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!

Joel & Zeynep’s Wedding

IMG_8010On Saturday, we flew down to Southern California for a wedding.  It was going to be an evening of no kids and our first night without the kid since she was born.  After settling down in the Magical House, we drove up to Culver City where we checked in to the Four Points Sheraton.  Everyone had already arrived and we all met them at the hotel bar, which we had asked them to open outside of their regular operating hours.

IMG_8023Joel had warned us they were serving an all-vegan dinner so after a couple drinks, we piled into one car and went to In-N-Out for our pre-wedding meal.

IMG_8022Since there were 6 of us and an SUV, Jes rode in the trunk all the way up to Topanga Canyon.  He said it was actually pretty comfortable back there.  It was just funny having to let him out the back when we pulled up to the valet at the ranch.

IMG_8028The wedding was outdoor in a little ranch but it was pretty warm out there – a balmy 95 degrees I think.

IMG_8032Everything was beautifully decorated with those little personal touches that make their wedding special.

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DSC_5539Joel was dressed in all white and all the boys were in black panchos.  Those poor boys.  DSC_5548

IMG_8041The bride was in a crocheted dress and the whole set-up was very hipster – just like our Joel the Indie Rockstar.

IMG_8044It was an open bar and their specialty drink was a cactus margarita, which matched my top perfectly.

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This wedding was a nice reunion for the Roebling House.  All six boys and “Seven” (me) were all there together for a fun night of laughs and hijinks.DSC_5560

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Joel asked everyone to wear a color since the party was in black and white.  Ryan took it literally and put this outfit together after shopping at Marshall’s.

IMG_8049Here is my plate of vegan lasagna with “faux sausage”, “faux carnitas” made out of jack fruit, and a kale salad that was the best thing on the table.  I should have gotten more salad.

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As the sun went down, the twinkle lights made everything so pretty.DSC_5586IMG_8078

A gathering of the boys also wouldn’t be complete without harrassing Tob and a little bit of wrestling moves.  This is Ryan spinning Tob on his shoulders.  Luckily no one was hurt that night.

IMG_8083After the wedding, we were all starving so we made a stop at Johnnie’s Pastrami for an awesome after-party meal.

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What a fun night!

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