Birthday Outing
For the second year in a row, we celebrated Nicole and Stephanie’s birthdays at House of Curries on Thursday evening.
This time we had a few more people around the table including Kumquat, who was only a bundle of cells this time last year. As Patty was saying last night, we’ve come full-circle.
They all went out for a 4-mile run beforehand and Kumquat and I met up with them once they finished. Oh, I hope I can be back to their running level soon.
The food was delicious and I got a taste of all my favorite dishes. We also stopped for ice cream at Ici afterward. The burnt caramel flavor was so yummy.
It was so much fun hanging out with the gang again and they couldn’t stop telling me how excited they were to have me back at work on Monday. *sigh* As much as I’m dreading the end of my maternity leave, I’m glad that I have such a great group of people to welcome me back.
On Sunday, we walked about a mile to Rainbow Drive-in for brunch. It was 10:00 am so it was hard to decide what to eat. In the end, Jes got spam and eggs while I got teri beef with mac salad. It rained off ad on but not enough to actually impact our morning.
We then headed over to Waikiki Aquarium. on our way there, we passed a fire station that had a sign offering free blood pressure testing as long as firefighters were in the quarters and not having a meal. I’m glad they have their priorities straight.
At the aquarium, we saw lots of fish and it was actually worth taking Kumquat. She could see the fish and tracked the big fish back and forth. At one point she seemed delighted by all the activity and it was so much fun to watch her smile and 
Jes and I have always enjoyed visiting aquariums and this one is one of my favorites. It was wonderful to see our little girl enjoying it too.
Afterward, we headed back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool bar before heading to Yoon’s condo. She picked us up and we BBQ’d on her 9th floor patio and I also took Kumquat into the pool for some floating time.
It must have taken all her energy because she slept for quite a while afterward. Unfortunately, she woke up suddenly and cried and cried for a good 20 minutes from being either overtired or super hungry or both.
When nothing was working to calm her down at the pool, I decided to take her up to Yoon’s condo to figure it out and as soon as I got up there and placed her in the car seat, she passed out.
I stayed up there with her and ended up falling asleep to the beautiful sunset and Women’s Field Hockey on tv.
On Monday morning, we were up relatively early so I dressed Kumquat in some beach clothes and we took her down to the beach one last time. I love Waikiki Beach in the morning because it’s shady, super empty, and quiet. We spent some time playing in the sand, watching and listening to the waves, and just enjoyed our last morning in Hawaii together as a family.
After a quick bath for Kumquat and some last-minute packing, we were off to the airport by 11:30 am. Getting through security was pretty easy and the flight was an amazingly short 4.5 hours! Luckily, Kumquat was on her best behavior and she slept for most of the flight and downed two bottles of milk. Good baby.
Overall, our first trip to Hawaii with Kumquat was a success. It was so neat to see our favorite place through a little baby’s eyes and I feel so lucky to have had such good flights with her. This was truly a bittersweet trip for me since it was something that I had looked forward to for a few months now but it was also the mark of the end of my maternity leave. Oh boo. Can’t wait for next year’s trip. Who’s coming with us?!
On Friday afternoon, Jes and I had our own little HH at Paragon since the sun was out. I had brought two issues of F&W magazine and Jes found a recipe that was paired with a wine from Howell Mountain. In the past, he has enjoyed wines from that region of Napa County and was intrigued. So, we looked up the winery and found that they had a tasting room in Downtown Napa. Sweet. I called and booked an appointment for Sunday afternoon.
So, on Sunday we packed up the kid and her stuff and headed up to Napa by noon. We stopped at Genova Delicatessen and shared one of my favorite sandwiches – the #4 on a seeded roll. Yum.
The Robert Craig Winery tasting room was found in an industrial park and it was just down the path from the Westin that we usual stay when we go overnight. The host at the bar, Jeff, was really cool and we got some 1:1 time with him since it was by appointment only. He gave seconds on anything we wanted and we spent extra time there getting a lesson on Downtown Napa, the ins and outs of the food/wine industry, and the winery itself.
Kumquat was pretty well-behaved and even spent some time at the bar with us. By the end we got a good buzz while she also took a nap.
Dinner was nice. We sat in their outdoor patio and they were very nice about making space for Kumquat. We tried our best to keep her happy but at one point she was so antsy, hungry, and tired all at the same time that she did make a little noise. Luckily, I was able to quickly feed her, change her, and rock her to sleep in between courses. Fortunately for us, she wasn’t enough of a pest for the other patrons to give us dirty looks. Phew.
Margherita Pizza
Stone Fruit Salad and Swordfish Crudo
Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil along with some Fried Kale Chips (reminded me of nori paper)
We had a warm and sunny day in SF today so we decided to take a walk around Union Square. I was actually in shorts, a tank, and slippers today and Kumquat was perfectly happy chewing on her blanket, giraffe, and hand all at the same time.
During her 3pm feeding, we were outside at a cafe when a group of French teenagers approached us. They said they were on a scavenger hunt and one of the items on the list was to sing to a baby and take a photo. I allowed it and they sang a cute French lullaby to her. It was very sweet. They all wanted to play with her too and she didn’t mind the attention from 10 teenagers hovering over her while she guzzled her milk. I should have taken a video of this moment but I had my hands full and all I could get was this quick snapshot with my phone before they had to scurry away to their next task.
On our way to the park, we stopped at Ike’s Place and picked up some tasty sandwiches. There was a line out the door but it was worth the wait.
Kumquat seemed to enjoy the outing and hanging out under the little tent we made with her blanket and my backpack.
The park has a brand-new 
Afterward, we walked across the street to Bi-Rite for some ice cream. Yum. It happened to be National Ice Cream Day too! 
I shared the Salted Caramel and Coffee Toffee with Jes while we sat in the corner of the shop with the kids.
So, today we walked to the Ferry Plaza and took Kumquat to one of my favorite places to eat. She sat quietly in the corner while we had quite a feast. Since Kumquat is taking a bottle this week, I was in the clear to have my glass of Riesling with my meal.
The meal started with a half-dozen raw Kumamoto oysters (yum) and four baked oysters (my first time!) The raw ones were as tasty as I had remembered and the baked ones were actually pretty good. Then again, they were prepared with bacon so how could it be bad?!
We also shared a frisee salad that was topped with the prettiest beets I’ve ever seen. The color was a unique pink color that made me think it was raw hamachi at first!
Next was the ooey-gooey/crunchy grilled cheese sammich with the tastiest pickled radish on the side. And of course, we had my favorite clam chowder (pictured at the top of this post). Aaaah…delicious! By the way, there was a couple seated in front of us who each got a bowl, ate all the clams, and then left most of the broth (the best part) in the bowl!!!! I died a little inside when I saw that.
Afterward we stopped at the Humphry Slocombe stand at the Farmers’ Market outside for a HUGE scoop of Secret Breakfast. If you don’t know what it is, it’s bourbon ice cream with cornflakes hidden inside. Man, it’s been WAY too long since I’ve had it.
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