Browse Category: yum

Crumb Catcher

This morning, we both woke up hungry since we skipped dinner the night before.  In fact, I found myself up at 3:30 this morning eating a peanut butter and jelly sammich.  Since we were up early enough, we went out for brunch at Plow.  It’s becoming one of my favorite brunch places.  This time I had the French Toast with kumquat and bananas and a side of sausage.  And yes, my breakfast came with bananas.  I think the whole combination and eating only the burnt banana pieces made it doable for me.  I also ordered the Meyer Lemon Tart for dessert and it was sooooo tart and yummy.

Anyway, when I sat down to eat, I placed the napkin on my lap as usual.  Then I looked down and realized it was completely useless since my baby bump was going to catch whatever falls before it has a fighting chance to get down to my lap.  So, Jes said to just place it on my tummy instead.  I felt pretty silly but it totally does the job.  I look like I’m wearing an apron.

On another note, after a long day of rain yesterday, the sky cleared and the sun came out.  I took this photo as I was walking the dog this afternoon.  Aaaah…a little Vitamin D feels so good.

Baby Bucket List

Saturday morning started out in the usual way:

  • I was up super early and hung out in the fort (a.k.a. sofa with my pillows and comforter) until the sun came up.
  • Jes made bacon and eggs for breakfast.
  • I did 40 minutes of my Pilates video while Jes went to the gym.

That was a good start to the day.

However, by about 1:00 pm, I was getting antsy and Jes was hungry.  So, we ventured into the rain (it rained ALL DAY) and had a late lunch at Hukilau, a Hawaiian place I’ve wanted to try for quite some time.  We’ve been going out to eat a lot more frequently lately since it’s so easy now and we don’t know how often we’ll get to do things on the fly once Kumquat arrives.  After our tasty plate lunches and Jes’ two pints of Longboard (on draft!), we were stuffed and ready to move on.

We decided to actually go to see a movie – in a theater!  It’s one of those things that people have been telling me to do before the baby comes.  Sorta like it’s on a Baby Bucket List or something.  So that’s what we did.  I think the last movie I saw in the theater was “Kungfu Panda 2” with my family and I seriously don’t remember the last time Jes and I went to see a movie together.  So, we went to the Westfield Shopping Center to check out what they were showing.  I’ve been carrying these Costco tickets in my wallet for about 4 years now and finally used them.  At first, we would see Hunger Games but was turned off by the crazy line that was forming 2 hours prior to each showing.  So, we settled for “Friends with Kids”, which was an appropriate movie for the occasion.  We had some time to kill so we went to a bar nearby for a drink.  In the spirit of my Hawaiian lunch, I ordered a strawberry lemonade that was made to look like a lava flow.  It was good but I can’t wait for my next lava flow in a few months from now.

The movie itself was cute but definitely something that I would have normally just put on my Netflix queue.  Jes also bought me popcorn and an ICEE and he got a box of chewy sweet tarts, which costed an arm and a leg but I guess it’s all part of the experience.

We got home around 9:00 pm and I was tuckered.  I pretty much passed out in bed and Jes ended up having to walk the dog in the rain and we skipped dinner.  Good times…

So, now that we’ve gone to a movie, go out to eat about every other day, and I’ve got the random naps through the day mastered, what else should we have on the bucket list?  Only 3 more weeks to go!

I could get used to this.

Today I had a brunch date with Ranee and little Sophie who is now 3 months old.  They flew in on Tuesday from NYC and we met up today at Rick and Ann’s Restaurant in Berkeley.  It was so nice to catch up with Ranee and we chatted over pancakes and waffles with a side of bacon and this awesome hash made of sweet potato, beets, onions, and bacon topped with creme fraiche.  Sounds weird but it was so good!

Sophie napped through our meal and then woke in time for a feeding and change outside.  We hung out in the courtyard for another two hours with coffee and Sophie and I got to meet and get to know each other.  She’s so sweet and smiles a lot.  She’s also recently discovered her hands and it’s so cute how she’s enamored by them.

After a while, I had forgotten that it was the middle of the day on a Friday.  I was having brunch and just hanging out without a care in the world…on a Friday!  Oh how nice it would be to be one of those “Ladies Who Lunch”.  I really could get used to this. Ranee just needs to move back to California (*wink wink*) so Kumquat and Sophie can have playdates every Tuesday morning while their Mommies sip coffee. 🙂  One can only dream…

Here a few more photos.

Day Two

Last night I made Kao Thom Gai and we had it for breakfast this morning. Kinda felt like a weekend except Jes had to take a bunch of conference calls for work. See, I can make myself useful when I’m not working!

Later in the morning, I had my routine prenatal visit and then had some time to kill before my lunch date with Jes. So, I walked around Union Square for almost two hours before heading down to the Ferry Plaza. This is the water feature at Justin Herman Plaza with actual water running through it! By the time I got in line for Roli Roti, my hips were killing me.

Lunch was tasty (as usual) and it was such as nice sunny day that I got some gelato for the walk home. At least, I tried to walk home but I was so uncomfortable that I ended up taking Muni instead. At the stop, I found Victor on his way home to pick up his car for a meeting. That was random.

Once I got home, I passed out on the couch for a two hour monster nap. It was totally unintentional but apparently I needed it.

Once I woke up, I tidied up the house a bit and then met up with Teresa who had brought her puppy, Bailey, over to meet Koa. She’s so darn cute but a total spaz. Koa didn’t know what to do with her. She ran circles around us and taking a walk to the park was a little crazy. When we got back to the house, she gobbled up some of Koa’s kibble, took all his toys out of the toy bin, and eventually Koa gave in and shared his tennis ball with her.

So Day Two of my Maternity Leave was pretty random but I got lots of exercise and some tasty eats. Everyone says I should enjoy this time while I can and I think I’m doing a pretty good job of it so far. Too bad my hips are so sore.

Shower for Kumquat

On Saturday, there was a big party for Kumquat.

Marie, Patti, and Patty planned it and it was held at Patty and Johnny’s house in Irvine.  The family from both sides attended along with some old friends.  All the decorations were so cute and of course Marie designed them all.

They also hired a taco truck that we happened to see on the freeway on the way to the house.  What fun!  They were called Dos Chinos and I really liked the pork belly taco and the Korean beef taco and their fries were tasty too.

Johnny also played bartender and had a menu and everything.  His cocktails must have been good because the non-alcoholic versions were pretty tasty.

There were a few games including one where everyone was asked to kiss a teddy bear earlier in the day and then later had to kiss me on the same place.  I got some smooches on the elbow and on the head and even on the tummy.  It was a little embarrassing for everyone but definitely memorable.

There was also a game where everyone had to memorize the 28 baby items on a tray and Katie played along too.  She managed to remember a lot more than I could have a I loved the way she spelled the word “suction”…it was spelled “sukshen”.  Cute.

It was great to have family and friends around to celebrate this occasion.  My two roomies from UCLA even came and Sandy and I got to compare baby bumps.  We’re due in the same week!

The kids all played together and it’s funny that they’ve all met at least once or twice at the pool.  It was like the 4-year-old swimming club.

We also brought Koa and he got to hang out with his brother Mochi.  They didn’t exactly play like they used to but they didn’t get into a brawl either.

It was a really fun afternoon and Kumquat is very lucky to have so many people who are excited about her arrival.  A big thank you goes to Marie, Patty, and Patti!  Here are the photos that I got from the party.  If anyone has any others, I’d love to see them!

Chinatown Adventure

We’ve been without a car for the past week and it hasn’t been too bad so far. Our first dilemma was this weekend when Jes wanted to make some Chinese food this coming week and wanted to go to 99 Ranch. That’s pretty much impossible without a car so we decided to take the bus to Chinatown and ended up having a successful and also adventurous shopping trip yesterday.

As we browsed all the food markets, we got hungry and found a hole-in-the-wall with a bunch of old Chinese people in a line out the door. We stood in that line and picked up two tasty pork buns for only $1.10.

They were HUGE and Jes said that it tasted just like his grandma’s. He even got super nostalgic and sent a photo of it to his brother. Aw shucks.

We found a bunch of different shops filled with fresh produce and lots of raw stuff that was both fascinating and gave me the creeps at the same time. You know…stuff like buckets of chicken feet, a whole shark on ice, and a bucket o’ bullfrogs. Yum. We went home with bags of veggies, three different types of pork, spices, and fresh noodles.

Tonight, I used the noodles and made a big bowl of Bamee Hang, which is a dry noodle dish that I LOVED as a kid. It has egg noodles that get blanched in hot water, then mixed with garlic oil, crushed peanuts, cilantro, bean sprouts, green onion, and sliced BBQ pork. Oh and don’t forget the fish sauce!