Stop to Smell the Roses

This afternoon k and I took a walk to our mailbox. Usually she goes with Sasa, but Sasa had jury duty today. I led the way and mostly waited for k to catch up. k kept on stopping along the path, looking at the leaves on the grass and the lines in the cement. She also stopped to listen to the various barking dogs and chattering people.

Of course, she had to stop to look and wave at the kitty.


During our walk I reflected back to the different stages I have been in while walking to the mailbox. I remember rushing to the mailbox after work after getting home from long days of work. I remember walking a little slower when I was pregnant. I remember carrying k in a sling when she was so tiny she could fit. And now, she's walking there herself. Amazing.

Go-To Dinner

It's not easy coming up with what to have for dinner every night. One of my "go-to" dinners is tofu stir-fry, which I made up by myself. D actually really likes it, and its healthy and easy.

Directions: Heat up a few glugs of olive oil over medium. Add a couple cloves of chopped garlic, half an onion, and whatever vegetables you have on hand, fresh or frozen. Stir-fry until the vegetables are just tender. Push the vegetables to the side of the pan, and add cut-up extra-firm or firm tofu (drained). Stir the tofu so it is heated through, and then mix everything together. Here's what it looks like at this stage:

Add a couple tablespoons each of soy sauce and mirin. Serve with a squirt of rooster sauce or chili sauce. Serve with rice.


While k was waiting for dinner, she was filing her nails. Notice that her hair has reached a cross-roads: bangs or no bangs? I'm still hesitating to use barrettes since I don't want her to eat them. We might have to do a little trimming.

Some Weekends Are Like That

Sorry, but we don't have anything exciting to report on regarding this past weekend. D worked Sat. AND Sun. for a total of 16 hours. k and I were both sick with colds. It rained off and on.

French 75

Today we participated in Newport Beach Restaurant Week. From today until Thursday, various restaurants in Newport Beach are offering special prix fixe meals. We chose French 75 since they had a $15 lunch deal. We had attempted to go on a previous occasion at a different location, but it was closed on weekends during lunch. It did not disappoint and we were full...probably from all that butter/cream.

They served us rolls with marmalade and strawberry jam. We managed to polish off six of them. Well, k did help us, too! We ordered different things for each course so we could try more items.

First Course

D: Shrimp Dijon--This was a nice size portion for a one-person appetizer. The regular menu listed this for $12-13 alone, so we were wondering if you usually get more or if we were just getting a really good deal.
L: French Onion Soup--The sweet onions and the salty cheese/broth went well together. The soggy crouton was good too...whoever thought of that?

Second Course

D: Chicken/Forest Mushroom Crepes--The chicken was nice and moist and the mushrooms were juicy (D's words).
L: Short Rib with Horseradish Sauce and Mashed Potatoes--Probably more suitable for dinner as we are not used to consuming large hunks of meat for lunch. The meat was quite tender. I also enjoyed the brussel sprouts that were on the side. We ended up taking a lot of this home since we knew we should save room for dessert.

Third Course

D: "Petite" Chocolate Souffle--Nice and warm. D was disappointed that the waiter dolloped whipped cream on top instead of ice cream. He still enjoyed it though!
L: Orange Cherry Creme Brulee--D was surprised at how much he enjoyed this. We gave k a few bites too, but mostly she enjoyed eating the raspberries on top. I liked the vanilla bean specks.


k seemed to enjoy both of our main courses. Hopefully we turn her into a foodie!

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated my sister's birthday at my other sister's house on Sunday. The birthday girl was waffling between Japanese food and Mexican food and then settled on chow fun, so Chinese it was! We did take-out from S.W. (not Sam Woo) and it was quite tasty. We even had some dim sum--yum.


D loaded his plate up with food. I guess I shouldn't talk since I ate a lot too! I've also noticed that I'm usually the last one to finish eating when I'm in a group these days since half of the time I am feeding k off my plate too. She is a slow, but steady eater!


Cake Batter Coldstone Cake


k's newest trick is lying down on command. She has also taken to spontaneously lying down in inopportune places, such as restaurants.

D tries new things at Starbucks

During the end of my high school days and during college, I started drinking coffee. Well not coffee, but mochas which contain espresso. The taste of coffee didn't really excite me, however with a little or a lot of chocolate it made it quite tasty. I tend to be a creature of habit, but L likes to try new things. A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to try a different product when I went to Starbucks.** I tried a latte once, but I didn't think it had much flavor. However, I thought that if I got a flavored latte, maybe it would be what I was looking for. I tried a vanilla latte, and really liked it. I also felt a little more mature as well being that mochas are for young people. Tonight, however, while L and I were deciding which latte we wanted, we decided on a cinnamon dolce latte, however the store ran out of the regular flavor and only had it in sugar free. So I decided to go crazy and try a totally different item. I tried a Caramel Macchiato, it was fantastic.
If I never met L, I probably would be drinking mochas still because I would be unaware of the joy of new discoveries. I am grateful that L is in my life because I would not be nearly as happy without her.
**The reason why we've been going to Starbucks a lot more recently is because we have an influx of gift cards.

Watching Football

College football season did not seem nearly as long as usual this year. Maybe because D gave up on Cal 2/3 into the season (or maybe even before that). He did muster up the courage to watch our bowl game, however. Here's k with her Papa and Da-da watching one of the many other bowl games on New Year's Eve.

Happy Birthday...

...little sis! Looking forward to celebrating with you over some chow fun on Sunday. :)

Paso Robles

The day after Christmas we headed back down south to Paso Robles to visit my Grandma and Aunt/Uncle. In the afternoon we walked around downtown Paso. There are some cute stores, and there is sort of a town square, a la Gilmore Girls (it felt like Luke's Diner should be just around the corner). After a bump in the road (literally), everyone made it for dinner.

Four Generations

If you're travelling through the city on the 101, look out for my Uncle's company, Paso Meat & Sausage. Pick up some of the many types of sausage made on the premises. My Aunt gave us a tour of the place. Caution to any vegetarians out there:

Napa Recap III (Happy New Year!)

Hope everyone had a nice New Year's Eve/New Year's Day. Last night D and I went out to the Original Fish Company. (We left a sleeping k at my parents' house). We had a gift certificate, so I thought it would be a good time to use it. When we arrived around 7 p.m., the hostess said there was an 80-minute wait and to come back in 20 minutes to get a pager. Sometimes restaurants overestimate wait time to make you feel better, but this one was pretty accurate. Luckily, we snagged a couple of seats inside the restaurant, right by the glassed in chef's station so we had something to watch during the wait. D had Wild Alaskan King Troll Salmon and I had Monkfish. Although we were starving by the time our food arrived, the first course really filled us up: D had Manhattan clam chowder and I had lobster bisque. Whoa, good thing we did not order an appetizer!

I guess I still haven't finished talking about our trip. On Christmas day, D's cousin and his wife joined us in Napa for Christmas lunch. D's parents and sister prepared a lovely turkey/prime rib feast.